firmware uploads but is not excecuted

[paulsijben]

Bought the stick>

I am following the manual, and the ESP tool is telling me the firmware was correctly uploaded. However afterwards nothing appears on screen, nor the LED nor on the USB port nor BT.

What am I doing wrong?

[larrylart]

Did you use the https://espressif.github.io/esptool-js/ tool? make sure you set the flash address to 10000. You could also try the previous firmware version. Also after flash you need to unplug/plug the dongle to reset. Let me know.

I have a new release nearly ready to go, just doing some code tidy up, that will have a much better security - a second encryption layer, micro tls, on top of BLE. And better provisioning for security. I will hopefully have it ready this coming weekend.

[paulsijben]

I did. I double checked with copying and pasting the base address. Also tried the previous version.

The sick keeps bringing itself up as a new USB device when plugged in btw

[larrylart]

It’s likely happening because the firmware you flashed only contains the app section, while your dongle also needs the bootloader, partition table, OTA map, etc.

Try download the latest full firmware from the repo (in the tmp folder):
tmp/blue_keyboard_v1.2.1_all.bin - this contains the complete image (bootloader, partitions, and app).

When flashing it using https://espressif.github.io/esptool-js/ make sure to set the flash address to 0x0

If this works, note that version v1.2.1 has a different setup flow and requires the new modified KeePassDX-kb. I’ll temporarily place the v1.2.1 APK in the https://github.com/larrylart/KeePassDX-kb/tree/main/test folder.

How this firmware works:

1. Initial Setup (Wi-Fi AP mode)

On first boot, the dongle must be configured: Set BLE name, keyboard layout and set a password (used to provision the TLS key during the first KeePassDX connection)

To make this easy, the dongle automatically starts in Wi-Fi Access Point mode with a small embedded webserver.

On first boot, the screen shows the AP password.
Scan for Wi-Fi networks and connect to SSID: BLUKBD-XXXX (XXXX = last 2 bytes of MAC) using the shown password.

2. Open the Setup Page

Once connected, the dongle displays its local IP address. It tries to auto-redirect to the setup page, but this doesn’t work on all devices. If the popup doesn’t appear, simply open a browser and go to: http://

3. Configure the Dongle

On the setup page, choose: Bluetooth name, Keyboard layout The password you want. Then save.

4. The dongle automatically reboots into Bluetooth + USB keyboard mode, with Wi-Fi and configuration services disabled.

5. Pair in KeePassDX-kb v1.2.1

In the KeePassDX app: Settings - Output Devices - Select your dongle - Pair

After pairing, you should automatically get a prompt asking for the password you set on the dongle.
If you don’t see it immediately, toggle connect/disconnect once.

After this, everything should work normally.

This setup is a bit more complex, but it’s required to ensure proper security. The good news: you only have to do it once during the initial setup.

Let me know if this works for you. I tried these steps with a new dongle out of the box and it works, so it should work for you unless there is something odd with your dongle.

[paulsijben]

ah, now I have a functioning key. Thank you.

However I wanted to use it not for passwords but as a bridge between a bluetooth keyboard (app) and the computer I plug it in. (use case: I want to be able to click through a presentation without having to pair my phone with the computer of the venue)

How would I do that?

[larrylart]

I see. I designed this for passwords use case in mind, hence integration with the passvault app (KeePassDX) and all the extra layer of security, and for this the app needs understand the security protocol as well.
However I do have in plan to make simple clients for android and linux so it can be used to connect. Like say for android, the app will let you type and or send key strokes through the dongle to a host machine. I have the basic koltin interface files in place, is just a matter of putting them together in a new app - just something simple. Do you have an android phone? Unfortunately I do not have an apple/ios environment.

[paulsijben]

Android will be fine. Thank you Larry Lart ***@***.***> schreef op 26 november 2025 14:09:03 CET:

…

larrylart left a comment (larrylart/blue_keyboard#2) I see. I designed this for passwords use case in mind, hence integration with the passvault app (KeePassDX) and all the extra layer of security, and for this the app needs understand the security protocol as well. However I do have in plan to make simple clients for android and linux so it can be used to connect. Like say for android, the app will let you type and or send key strokes through the dongle to a host machine. I have the basic koltin interface files in place, is just a matter of putting them together in a new app - just something simple. Do you have an android phone? Unfortunately I do not have an apple/ios environment. -- Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: #2 (comment) You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Message ID: ***@***.***>

[larrylart]

Perfect. I nearly done cleaning up the dongle code and next, likely weekend, will move to do the Android KeePassDX integration code. While doing that I will extract the code and try to put together a sample android client app that will send the android on screen keyboard keys to the dongle. It will probably not be as fast sending on key at the time as sending strings, due to heavy encryption but I say with a lag of max 1 second. I will let you know when it's done.

[paulsijben]

Is it possible to disable the encryption for this use case? Larry Lart ***@***.***> schreef op 26 november 2025 19:47:19 CET:

…

larrylart left a comment (larrylart/blue_keyboard#2) Perfect. I nearly done cleaning up the dongle code and next, likely weekend, will move to do the Android KeePassDX integration code. While doing that I will extract the code and try to put together a sample android client app that will send the android on screen keyboard keys to the dongle. It will probably not be as fast sending on key at the time as sending strings, due to heavy encryption but I say with a lag of max 1 second. I will let you know when it's done. -- Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: #2 (comment) You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Message ID: ***@***.***>

[larrylart]

Possible yes, advisable... debatable for the sake for the machine you will be plugging the dongle in.
At the moment there several security layers rules coded into.

• first you have BLE encryption/pairing with pin displayed on the dongle. And also the dongle is limited to allow only one device to pair. these two normally offer security on par or better with most Bluetooth keyboard on the market.
• However, unlike bluetooth keyboards if your phone is compromised an app on your could access/type on the remote computer, that is why I implemented a TLS encryption layer on top, to which key only one app, like KeePassDX, can hold the encryption key in phone secure settings.

Lets see how bad the delay will be, it is likely to be less than 300ms, so workable. If not I could add a flag in the settings to allow sending speacial command keys without the TLS overhead, at your own risk.

[larrylart]

Ok, took me a bit longer than expected ... but managed to put together a client app, see latest re;lease:

https://github.com/larrylart/blue_keyboard/releases/tag/v1.2.2

Note that you will need to install the lilygo dongle with newest firmware v1.2.2 same startign at address 0x0
There is the android app apk that you need to install manually or compile the source yourself.

The client android app is at https://github.com/larrylart/blue_keyboard/tree/main/apps/android
You will find some notes and screenshots.

On app start you need to go in settings and select the key you want, ignore the pairing popup up to that point. Than pair and you should get a popup to put on the password you set on the dongle.

Note that full keyboard layout/mappings are still work in progress - not all special characters/symbols work as expected. Basic key bodes should work, either from full keyboard or specials keys popup.

I am not sure that this is what you needed ?

[larrylart]

I will to try to put it on google play in close testing - https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.blu.blukeyborg
I will need your gmail to add it to the test group.

[larrylart]

Update: use latest v1.2.3 release for the dongle & the apk in that release for the app. I fixed some connectivity bugs.