Matchbox-keyboard is an on screen ‘virtual’ or ‘software’ keyboard which works well for small touchscreen TFTs connected to a Raspberry Pi. Matchbox-keyboard also uses XML files to specify the layout of the keys, which makes it highly customizable.
I faced a little difficulty with the limited number of USB ports available on Raspberry Pi. I wanted to test a USB bluetooth adapter on a Raspberry Pi and obviously I wanted the keyboard and mouse connected to it at the same time. So, I needed 3 USB ports but there are only 2 ports available.
One option was to use a USB hub. However when using a USB hub, it seemed my bluetooth adapter is not working as expected which I guess due to low amount of current it can drag through the USB hub. Anyway, I had to look for a solution and there is a simple solution.
VirtualBox is the most common Virtual Machine in PC world. People use it to launch different Operation Systems on one PC. But unfortunately, VirtualBox isn’t supported for Raspberry Pi as well as for any other ARM-based device. Moreover, if somebody ports VirtualBox for Raspberry Pi and Raspbian, this port won’t be able to launch x86 programs. Virtual Machines (such as VirtualBox) usually provide guest OS instances with access to system resources and manage guest and host systems, but can’t translate guest code to another CPU architecture (from x86 to ARM in our case). Installation of ExaGear Desktop Installation of ExaGear Desktop is very easy.
Put ExaGear Desktop archive with installation packages and ExaGear Desktop license key in the same folder. Open Terminal (command line), move to this folder and unpack the archive using the following command: $ tar -xvzpf exagear-desktop-rpi2.tar.gz 2. Install and activate ExaGear on your ARM device by running install-exagear.sh script: $ sudo./install-exagear.sh Launch guest x86 system 3. Enter the guest x86 system using the following command: $ exagear Starting the shell in the guest image /opt/exagear/images/debian-8-wine2g Now you are in x86 environment that can be checked by running the ‘arch’ command: $ arch i686 You can use this guest x86 environment on your RPi as x86 Linux system and install different PC applications:, etc. Which aren’t available for ARM-based devices. Running of PC applications on Raspberry Pi ExaGear Desktop allows you to interact with PC applications the same way as you interact with ARM applications.
After installing a PC application in the guest x86 environment you can just go to the Start Menu of your Raspbian and run this PC application from there simultaneously with native ARM applications. Difference between VirtualBox and ExaGear Desktop ExaGear Desktop it’s not a complete analog of VirtualBox for Raspberry Pi. VirtualBox has features that lack in ExaGear Desktop and vice versa. Below you will find a short summary. Unique features of VirtualBox comparing to ExaGear Desktop:. Provides full virtualization, i.e. Allows to run fully independent instances of Operation Systems Unique features of ExaGear Desktop comparing to VirtualBox:.
Provides cross-architecture virtualization, i.e. You can run programs from alien architecture on your machine (run x86 programs on Raspberry Pi). Carefully handles your device resources like CPU or RAM due to reusing host OS services, such as graphic system, sound, networking, etc. It’s very important because even the most powerful RPi has only 1.2 GHz frequency and 1GB of RAM. Also on Eltechs Choose the best virtual machine for your Raspberry Pi or any other ARM device comparing ExaGear and its alternatives In this post, we will tell you how to setup TeamSpeak 3 Server on Raspberry Pi with ExaGear Desktop which allows running any x86 apps on ARM mini PCs. Set and run.NET Framework on Raspberry Pi for any specific reason.
Step-by-step detailed guide. Detailed instruction on running a Wine app on any Raspberry Pi (or other ARM) to port different x86 apps on Raspbian Run iconic PC games like Arcanum, Disciples II and Fallout on RPi with Exagear and improve your device gaming level beyond Retropie.
A detailed guide on how to make your Raspberry Pi a powerful gaming emulator and run any iconic and nostalgic PC games on Raspbian (or any other ARM). ExaGear is registered trademark of Eltechs, Inc.
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