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Discussion on: I wanna hack my keyboard

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skydevht profile image
Holy-Elie Scaïde

unfortunately, I lost the files. I don't know how comfortable you are with C/C++ ecosystem, but it fairly easy to do so (only some git commands required) using this guide.
P.S. Let me add shamelessly that I'm in need of another keyboard for my home workspace (I go everywhere with mine (office, coworking space)), so if you're open to selling it with a price discount, I might buy it (depending on the discount). I have a friend in the US that can bring it to me, so that would work only if you're located in the US. (I can pay the local shipping fees)

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stupidhaiku profile image
stupidhaiku

Too bad, was hoping to use it for a hackeyboard (that's my term, you can't have it! :P). I'd consider letting it go for half what I paid for it (it's got everything from the original box, mind, and was used for a day before I decided I couldn't handle the CTRL+FN behavior), but I'd want to make sure:

  1. You are ok with Cherry mx silent red switches, which this one has. Most people consider red switches "gaming" switches as they're linear, but I've come to love them for typing -- it feels like your fingers just brush over the keys and words appear. The board in question was my first silent red board though i have a regular red switch board, and the weight of the Mecha mini with the easy keypresses and light vibrations of the keys springing back made me fall in love with them. That's me, though, and everyone's different. So first I'd want to make sure that's the switch type you're after.
  2. You should be ok with the behavior of the CTRL+FN keys, which is what made me give it up (I otherwise love that board) as I haven't heard this described anywhere else. I use the CTRL + arrow keys all the time at work as it's a windows shop, and what made me frustrated about the One 2 mini was the fact that it considers CTRL+FN as a distinct layer for some reason. So if I want to navigate with the arrow keys, which is FN+ijkl, then it works fine; however, if I want to switch between arrow keys and CTRL+arrow keys (to move between words in windows) then I have to release the FN key, press CTRL first, then FN again, then ijkl. Having to do things in this order breaks my stride, and is different from the way traditional 60% boards handle this (which is to handle CTRL/FN being pressed together regardless of which was pressed first) and I eventually decided it wasn't worth the additional hassle. This behavior is actually what led me to your post, as I thought I could install a custom firmware to fix this.

In any case, if you're ok with the above I'm willing to sell it. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the issues I had with it. Other than that, it's really a fantastic board (but then again, I'm a big Ducky fanboy). And yeah, I'm in the continental US. If any of the above gives you reservations, no worries, because I can try building the CFW using your instructions and let you know how it goes!