I've had no luck finding a keyboard that I like... one that is trouble-free - I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

Can you relate?

Don't let the list of verified peripherals get you down; tools abound to ease your pain.

Disclaimer: You will need a keyboard to get you by... I recommend the cheapest and ugliest from the list. You'll only need it to type in a couple commands - as soon as you're done with it, you can deposit it in a drawer for safe keeping. Wink wink.

Ready? Make sure your RasPi is connected to your network and ifconfig to get the IP address.

From the command line:

sudo apt-get install tightvncserver xtightvncviewer

As soon as it's finished, you can start-up an instance of VNC Server. Again, from the command line:

vncserver :1 -geometry 1024×768 -depth 16 -pixelformat rgb565

You can adjust the geometry, color depth, and pixel format to your hearts desire. Now, from a host machine use the IP from ifconfig... launch JollysFastVNC if you're on Mac or Tight VNC Viewer on Linux or Windows.

When you connect for the first time... you might see this error message.

GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Error.Failed: An authentication agent already exists for the given subject

Good news - it's an easy fix!

Richard Shaw 2011-01-03 13:41:08 EST
I think I found the problem. The solution is so go into "Preferences->Desktop Session Settings" and un-check "PolicyKit Authentication Agent" as LXDE runs it's own LXPolKit Authentication Agent.

To make this permanent, a quick modification to your init.d is all it takes ( see section 9.3 ).

There you go... the ultimate keyboard / mouse combo for your RasPi should be the one your prodding with your phalanges.

UPDATE: Here is a comprehensive guide to use the Raspberry Pi without a monitor. Curse you Googles!