Comment 1 by jteh on 2015-06-18 23:35
I've contacted Baum about this. If there are significant differences from other Baum displays, I'll probably need an actual display in order to work on this.

I did receive the protocol documentation for these displays from Baum. Unfortunately, the protocol is quite different to other Baum displays, so I'd need a physical display for at least a month in order to add support for this.

CC @pavel46.

@jcsteh: Would you implement this protocol in the current driver, or would you start an entirely new one?

N.B. Posted on behalf of @BabbageCom

TL;DR: Integrate into the current driver if possible, but let's be flexible if it's too hard.

The protocol follows a similar format, but it uses entirely different opcodes. If it were integrated into the existing driver, there wouldn't be a huge amount of common code, but it also wouldn't conflict with the protocol used by other displays either.

Doing it in the existing driver is probably nicer for users because then we don't have two separate Baum drivers, so I think I'd prefer this if possible. That said, if it were found to be insanely difficult/ugly/unmaintainable to integrate it into the current driver, I wouldn't object to splitting it out.

FWIW, BRLTTY just has a single driver.

P3, While there is demand for this, there is likely to be quite a bit of work in implementing it.

@michaelDCurran, @LeonarddeR , @andre9642
Is there any chance to continue this work? Baum is now insolvent. They stopped any kind of support / development / selling activities. Therefore many Cobra users are changing to NVDA. We have big demand on this topic.

Thanks.

Here is a scource code which might help:

https://www.nvda-brugergruppen.dk/guides/devDocs/nvda/brailleDisplayDrivers.baum.BrailleDisplayDriver-class.html

There is, or was, actually a driver in development for this display which is on github. Last time I checked, it didn't yet concider it ready for pr. I will look at it again and will see whether I could get into touch with the author(s).

I realised I haven't yet shared the url to the repository. The beta driver is public.

https://github.com/BAUM-Engineering/VarioPro_NVDA_driver

Hello,

I have tested the driver shared by @LeonarddeR and I have granted feedback from german users as well. The driver is working with Baum Vario pro 80, but the input keys and other display keys are not working when using Baum Vario Pro 64. We will test it with taso and will come up with more feedback.

I appreciate your commitment to having this driver work as good as possible. I need to point the following things out though:

1. Given the current situation at Baum, it is very unlikely that the people from Baum will work on this driver any time soon.
2. As you know, VarioPro is a huge device. Because of that and because I won't be able to get hold of a VarioPro 64, I'm afraid I can't invest time in developing it any time soon either.
3. As per above points, this driver is and will stay out of scope for auto detection of braille displays (Give NVDA the ability to automatically detect braille displays. #1271) for now. Note that the auto detection system is plugable though, so non-core drivers will be able to benefit from it as well if properly implemented.
4. I am reluctant to advise implementing this driver or an improved derivative into NVDA core in the near future. It would be good to have @michaelDCurran's opinion about this, though.

Dear all,

after great support from skilled baum product users, we found out that the vario pro 64 problem raised because of lib usb from BRLTTY installed on that computer. I have also reached Steffen König, who was involved in testing this driver during the whole development process. He is interested in doing more tests and also writing a detailed report if needed.

The driver shared by @LeonarddeR works with Vario Pro 80, Vario Pro 64 and TASO. The telefone modules are supported as well, although there are some small issues regarding output braille.

As of now, we are in process to reach Florin Trutiu, who comes from Romania. He is the main developer of this driver.

So, in case this driver will be implemented in NVDA, it has to be considered that driver updates are possible from time to time.

@Adriani90: thanks for your update. For privacy reasons, I've removed the e-mail address you mentioned from your comment.

Note that, since they are very tightly related and part of the Variopro eco system and protocol, I consider it OK to also discuss the TASO module and other VP modules in this issue. Therefore I closed #7985.

Dear all, what is needed here to continue the implementation work? Users of every module seem to not have any issues when using the baum driver provided above by @LeonarddeR. TASO is working, Baum Vario Pro 80 and 64 are working.

Some updates on this Topic:The production and Distribution of Baum Braille Display has been overtaken by Visiobraille GmbH since 01.08.2018. Following Braille Displays are included:

• Compact 2 and Compact 2+
• VarioPRO 80
• Vario 340
• VarioUltra 20 and 40

The Website of the Company with contact details to get a test device is

https://www.visiobraille.de/index.php?article_id=1&clang=2

The production and Distribution of Baum Braille Display has been overtaken by Visiobraille GmbH since 01.08.2018.

Have you already seen a device that has been delivered by this new company?

@LeonarddeR not me, but this is the official announcement circulated by the Company and all blind federations in Germany during this week.

@pavel46 oh thanks for pointing this out. Sorry for the mistake.

I think, the displays will continue to be available. The new manufacturer Visiobraille has repaired my VarioPro beginning of this year.

The driver has been updated for NVDA 2019.3.1 as well.
@BAUM-Engineering is anyone of you planning to raise a Pull request for this to be included in NVDA? I am sure much more users would benefit out of it.