Steem SSE 3.9.3 keyboard issue

[KTH]

Hi,

Thanks for this amazing emulator! I have come across an issue in Steem SSE 3.9.3 with certain keypresses using a Spanish keyboard when SSE option C1 is enabled. When I press any of the keys below in the main keyboard, the character appears repeated (looks as if 7 time) and, after that, the keyboard stops responding properly and will repeat keypresses apparently randomly. The affected keys or combinations are:

• ¡
• +
• Shift and º (\)
• Shift and 3 (·)
• Shift and 0 (=)
• Shift and + (*)
• Shift and , (;)
• Alt and º (\)
• Alt and 1 (|) - Instead of a "|", this combination produces repeated "@"
• Alt and 2 (@)

I am using Spanish TOS 1.04, a physical Spanish keyboard and Steem SSE is configured with keyboard language set to Spanish and with shift and alternate correction enabled.

When option C1 is not enabled, keyboard input works fine with the same configuration.

Thanks!!!!

[Steven Seagal]

Hi, thx for the report.

When option C1 is not enabled, keyboard input works fine with the same configuration.

This is the key... (got it?)

It's possible that multiple keys are sent in a short time. I'll look at it but I may need your help for tests.

[KTH]

Sure, ready to test whenever needed.

[KTH]

PM is not working for my account so I am replying here. Thx so much for the test build, key presses no longer repeat themselves However, with this build a few key presses display a wrong character for me:

• ¡ produces a "1" instead of "¡"
• + produces a "=" instead of "+"
• Shift and 0 (=) produces a "+" instead of a "="
• Shift and , (;) produces a ":" instead of a ";"
• Alt and º (\) produces a "#" instead of a "\"
• Alt and 1 (|) produces a "#" instead of a "|"
• Alt and 2 (@) produces a "#" instead of a "@"

Thx for your help!!!!!!!

[Steven Seagal]

I'll check that but it's more complicated, I have no idea where Steem authors got their references (numbers) for this.
Is there a difference with Spanish TOS/UK TOS?
Is there a difference whether 'Shift and alternate correction' is checked for 'Spanish language'?
Is there a difference with(out) option C1?
In which version of Steem is there no such problem?

[KTH]

Thanks. I tested a bit more with different TOS and Steem versions.

With UK TOS 1.04, keyboard language set to UK in Steem but a physical Spanish keyboard 0-9 and A-Z / a-z characters are OK. The majority of punctuation signs appear in unexpected positions and some characters (º, ñ, ç, ¡, }) are not available. In this case, there is no difference with/without C1 option, keystrokes produce the same character set.

With SP TOS 1.04, keyboard language set to Spanish in Steem and "Shift and alternate correction" unchecked, 0-9 and A-Z / a-z characters are still OK. The majority of punctuation signs still appear in unexpected positions and the non-available characters are now different (º, [, ], {, }). Again, in this case, there is no difference with/without C1 option, keystrokes produce the same character set.

With/without option C1 makes a difference with SP TOS 1.04, keyboard language set to Spanish in Steem and "Shift and alternate correction" checked. Without C1, all characters appear in the expected positions and no relevant characters are missing. With C1, it is nearly the same but a few characters are not correct. Attached "Compare.png" shows differences.

Earlier versions of Steem SSE show a similar behavior, even back in 3.4.0 with option "HD6301V1 true emu" checked. In that version I noticed that repatedly and quickly clicking one of these keys with issues would sometimes randomly produce the correct character.

Thank you so much!

[Steven Seagal]

I wonder if maybe the 6301 chip had different roms for different languages?
Do you by any chance have a working Spanish ST?

[KTH]

I do, but it is stacked away. For the next two months or so, I will not be able to get it

[Steven Seagal]

Don't worry, it was just an idea like that, there probably isn't any difference.
It's possible the problems all come from key modifiers (alt, shift, etc. when it's different on the ST).
With the UK keyboard there's no such problem apparently.

[KTH]

I tested with the updated interim build you shared and ... everything works perfectly now !!!!!!

No characters are missing now and all appear in the expected positions, both with / without option C1 (SP TOS 1.04, keyboard lang set to Spanish and "Shift alternate correction" checked).

Thank you so much for fixing ... you are the the man!!!!!!!

[Steven Seagal]

I tested with the updated interim build you shared and ... everything works perfectly now !!!!!!

Of course.

To produce some characters, you use some 'modifier' keys on your PC keyboard, such as shift or alt. On the ST too.
Except those don't always match. For example, you should type shift + a key on the ST and not on the PC for ¡.
To solve this issue, Steem authors sent several key messages (going through ACIA ,the intermediate chip) to alter the state of such or such modifier key, then the key, then changing back the modifiers. That's a lot of messages, it's an effective hack.
But the 6301 emu (option 'C1') only looks at a table of currently pressed keys, so it didn't work. And it tolerated only a buffer of two characters (as on hardware).

To fix it the simplest way, we now use the original 1KB buffer if necessary, each character being sent in time to the ACIA, and the 6301 emu is bypassed for those packets. So it's a hack too. For "normal" characters, emulation is low level.