Solved An adapter or a tiny bridge board (with a driver that works on FreeBSD that can convert the I2C lines of the Cirque touchpad into an USB-HID adapter.

Instead of re-inventing the wheel why not modify the PinePhone ? Add the Super Mario Keyboard and Trackpad....

Custom chassis same board saves you tons..

Nope,because it does not follow my idea of building a modular based phone. Basically I'm trying to make the rough draft of the project ARA by Google. I want to be able to attach and detach as many peripherals as I can to the board. The HDMI display can be changed easily such as the keyboard,the trackball and the battery and even the Quectel EG25-G USB module with different models of the same products. I'm excited to work on this kind of project. I don't like the idea to embed in one only board as many components as I can.
 
I hate seeing people run into walls when a door is right there.

This sentence does not make sense because at the moment in the market there isn't any phone like that I'm trying to create.

I'm trying to create a DIFFERENT product than the pinephone. The pinephone does not excite me. I don't even like the form factor of the Pinephone. I like squared phones,not oblong ones. I like the physical keyboard and not the touchscreen like billions of phones have.
 
I think I have found a cheaper alternative. Let's explore it. It consists to embed together these products :

a) Adafruit Mini I2C Gamepad with seesaw - STEMMA QT / Qwiic : https://www.adafruit.com/product/5743
b) the proper Stemma Cable that can bought here : https://www.adafruit.com/search?q=stemma qt cable
c) HUB board : https://www.adafruit.com/product/5625

They don't talk about an USB connection. It does not seem to be necessary. The driver should be here :


Since it has been written in Python,should work easily on FreeBSD ?

Phishfry : Now,if you want,can you give an answer to my last question ? its important for me to understand if I will have the problem of the driver even if I will install the driver provided by Adafruit.
 
Doesn't the PinePhone have RK3399 too? There is all that work already done versus bringup vop2 for rk356x.

Plus what about future availability? Raxda could cut production of the Zero3 tomorrow depending on...... Anything.

Phones can only be so modular. Mic, Cam, Screen, Modem.
On a modern phone the CPU is the Modem. Whereas many tablet have host CPU and a CPU on Modem.

PinePhone. There is the door. I will highlight it. I don't think it fully works yet on FreeBSD.

Handsets cost over $1000 USD for a reason.
They have incredible amount of electronics in a small amount of space.
Lets say 100% retail markup. Wholesale $500.
BOM=$100
Assembly/Test=$100
Design,Market,Software=?
 
Doesn't the PinePhone have RK3399 too ?

Nope. It has the S variant. Impossible to buy and limited. Citation :

I remember the blog post that announced the Pinephone Pro mentioning that the S variant of the RK3399 is just binned and voltage locked, and exclusively for the PPP. I'd imagine that only P64 themselves have access to it.

Raxda could cut production of the Zero3 tomorrow depending on...... Anything.

Only Radxa ?

Phones can only be so modular. Mic, Cam, Screen, Modem.

You can't remove mic,cam,screen,modem on a classic phone. It's not modular. Every component is soldered on the main board. Only expert users can do it. But I want to assemble a phone that's tailored for the inexperienced users and a little bit for the experienced ones.

PinePhone. There is the door.

For me is not a door,maybe it is a sliding door. First of all I can't even buy the board that they are using (RK3399S),try to ask to yourself why.

Furthermore I'm trying to create a DIFFERENT product than the pinephone. The pinephone does not excite me. I don't even like its form factor. I like squared phones,not oblong ones. I like the physical keyboard and not the touchscreen like billions of phones have. I like the HDMI screens because I can change the model easily,it's enough to detach the cable without opening the case.
 
a) Adafruit Mini I2C Gamepad with seesaw - STEMMA QT / Qwiic
That looks more conventional but does it need a driver written in python code....
Why not C for seesaw.sesaw
Python for a driver seems weird. I guess I am biased.
All I have dealt with is I2C GPIO expander, 4 Line LCD and temp sensors. Maybe AD1115 and some others.
 
Ok I found the board RK3399S :


You gave me an idea I hadn't thought of yet....I want to think about it more carefully.
Its true that the development of FreeBSD for the radxa zero 3W is not yet mature,but also the development of FreeBSD for the pinephone is not mature as well...

But If I keep only the board and I change the rest of the devices (using one HDMI screen,USB keyboard and trackpad) where I'm working on,maybe I will make some progress.
 
I suppose that this cable :


should be connected to the Radxa board. But how ? Where ? To a specific pins of the GPIO connector,that I don't have ?
Is there a scheme that helps me to grab the right pins ?

On the RK3399S board,instead :


I see a connector called "I2C touch". Is this the place where I should connect the "I2C Qwiic Stemma QT Wire" ?
 
I dont' have the patience to read the whole thread but someone mentioned a microcontroller that interfaces i2c and gpio on one side and async-serial on the other side. I think going that route and defining the touchpad as a mouse device would be the path of least reistance. You WILL have to do some protocol programming though. USB would be overkill and take a lot more effort.

This need you brought up just screams "micro-controller application".
 
Ok I found the board RK3399S
I don't think the last letter matters. Different packaging and revisions.
All have MAUI GPU built in. That is the reason for picking that platform. Work is done. May need to update -CURRENT tree for changes.. All that work should be committed.
It is too bad the code rot on the vine.
That should be your step one. Stabilize that drmsubtree code base with authors. Get it moving. Ports or Base. Somehow.
Look what the FreeBSD porter to PinePhone has accomplished. That work is public.

I suppose that this cable :
{AMAZON}
should be connected to the Radxa board. But how
OK so I am assuming that is the compatible connector for your trackpad, circular idea. 4 Pins and 1.0mm pitch is on the trackpad?
With a normal Zero3W with pins you would use SDA/SCL on the normal i2c pins on the 40 pin layout.

The cable kit you show looks fine. 4 Pin connector to DuPont wires. So Qwuik connector to Dupont Wires on Pins 3,5 and 9 for Ground on the Zero3.
You need the pinout from trackpad to determine pin assignments on Zero3

Device Tree Overlay needed to enable i2c bus.
 
After a long and lucky research,I found the right controller that has been able to make work the circle trackpad via USB on my FreeBSD system. And the author helped me to flash the firmware with the right parameters. It's working perfectly. Another step accomplished for my FreeBSD "phone".

 
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