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Rii Mini

The Rii Mini is a tiny keyboard with a built in touchpad. Its not much bigger than a phone!

Have a look at a review :

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/rii-mini-wireless-keyboard-is-perfect-for-your-htpc-not-your-wi

If you've got a PC hooked up to a TV, I think this is perfect.

I have a couple of gripes, but they are minor :

  1. There is no mouse scroll wheel.
  2. There is no middle mouse button (and I use that a lot to open web links in a new tab - I can use Ctrl+Left click instead).
  3. The Alt key is mapped incorrectly, but I've got around that (see below).

Rii Mini Alt Problem - Solved

Edit

If you are using linux the Alt key problem can be fixed.I used "xev" to discover that the Rii Mini's Alt key was sending the keycode 108 instead of the usual 64. 108 should be the keycode for the "Alt Gr" key, not the Alt key. Here's my work around. Create a file called "fixalt" with these contents : 

#!/bin/bash
#
# Maps the Rii Mini's Alt key to be just like a regular alt key
# instead of an "Alt Gr" key.
#
xmodmap -e "keysym ISO_Level3_Shift = Alt_L"
xmodmap -e "add mod1 = Alt_L"

Make it executable, and test it works : 

chmod +x fixalt
./fixalt

To make it work the next time you log on : System->Preferences->Startup Applications, then click "Add". Note that the "command" has to be the full path to the file created above, so for me, this is what I entered :

  • Fix Alt
  • /home/nick/bin/fixalt
  • Fixes the Alt key on the Rii Mini