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I bought a raspberry pi2 and 7 inch waveshare touchscreen. The SD card came along with the system already flashed. It turns on and everything works, but how do I activate the virtual keyboard. Do I need a USB keyboard initially to do so?

user473180
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1 Answers1

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First thing to do:

  • Open terminal

Second you will need to update the repositories:

  • sudo apt-get update

An upgrade to the whole system isn't needed but it is recommended:

  • sudo apt-get upgrade

Now we can install the virtual keyboard:

  • sudo apt-get install matchbox-keyboard

Rebooting is recommended:

  • sudo reboot

Now you can access the keyboard:

Menu >> Accessories >> Keyboard

Access the keyboard

If the keyboard isn't visible on the menu you can enable it by going to:

Menu >> Preferences >> Main Menu Editor

There you will be able to enable the keyboard.

If everything has gone perfectly you will now have an onscreen keyboard.

Onscreen keyboard

CalvT
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Michielvk
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    To do all this I will need a external keyboard and working internet connection, right? – user473180 Jan 15 '16 at 13:43
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    Yes internet and keyboard is required for this steps but after the setup you can use your virtual keyboard without internet. – Michielvk Jan 15 '16 at 13:44
  • Since I don't have an external keyboard, I connected my pi to the laptop using LAN, and the computers connected to the net with WiFi. All your given commands run successfully except sudo apt-get update. It shows something wicked happened resolving...( the site address). Please advise – user473180 Jan 15 '16 at 15:24
  • Should I just flash the latest version of raspbian if I can't update the existing one to get the repositories? – user473180 Jan 15 '16 at 15:31
  • So the install of the keyboard was successful? If the install of the keyboard was successful then this question is answered, but why the update command didn't work is weird because your pi is connected to the internet (otherwise the other commands didn't work). Is there something else after the 'wicked happened'? If so, is it: (-5 - No address associated with hostname) ? – Michielvk Jan 15 '16 at 16:21
  • Yes, its exactly that. How did you know? And what should I do? – user473180 Jan 15 '16 at 16:24
  • It is a common error, I found this on the internet: http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/32849/error-on-sudo-apt-get-update – Michielvk Jan 15 '16 at 16:26
  • If you are logged in with ssh to your Raspberry Pi, you can launch the virtual keyboard on the distant screen using DISPLAY=:0 matchbox-keyboard &. It will show up and you'll be able to type commands if you only have a mouse connected. – Lalylulelo May 06 '17 at 07:27
  • The app didn't show in the Appilcations section even though it was configured to to show. I had to uncheck/save/recheck/save for it to show up. Just the same, technique worked great thanks! (as an aside, my raspbian card must have been a bit out of date as it too forever for upgrade to complete). – David Farrell Feb 04 '18 at 07:03
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    An alternative to matchbox-keyboard is desperately needed. I just tried this on a freshly installed Raspbian November 2018 and it's a buggy mess on the verge of breakdown. Its keys are constantly twitching when the window is touching the screen edges, and just having the keyboard running prevents any other window from going full screen (maximised windows just cover the top/bottom half of the screen instead, with no explanation) -- even when the keyboard is just a floating window. – Andreas Jan 11 '19 at 01:13
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    @Andreas I am not sure if there are any alternatives. I just searched a little with no success. If anyone does find an alternative; please post it here. – Michielvk Jan 11 '19 at 09:40
  • @Michielvk I couldn't find anything either. Thanks for looking. – Andreas Jan 11 '19 at 12:13
  • https://medium.com/@maheshsenni/setting-up-a-raspberry-pi-without-keyboard-and-mouse-headless-9359e0926807 the one I was able to use to set up my Pi without keyboard. – Aldekein Feb 26 '19 at 21:25
  • @user473180 That's not necessarily true, you can do it with just a mouse through the use of clever copy pasting commands – Albert Renshaw May 18 '20 at 18:22
  • sudo matchbox-keyboard -> type on terminal to open it up. – Mujeeb Ishaque Sep 02 '20 at 12:22
  • MATCHBOX ALTERNATIVE: Onboard (also install at-spi2-core on raspbian) – novwhisky Oct 19 '22 at 17:45