Ship KDE Connect inside Frame Control instead of downloading it on the Frame

The keyboard and trackpad no longer fetch KDE Connect from Valve's package
repository on the Frame. The desktop apps and the iPhone app's Frame bundle
carry Valve's arm64 build of kdeconnect 24.02.2-1 and the five libraries it
links (kcontacts, kpeople, modemmanager-qt, pulseaudio-qt, libfakekey),
pinned by SHA-256 in frame/kdeconnect/packages.json and downloaded at build
time from the kdeconnect-frame-24.02.2-1 release, which also holds Valve's
complete source package for each.

On first use the computer copies them over its SSH connection (the iPhone
bundle already has them on the Frame); the agent checks each SHA-256,
unpacks them and stamps which build it is, so later starts copy nothing.
No internet on the Frame, 3.6 MB instead of 8 MB, 18 MB unpacked instead of
82 MB (ModemManager and friends were packaging-only dependencies).

GPL/LGPL compliance: frame/kdeconnect/NOTICE.md names each exact version,
licence and source; per-project licence texts in frame/kdeconnect/LICENSES;
THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md; an About and licences dialog in the app.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
saphidandClaude Opus 5.5 committed 2026-09-28 21:07:20 +10:00
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@@ -107,12 +107,34 @@ on the Frame, which talks KDE Connect's own LAN protocol to the Frame's
**Verified 2026-09-28** (SteamOS 0.4.1, build 20260925.6191901):
- KDE Connect isn't installed, but **Valve's package repository for the Frame
has it** (`kdeconnect` 24.02.2 in `extra`). The Frame lacks only `kpeople`,
`libfakekey`, `modemmanager-qt` and `pulseaudio-qt`. The agent fetches them
with `pacman -Sp` + `curl` into `~/.local/share/frame-control/kdeconnect`
(8 MB download, 82 MB unpacked, about 11 s), with no root and nothing on the
read-only system, so SteamOS updates leave it alone.
- KDE Connect isn't installed on the Frame, so **Frame Control ships it**:
Valve's own build for the Frame (`kdeconnect` 24.02.2-1 from its `extra`
repository) plus the five libraries it links that the Frame lacks
(`kcontacts`, `kpeople`, `modemmanager-qt`, `pulseaudio-qt`, `libfakekey`),
pinned by SHA-256 in [`frame/kdeconnect/packages.json`](../frame/kdeconnect/packages.json).
The builds download them from the
[kdeconnect-frame-24.02.2-1 release](https://github.com/saphid/frame-control/releases/tag/kdeconnect-frame-24.02.2-1)
(`app/build/fetch-deps.js`, `frame/kdeconnect/fetch.py`). The address of
Valve's repository for the Frame isn't to be shared, and Valve's public
aarch64 preview repository has KDE Connect 25.08, built against newer KDE
libraries than the Frame has.
- On first use, the computer copies them to the Frame over the SSH connection
it already has. The iPhone app's bundle, already copied to the Frame, has
them too. The agent checks each SHA-256 and unpacks them into
`~/.local/share/frame-control/kdeconnect` (3.6 MB copied, 18 MB unpacked,
about 2 s). There's no internet download on the Frame, no root, and nothing
on the read-only system, so SteamOS updates leave it alone. A stamp there
(`root/.frame-control-packages`) records which build it is; a newer Frame
Control replaces it.
- `pacman -Sp kdeconnect …` also pulls in ModemManager, libqmi, libmbim,
libqrtr-glib and ppp (packaging dependencies). `kdeconnectd` and its plugins
don't link any of them (checked with `ldd` against the six packages alone),
so Frame Control leaves them out.
- Licences: the packages are GPL and LGPL; Frame Control stays MIT because it
only starts `kdeconnectd` and speaks its protocol. The notice, licence texts
and complete source are in [`frame/kdeconnect`](../frame/kdeconnect/NOTICE.md),
[`THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md`](../THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md) and the app's
**About and licences** (Tools).
- It pairs by itself: the agent asks to pair and accepts on KDE Connect's side
over D-Bus (`qdbus6 … acceptPairing`). It keeps its identity in
`…/kdeconnect/bridge`, so later connections are already paired. (A pair
@@ -134,7 +156,8 @@ on the Frame, which talks KDE Connect's own LAN protocol to the Frame's
once exiting). Frame Control never unpairs. If its copy stops answering, the
agent restarts it once (tested by freezing it with `kill -STOP`).
- Moves from the iPhone app (Simulator) and the Mac's server moved the Frame's
X pointer by exactly the amount sent.
X pointer by exactly the amount sent, including with the bundled packages
copied over SSH (2026-09-28).
- gamescope runs **two Xwayland displays**. `:0` holds Steam's VR bar and menus
and ignores injected pointer motion; `:1` holds apps such as Chromium and
takes it. KDE Connect runs on `:1`, so it reaches apps, not Steam's own menus.
@@ -148,7 +171,7 @@ on the Frame, which talks KDE Connect's own LAN protocol to the Frame's
Our own `uinput` keyboard and mouse would also work (`steamos` is in the
`input` group and `/dev/uinput` is group-writable, verified 2026-09-27), and
remains the fallback if KDE Connect ever can't be fetched.
remains the fallback if the bundled KDE Connect ever stops working on a new SteamOS.
| Other option | Mac | iPhone | Why not |
|---|---|---|---|