What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
- On a Mac or Linux, run the command like this: `./mdloader --first --smarteep`.
- On Windows, run it like this: `mdloader.exe --first --smarteep`
Note that the keyboard will not reboot automatically after this command, so you should unplug it and plug it in again to start it up. For reference, the changes to the loader in this fork are from the pending PR here: https://github.com/Massdrop/mdloader/pull/16Update your keymap to save your settings Now to update the default keymap to save the settings. I created a fork of the latest QMK today and added the required changes to it: https://github.com/ottobonn/qmk_firmware These changes include a new default keymap for the CTRL that saves a bunch of settings to the nonvolatile memory, and some changes based on community work to support SmartEEPROM in QMK, which I have adapted to make a bit more readable. Check out the master branch on this fork of QMK and `make massdrop/ctrl:default_md` to build the new keymap. I have the Drop CTRL and I have tested these steps to persist the settings even after unplugging the keyboard, and it's working great! I am planning to add support for the ALT soon as well. If you need help adapting the CTRL keymap to the ALT, let me know.