Face U/MX-mini U replica knowledge base

feizor · 23 Sep 2014, 15:39

Is there a guide or tutorial on the flash process? I am new to custom keyboards. Hopefully my face u will be arriving shortly.

chzel · 23 Sep 2014, 15:50

Take a deep breath, dive in, and come back with questions!

matt3o · 23 Sep 2014, 15:55

I'm more concerned about the "no wake-up from suspend" thing actually

Muirium · 23 Sep 2014, 16:18

Correct. That would bug me immensely, as I wake my desktop by keyboard ~100% of the time. It's plugged in, so wake damn you, waaake!

DanielT · 23 Sep 2014, 17:29

feizor wrote: ↑Is there a guide or tutorial on the flash process? I am new to custom keyboards. Hopefully my face u will be arriving shortly.

Check also the OP

macmakkara · 23 Sep 2014, 21:24

why to put comp/mac/whatever to sleep? Keep it awake all the time!

Nah yep... Thats really bug or feature that needs to be fixed... Even if i don't use sleep.

beltet · 23 Sep 2014, 23:35

macmakkara wrote: ↑why to put comp/mac/whatever to sleep? Keep it awake all the time!

Nah yep... Thats really bug or feature that needs to be fixed... Even if i don't use sleep.

I dont use it either, but it seems like a basic feature to add...

Laser · 23 Sep 2014, 23:39

Perhaps the only question is if we can do something about it or not ...

feizor · 24 Sep 2014, 00:17

chzel wrote: ↑Take a deep breath, dive in, and come back with questions!

Cool thanks I'll check it out!

beltet · 24 Sep 2014, 23:10

Laser wrote: ↑Perhaps the only question is if we can do something about it or not ...

You are right. I would love to do it, but I dont know shit about programming...
Always wanted to learn, maybe this is the carrot?...

matt3o · 24 Sep 2014, 23:29

tomorrow I'll check if I can add back vusb support to tmk_keyboard. I see it hard, but worth trying

Laser · 24 Sep 2014, 23:37

matt3o wrote: ↑tomorrow I'll check if I can add back vusb support to tmk_keyboard. I see it hard, but worth trying

Make it "actively supported" again? It would be cool. *Maybe* (just mabye) it just doesn't build in new versions, but the meat is there (would be the luckiest case, i think). Perhaps some github forks for other v-usb keyboards/devices exist?

BTW, I *do* know c/c++, but - i have no experience with micro controllers and power stuff.

Where i could probably help, if need arises at some point, is a non-flash, qt or wxwidgets based native GUI key mapping software (so, portable).

matt3o · 25 Sep 2014, 08:24

API changed and hasu didn't update the vusb code. The "not actively supported" simply means "sorry guys it doesn't work anymore".

Laser · 25 Sep 2014, 11:16

matt3o wrote: ↑API changed and hasu didn't update the vusb code. The "not actively supported" simply means "sorry guys it doesn't work anymore".

Thanks - i presume "API changed" in Hasu's code; this would mean that an older version should work, right? But i guess it's also necessary to provide some porting in that code, for faceU specifics.

HzFaq · 25 Sep 2014, 11:22

Oooo, if you guys could get TMK running on these that would make me super happy. The current firmware is nice, but without tap-FN and mousekeys it feels like half a board compared to my others.

DanielT · 25 Sep 2014, 11:50

What is tap-FN ?

HzFaq · 25 Sep 2014, 11:58

It allows you to have one key with dual rolls; I can set a key (";" for example) to be a normal key if I tap it or a FN key if I hold it down.

edit - Video in the OP

DanielT · 25 Sep 2014, 12:01

Ahum, thanks for the explanation, interesting feature.

Muirium · 25 Sep 2014, 12:01

Yeah, tap modes are a nice idea but quite fiddly in practice. They're basically a layer, but you trigger them with a gesture instead of with a dedicated Fn key. I suggest trying an HHKB cursor diamond as a tap layer. Then when you tap and hold [ you'll get up arrow, etc.

Laser · 25 Sep 2014, 12:04

Metalliqaz' " Easy AVR USB Keyboard Firmware and Keymapper" also has this feature (and it's also a very nice GUI): http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=51252.0. (I use it with my CM QFR with bpiphany's Frosty Flake replacement controller)

You can have your Caps Lock act as control when you press other keys, or as Caps Lock at release, if other key wasn't meanwhile pressed. Or Win can be also FN key, or Space ...

