Canute with Duxbury DBT on Windows 10 11 - Bristol-Braille/canute-ui GitHub Wiki

How to use Canute as a Braille display for DBT's Braille view

Plug it in!

OK there is slightly more to it than that, but not much.

Canute 360 will act as a Braille display reflecting the Braille output window of DBT. To achieve this follow these steps:

  1. We recommend you make sure your Canute is up to date on the latest firmware, but these instructions will nonetheless work on every version since 1.3.19.
  2. This should work on Duxbury DBT version 12 and above. Upgrade your copy of DBT if necessary.
  3. Turn on your Canute 360 and your PC.
  4. Make sure you are not running BRLTTY, or if you are it is not configured to drive the Canute, as this will otherwise take control of the Canute display. The following steps should work whilst running JAWS or NDVA (which do not currently have drivers for the Canute display).
  5. Once Canute 360 has completed its start-up routine use a USB-B to USB-A cable (AKA a printer cable) to connect the Canute to the PC. The male USB-B connector goes in the Canute, the male USB-A goes in the PC.
  6. Open DBT, open a document you want to on or stay with a blank document.
  7. Go to Braille view in DBT. After refreshing the Canute will reflect the Braille output.
  8. Now you can type using six-key entry and the Canute display will upgrade in real-time. If a Braille document has focus, and you are typing in six key entry, and as long as 'Codes' is unchecked in the 'View' menu, then the Canute will live output as you type.
  9. The cursor position is not reflected on the display but DBT will shift what lines are shown on the device to keep the line with the cursor on the Canute display whenever the document text is changed.
  10. Moving the document cursor will do the same thing.
  11. Using Back or Forward on the Canute display will change what is showing on the Canute and the on screen display will scroll to match.

Troubleshooting

The most likely reason for the Canute not to respond to DBT once plugged is a lack of the correct USB-to-serial driver. Go to device manager and look for ports. The Canute should show up as a COM port (for example COM7). However if there is an unidentified USB device that may well be the Canute. you can try updating the drivers for that port. Windows should be able to automatically find the correct USB-to-serial drivers. The Canute uses an FTDI chip to simulate RS-232 over USB.

How to use DBT to generate files to read independently on the Canute

Using Duxbury to create BRFs for the Canute is equally simple. Note that this is entirely separate process from the above and it doesn't related to using the Canute as a display for DBT.

You don't need to have the Canute plugged in.

You import the PDF, Word file or other document into DBT, convert it to Braille following conventional Duxbury instructions (there is nothing specific to the Canute needed), choosing whichever system and grade of Braille you want.

Then you export it as a BRF, making sure to use the default NABCC (US Braille ASCII) character encoding, or EuroBraille, selecting whichever you are otherwise using for your existing book library (because the Canute system settings for character encoding applies to the whole library rather than per book). These BRFs will need to be manually copied to a USB stick or SD card for them to be viewed on the Canute with the Canute used in standalone mode (not plugged in to a PC).

There is also a listing of Canute in the DBT embosser menu. This is for convenience in setting DBT up to create .brf files specifically formatted for the Canute 360 to use. This will create 9 line BRF files which are especially nice for reading on the Canute.