USB & Bluetooth capability of Wii (keyboards, et.al.)

Most of the FAQ's I've found via Google seem to be for older firmware versions where there was no USB support. I haven't been able to make sense of Google searches on bluetooth.

Can someone summarize what the USB and Bluetooth capabilities of the Wii are?

1) It appears that USB keyboards are somewhat supported. What about other USB peripherals? Mice? USB-to-IDE adaptors (i.e. hard drives)? Joysticks? Anything else? How well are keyboards supported?

2) The Wiimotes are Bluetooth. Can anything else bluetooth be paired to the Wii? Keyboards, mice, etc? If so, how does one go about it?

Google searches haven't helped me figure out the answers to these questions.

thanks for your help,


Joe

The USB ports aren't really being used, but you can connect a keyboard and use it to type messages, surf the 'net, etc.

But that's really the only type of thing that will be recognized at the moment. I.e., can't use mice/joysticks/etc. There is hope that the ports will be used with external hard drives in the future.

As for additional bluetooth devices, same idea there - you can't pair up things out of nowhere with the Wii. Now, you could get a bluetooth keyboard with a USB adapter, plug that in, and use the keyboard wirelessly, but there's no way to tell a keyboard to connect to the Wii's internal bluetooth. I guess a company could always make a keyboard that does exactly that, but that's not high on anyone's priority list.

In short, you can't really connect anything unless you use an adapter on the USB ports, and those ports can really only be used with either keyboards or LAN adapters. Other than that, you can't do anything else.

[quote name='Strell'] Now, you could get a bluetooth keyboard with a USB adapter, plug that in, and use the keyboard wirelessly, [/quote]

Has anyone confirmed that any kind of wireless keyboard, RF or bluetooth, will work via a USB receiver? Or will the Wii only work with wired-USB keyboards?

I had thought that bluetooth keyboards still have to "pair" with the Wii. Or do they pair with the dongle? And then the dongle emulates a USB keyboard? What about logitech USB/RF wireless keyboards? I thought they need more extensive drivers than wired USB keyboards do.

Has anyone made a list of what wireless keyboards have actually been verified to work?

I'm sorry if I sound confused -- I am!

I don't want to go out and buy a wirless keyboard without some assurance that it works.

Thanks,

Joe

[quote name='DrJoe']Has anyone confirmed that any kind of wireless keyboard, RF or bluetooth, will work via a USB receiver? Or will the Wii only work with wired-USB keyboards?

I had thought that bluetooth keyboards still have to "pair" with the Wii. Or do they pair with the dongle? And then the dongle emulates a USB keyboard? What about logitech USB/RF wireless keyboards? I thought they need more extensive drivers than wired USB keyboards do.

Has anyone made a list of what wireless keyboards have actually been verified to work?

I'm sorry if I sound confused -- I am!

I don't want to go out and buy a wirless keyboard without some assurance that it works.

Thanks,

Joe[/quote]

I know that people have used bluetooth keyboards successfully using a USB bluetooth dongle, but I don't know if any specific brands were mentioned.

The bluetooth keyboard will pair with the dongle which is then communicating with the Wii via USB.

People have also been using wireless USB keyboards with the wireless USB receiver plugged into the Wii successfully so some wireless keyboards are supported.

You'll probably have to do some digging to come up with specific brands or just go buy the cheapest one you can find and see if it works - if not, return it!

[quote name='DrJoe']Has anyone confirmed that any kind of wireless keyboard, RF or bluetooth, will work via a USB receiver? Or will the Wii only work with wired-USB keyboards?

I had thought that bluetooth keyboards still have to "pair" with the Wii. Or do they pair with the dongle? And then the dongle emulates a USB keyboard? What about logitech USB/RF wireless keyboards? I thought they need more extensive drivers than wired USB keyboards do.

Has anyone made a list of what wireless keyboards have actually been verified to work?

I'm sorry if I sound confused -- I am!

I don't want to go out and buy a wirless keyboard without some assurance that it works.

Thanks,

Joe[/QUOTE]

With any bluetooth component on any system - a laptop computer, a desktop, etc - the devices have to pair. The point I'm making is that you can't buy a Logitech bluetooth keyboard and expect it to work with the Wii without a bluetooth adapter plugged into the USB port.

In other words, even though the Wii is using bluetooth for it's controllers, they are tapping into it because they are designed to. This is the "problem" with Rock Band on the PS3 - it requires a dongle to be used, despite that the PS3 uses bluetooth for its controllers. In the PS3's case, Sony hasn't opened up that bluetooth signal. It's basically the same way with the Wii - a keyboard won't work unless you plug the adapter into the USB port. It won't magically pair just because you put some batteries into the keyboard and stand near the Wii - the keyboard is never going to recognize the signal the Wii innately makes, and so it needs an adapter.