Muirium · 25 Sep 2014, 12:08

To be fair, I haven't spent long with a keyboard with this feature. (It's the main thing missing from Soarer's Converter and Controller, and Xwhatsit doesn't have it either.) Do you find it hard to adapt to keyboards without taps? I'm pretty good at remembering which keyboards have extra layers, because I always think of them by the dedicated (remapped) Fn keys; typically Caps Lock which I never use otherwise.

DanielT · 25 Sep 2014, 12:10

For me what the firmware offers at this moment is more than enough, I like to keep things simple, I don't even use macro's, have a layout close to HHKB and that what I need.
For me the only issue is the BIOS/GRUB part, but even that is not so bad. Never use wake up, my terminal at home boots in 15s so I don't need that.
Overall I like the board

Now I'm waiting for the GON NerD60, curios about that one

Laser · 25 Sep 2014, 12:12

TBH, i don't use power management too myself, but it's good to know your keyboard is 'fully' capable.

DanielT, have you tried hooking the keyboard to your PC through a PS/2<->USB adapter. The keyboard might work a little differently in this case (different detection), there might be a chance it also solves your cold boot problems.

HzFaq · 25 Sep 2014, 12:26

@Muirium
I have 2 tapFNs set up on my boards at the moment and probably use them more than my normal FN keys...adjusting to the FaceU without these was a bit of a pain, but no different to adapting to any other FN layout. Having them back though would mean that all my boards have the same FN layout which is obviously pretty handy.

\ (ISO)- is my numpad layer and ; is my mousing layer, I wouldn't set any alphas as tapFN keys as there is obivously a timing buffer where the layer will activate instead of the character (or vice versa) but for lesser used punctuation keys they're awesome (I'm all about staying on the home row as much as possible, so being able to move the mouse and access the numpad without my hands leaving the home row let alone the keyboard is amazing).

I'll still leave \uli etc around where I've got the timing wrong a little but it doesn't happen often enough for me to not want to use it.

DanielT · 25 Sep 2014, 12:53

Laser wrote: ↑TBH, i don't use power management too myself, but it's good to know your keyboard is 'fully' capable.

DanielT, have you tried hooking the keyboard to your PC through a PS/2<->USB adapter. The keyboard might work a little differently in this case (different detection), there might be a chance it also solves your cold boot problems.

Thanks for reminding me about the adapter, I'm taking it home today

If I use a powered USB hub it works, so maybe is also power/fw boot time related.

DanielT · 25 Sep 2014, 20:20

Tested also USB2PS2 adaptor, no change for BIOS/GRUB. But the keyboard works fine also on PS2 and that is a good thing

beltet · 25 Sep 2014, 22:32

DanielT wrote: ↑Tested also USB2PS2 adaptor, no change for BIOS/GRUB. But the keyboard works fine also on PS2 and that is a good thing

Vän you test NKRO over PS2?

Sorry! the damn auto correct! And forgot to change language. It should be:
CAN you test NKRO over PS2?

albill · 25 Sep 2014, 23:28

Question: what is the default for Cherry switches, plate or pcb mount, if it isn't specified? Plate mount?

See http://www.ebay.com/itm/120951918275?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT for example.

Muirium · 25 Sep 2014, 23:31

There is no default. That switch is PCB mount, though because you can see plastic mounting pins on its back, along with the metal legs.

It is also horrendously overpriced! 7bit sells them for about half as much here. If he has the version you want in stock, he's definitely the way to go. (Just never believe his ETAs for things he doesn't have in.)

albill · 25 Sep 2014, 23:39

Muirium wrote: ↑There is no default. That switch is PCB mount, though because you can see plastic mounting pins on its back, along with the metal legs.

It is also horrendously overpriced! 7bit sells them for about half as much here. If he has the version you want in stock, he's definitely the way to go. (Just never believe his ETAs for things he doesn't have in.)

Thanks. As I said, I'm new so I'm still learning to tell the difference.

I found this place referenced on geekhack as well: http://techkeys.us/collections/accessor ... d-switches