Teensy 3.2 Pinball Controller not detected in Android

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Mignoon

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Hello,

As my first project in the microcontroller world, I want to set up a Teensy 3.2 as a Pinball Controller for my Android Tablet (Android 8.1), following the instructions here. I edited the Code a bit, so that Zen Pinball can be used on an Android Device.

View attachment Pinball_Android.ino

I connetcetd the buttons on a breadboard, and the setup was working in Windows Notepad (Shift/Return-Keys were pressed and released) as well as in Zen Pinball on my Android Tablet.
The only problem were some loose conections bewtween the Teensy and the Header Pins, which were not soldered.
So I got a friend to solder the pins to the Teensy, and the result looks fine to me, see the picture below.

IMG_20181227_130806_2.jpg

Now to my problem:

Except for the soldering, I have not changed a thing in the whole setup. But now the Teensy is not detected as a Keyboard in Android, and button presses on my controller won't do anything in Zen Pinball or other Apps (Text Editor). The Teensy gets power, both the internal and external LED are on.
In Windows Notepad, the button presses get detected as the intended Keystrokes and everything works fine.

I tried multiple OTG adapters, USB cables and Android Devices, but so far I can't get this to work.

Thank you for any help
 
If it works with notepad, and you have not changed anything (program, buttons, connections) the problem is most likely not on the Teensy side.
 
ive had an android box that didnt work with one usb keyboard but worked on another, Oreo (8.1) is still new and has issues of it’s own, but not all androids support all USB devices, it depends on what the manufacturer compiled in terms of hardware support
 
can you try with a USB keyboard directly as a test?

I have one USB Keyboard here that works just fine with Zen Pinball and any Text Editor on Android when connected with the same OTG adapters used for the Pinball Controller.

If it works with notepad, and you have not changed anything (program, buttons, connections) the problem is most likely not on the Teensy side.

So it could be either the OTG adapter or the Tablet/Android I guess.
The OTG adapters I have work fine with my USB Keyboard, mouse or drives, but I don't know if there is any difference to using a Teensy. If there is, is there a way to test those adapters for that usage?
On the android side I tried rebooting, but I guess I should try some different versions of Android and read into the relevant USB settings. Any tips for this?

Thanks!
 
Might help to know, the settings you used to program this chip. That is what you configured the USB type to be.

That is the program is using both Serial and Keyboard. Does android support that? Warning I am not an expert on Android

Also does the board work at all? Look for any solder bridges or other shorts...
 
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So far the USB type is set to Keyboard only, as described in the instructions I used.

The board is working with Windows Notepad, but I looks like some solder got into/onto the golden space between GND and Pin 0.
Maybe this is causing my problems?
InkedIMG_20181227_130806_2_LI.jpg
 
looks like some solder got into/onto the golden space between GND and Pin 0.
Maybe this is causing my problems?

Very unlikely that's the problem.

Those small gold dots (roughly located on the 3 corners of the board) are "fiducial" location marks used by the pick-and-place machine which puts the parts on the board. The machine has a camera. It uses those marks to precisely align itself with each board, so it can put those tiny parts very accurately in the correct places.

Here's an article with more detail.

https://makezine.com/2017/04/21/pcb-board-design-fiducial-marks/

Those dots have no electrical connection to the rest of the board. They have no functional purpose beyond assisting the manufacturing process. Getting solder on them is harmless, as long as the solder doesn't form *two* bridges to nearby stuff. Solder bridging the fiducial mark to just 1 pad or trace won't do any harm, because it's not connected to anything else. Just getting solder on it is perfectly fine.
 
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