Cherry smart card keyboard on Linux

Published: 2014-12-15

This is just a quick post to explain how to set up a Cherry G83-6744 smart card keyboard on Debian Linux. The keyboard comes with a driver CD (for a binary PCSC driver) and printed instructions, but you can also grab them on Cherry's site if needed.

Setup

First, install pcscd:

$ sudo aptitude install pcscd

Then, mount the CD, and extract the driver tarball:

$ cd drivers/ST-1044_6744_6644/PCSC_driver_Linux_64bit/
$ tar xf ifdokccid_lnx_x64-3.7.0.tar.gz
$ ifdokccid_lnx_x64-3.7.0
$ sudo bash ./install

The installation script will check a few prerequisites and provide you with a status report after installation. At this point, your smart card reader is installed.

Middleware for Belgian electronic ID cards

To use the smart card reader with the Belgian electronic ID card, you'll need additional middleware. You can grab a Debian repository package here. For now only Debian 7 (Wheezy) is supported, but the packages work fine on 8 (Jessie). For other distributions or source tarballs check the federal government's site. Install it with dpkg, then run aptitude:

$ sudo aptitude update
$ sudo aptitude install eid-mw

If you want a GUI to see what's on your ID card, you can also install the eid-viewer package. Finally, install the eID add-on in Firefox.

Now restart your system, and navigate to a site supporting smart card authentication. Once you insert the smart card, the reader's LED on the keyboard should light green, then turn to a blinking red when you're prompted to input your PIN on the numeric keypad.