The general rule with keyboard with the Wii is that as long as it can interface with a USB port in some manner - either plugging into it directly or using some kind of wireless standard (IR, RF, bluetooth, etc) - it should work. So a cheap $10 USB keyboard ought to work, a nice Logitech should, etc etc.

Again, in short - it ought to work so long as you plug in the USB adapter into the USB port on the Wii, regardless of what type of keyboard it is (wireless RF vs wireless bluetooth versus wireless IR vs wired).

However, since there's no official compatibility list that I know of, it's still kind of a crapshoot. You just need to get a keyboard, plug it in, and see if it works. If it doesn't, you'd need to make sure everything is working (it has batteries, the USB adapter functions, etc). If there's no hardware problems, then it simply isn't compatible.

Does all of that make sense?

Maybe I just don't have enough familiarity with Bluetooth.

I use a bluetooth headset on my laptop to access my telephone as if I was in the office when I travel. To do so I had to:

1) Install the proper bluetooth stack (in my case the Toshiba stack).
2) Connect the USB bluetooth dongle.
3) Run the bluetooth manager application and pair the headset with the dongle (done once, then it saves the pairing information).
4) Connect the headset to the computer.

Then a "bluetooth audio device" appears in the audio devices, and I can use it with Avaya Softphone to make telephone calls.

If I understand correctly, I would do the same thing with a keyboard:

1) Install the bluetooth stack.
2) Connect the USB adaptor.
3) Pair the keyboard.
4) Use the keyboard.

If I purchase a USB bluetooth dongle

1) How do I install the proper bluetooth stack on the Wii?
2) How do I pair the keyboard to the dongle?
3) How do I connect the keyboard to the dongle?

I'm not trying to be obtuse, just trying to understand how this should work!

Thanks!

Joe

Logitech sells a bluetooth keyboard that comes with an adapter.

You need to buy that combination - a keyboard with its specific adapter, bundled in the same package, in order for it to work with the Wii, since what it should do is recognize the adapter, which sends out the signal to the keyboard designed for it, which communicates back to it, which sends the signal back into the USB port on the Wii, which lets you use the keyboard.

You can't buy a bluetooth keyboard and then a random bluetooth adapter and expect them to work. The Wii can't install drivers, it can't pair devices that aren't designed to be paired with each other, etc. You won't run a program on the Wii, you won't choose drivers or stacks, you won't anything. It doesn't work like that - it doesn't have the capability to do so.

All it does it look at the USB port and sees if something is there or not. What happens after that is up to the adapter/keyboard.

So, again, if you bought a Logitech bluetooth keyboard and then a random branded bluetooth adapter, it won't work. You'd need to buy a bluetooth keyboard that comes with an adapter with it and then you'd need to test it out.

You're making this far, far harder than it really is.

[quote name='Strell']You can't buy a bluetooth keyboard and then a random bluetooth adapter and expect them to work.
The Wii can't install drivers[/quote]

Thats really it right there.

You have to buy a set, thats already manufactured paired. The Wii is not a computer, so it can not install windows XP drivers to pair them.

Link to a "pre-paired" set

Though, this set has been at $60 at one point, so I would suggest keeping an eye out.

[quote name='Mookyjooky']Thats really it right there.

You have to buy a set, thats already manufactured paired. The Wii is not a computer, so it can not install windows XP drivers to pair them.

Link to a "pre-paired" set

Though, this set has been at $60 at one point, so I would suggest keeping an eye out.[/quote]What I'm using at work right now, works as explained.

I need a new keyboard for my home office, so I might aim wireless to use it on the Wii as well, now that this topic has reminded me it would work.

[quote name='Strell']You're making this far, far harder than it really is.[/quote]

Thanks.

Like I said, my experience with Bluetooth is limited. I didn't realize that such a thing as a "pre-paired" dongle/device existed. I'd thought the whole point of bluetooth was that you'd have one adaptor that paired EVERYTHING. Bluetooth has always been a pain in the ass for me -- when I bought the headset, it came "bundled" with a USB adaptor + bluetooth stack, which turned out to be a "counterfeit" adaptor I never could get to work. I bought a D-link dongle that has worked much better. I guess I thought my D-link dongle would work with mice, keyboards, headsets, LAN devices, etc, without ever needing a different bluetooth adaptor for anything -- and that all other bluetooth adaptors worked the same. My mistake, thanks for pointing it out. Now I know what to look for.

Is there any advantage over a "bluetooth" connected wireless keyboard versus an RF connected keyboard?

Joe

[quote name='DrJoe']Is there any advantage over a "bluetooth" connected wireless keyboard versus an RF connected keyboard?

Joe[/QUOTE]

The largest advantage you'll notice is power consumption. There might be some latency issues, but it's probably not a big concern with a keyboard unless you're speed typing.

Thanks, everyone for the explanations!


Joe