Nokia N800 & N810: How to connect an ordinary computer keyboard to your tablet by using the USB cable

To get the most out of this tutorial, watch the video above and then read the text below. The tutorial assumes that N800 owners have upgraded to OS 2008. If you want to find out more about upgrading your N800, click here.

If you want to comment on this tutorial, please post in the comments section at the end. If you have any questions or problems regarding your tablet, please post about them on Internet Tablet Talk's Newbie Forum.

How to use a normal computer keyboard with your N800 or N810

It's been quite well publicised that Nokia's N800 and N810 internet tablets can be used with wireless Bluetooth keyboards, but Bluetooth keyboards are pretty expensive compared to normal keyboards. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just plug your PC's keyboard into your tablet? Well, you can!

All you need is a very very cheap little add-on called a Female-Female USB adaptor. They cost just a few euros or dollars, as they're basically just a bit of metal which lets you plug one USB cable into another. You can get them at any major electronics shop or on eBay.

Once you've got the adaptor, you'll need to install a free application called "USB Control", and then attach your keyboard's cable to the tablet's USB cable. Don't worry if that sounds complicated, it isn't, and we're going to cover it step-by-step in this tutorial.


How to install and use USB Control on your tablet

1. Click on the globe and open a new browser window. Go to maemo.org/downloads

2. Click on the search box in the top right hand corner and enter "USB Control". When the search results appear click on the title that says "USB Control".

3. Click on the green installation arrow on the right side of the screen, which will launch the automatic installation process. Say OK, Yes and I Agree to all of the questions that appear.

4. After USB Control has been installed, close the Application Manager using the X in the top right hand corner. You now have USB Control on your tablet.

5. Open USB Control by clicking on the Applications menu (three green squares), then Extras, then USB Control. Click on the "Host" button at the bottom of the screen and close the application using the X. The tablet is now ready to be attached to your keyboard.


How to attach your keyboard to the tablet

The vast majority of computer keyboards nowadays come with two kinds of plugs: USB and PS/2. USB plugs are about half an inch wide and quite flat, while PS/2 plugs are round and usually violet-coloured. Some keyboards have just one type of connector while others have both.

If you want to attach your keyboard to your tablet you'll need to use the keyboard's USB plug, but don't worry if your keyboard doesn't have a USB plug. You can turn a PS/2 plug into a USB plug by buying a cheap PS/2-USB adaptor, which costs just a few dollars or euros and can be bought in electronics shops or on eBay (you can see an example in the video above). You don't need to buy the more expensive "converter" kind of PS/2-USB adaptor, the cheaper "passive" type works fine.

Now, let's get on with the actual attaching...

1. Plug your tablet's USB cable into the tablet's USB socket. Leave the other end of the cable not plugged into anything.

2. Plug the other end of the tablet's USB cable into the Female-Female USB adaptor.

3. Plug your keyboard's USB plug into the other end of the Female-Female USB adaptor.

Your keyboard is now attached to your tablet, and you should be able to use it to input text. To test it out, open an app where you'd normally use text, for example the Notes application in the Utilities section.

Don't worry if an error message appears when you attach the keyboard (e.g. "Device is incompatible"), just ignore it.


The letters on the screen don't quite match my keyboard's letters. What's going on? How do I fix this?

The tablet's default setting for keyboards is the US layout, which means if you plug in a non-US keyboard you may notice some on-screen letters and characters don't match what you typed.

This is very easy to fix using the tablet's Control Panel application (to open it click on the three green squares, then Settings, then Control Panel). Double-click on the Bluetooth Keyboard section, and select your keyboard's language from the "Keyboard Layout" menu. Click on OK and the problem should be solved.


What do I do when I've finished using the keyboard?

You don't have to do anything in particular, you can just unplug it and plug it back in when you next need it.

However, if you intend to attach your tablet to your computer using the USB cable, you will need to take it out of "Host" mode first. You can do this by opening the USB Control app, clicking on the "Peripheral" button, and then closing the app.

"Host" is the mode for using they keyboard, and "Peripheral" is the mode for attaching the tablet to a computer. You can use USB Control to switch between these modes, and the tablet will remain in that mode until you change it. You can close the USB Control app if you want, the tablet's USB mode will remain whatever you set it to.

Note that switching the tablet off and then on again will automatically put it in "Peripheral" mode, so try to avoid this if you want to use the keyboard regularly. As has been mentioned elsewhere on this site, you shouldn't really switch the tablet off anyway because computers use far more energy starting up than they do staying on.


Help! I can't get it to work

Don't panic! :-)

First of all, before you start typing make sure you've clicked on the area of the screen where you want to enter text, so that a blinking cursor appears.

If that doesn't help, check that all the cables are securely and correctly plugged in.

If it still doesn't work, try opening USB Control again (in the Apps menu's Extras section) and click on "Host".

If you still can't get the keyboard to work, try with a different keyboard if you can.

If absolutely nothing helps, click on the link on the right of the Internet Tablet School site regarding tablet technical problems.


I thought you had to have a powered USB hub to get this to work? I thought you had to modify cables by hand?

Nope. This method works without any hubs, and you don't need to modify anything either.

Some older, cruder methods used hubs and/or modified cables, but those methods have been made obsolete by the release of the USB Control application and other similar apps.


Can I use this tutorial's method for attaching other USB accessories, such as flash drives and external HDDs?

You can use this method to attach USB flash drives (sometimes known as thumb drives or memory sticks) to your tablet, and you can find out more by going to our USB flash drive connection tutorial.

HDDs (Hard Disk Drives, aka hard disks or hard drives) may also work with the tablet as long as the HDD has an external power source such as a power adaptor that plugs into a wall socket. The tablets cannot provide enough power by themselves for an HDD to work.

If you do use a flash drive or HDD, make sure you disable it before unplugging it from the tablet. You can do this very easily by just clicking on the USB icon (the three-pronged object) in the status bar at the top of the screen, and then selecting the disable option.

USB accessories which draw lots of power will not work, the tablets are pocket-sized devices and do not have a battery large enough to support high power accessories. Low power devices should work in theory, and that's why keyboards and flash drives work, but there are exceptions such as computer mice (the tablets do not contain any mouse drivers so mice don't do anything).