Do I Need to Lube My Keyboard Switches?
Figure 1: Sometime around here is a good time to ask that question... If you’re new to the mechanical keyboard hobby, I have no doubt that planning your first keyboard build is a bit of a daunting task. To be entirely honest with you, it’s only a tiny bit less daunting for your second or even third keyboard builds should you stay around a little while longer. You’ve got the keyboard itself to worry about, stabilizers, keycaps, and even switches on top of all of the intangible marks you want your dream keyboard to hit. Switches are especially daunting right out of the gate as there’s just so many options out there to pick from – each with their own unique specifications, manufacturers, and more. Yet, in spite of all of these differences between switches, time and time again I find people always asking about lubing switches as one of their chief concerns when it comes to picking some up. With countless numbers of content creators talking about lubing switches, its no...
Apr 17, 2024
Please see an early post in this forum on how command line works. Basically all you need is an app or any window that can display text. No more software installation, programming or complicated "configurator" that works only on certain versions of certain OS. Our approach is truly platform independent and very simple to use. It is in the device itself so it will be there as long as the device exists (how many of you can still find the software to program you "programmable" keyboard bought a few years ago???).
I will just use this text window to demonstrate. I am going to create 3 key mappings:
1. remap key 1 in the keypad to volume plus (so potentially one can turn a keypad into a media center by remapping all the keys to media keys) 2. swap the left ALT key with the COM key (so you can use Apple keyboard in Windows and vise versa) 3. Remap the F6 key to generate the "hello world" string. I need to create a macro first.
I have the BT-500 connected to the keyboard I am typing on and to my computer (works with either USB or Bluetooth). I am about to press the mode button to enter command mode. Once entered, most texts below will be generated by the adapter. I am just typing the commands after the ">" prompt (and the macro).
Bluetooth Adapter Firmware v5.0.4 Copyright 2018 Handheld Scientific, Inc. Type help or ? > map add kp_1 vol+ one mapping is added > map add l_alt l_com one mapping is added > map add l_com l_alt one mapping is added > macro edit 0 Edit macro 0 Input key names separated by space. type "map names" for all names Press Enter or Return to end input. h e l l o space w o r l d input is done. 11 key recorded for macro 0 > map add f6 macro:0 one mapping is added > map All key mappings: 1: kp_1 -> vol+ 2: l_alt -> l_com 3: l_com -> l_alt 4: f6 -> macro:0 > exit Exit command mode
That is it. Now I have exited command mode. Use this online key tester to verify that the key mappings are indeed working: http://www.keyboardtester.com/tester.html. If you like the mappings to survive power cycles, you will need to go back to command mode to execute "save". There is even a command "map add dvorak" to instantly add all mappings to turn a Qwerty keyboard into a Dvorak one. Can't get cooler than this!