Novatouch discontinued

the_marsbar · 24 Oct 2016, 16:47

Are the dental bands you're using much different than the o-rings that comes with the board?

I was happy with the effect of Hypersphere's rings on my HHKB Pro 2, so bought a set of these for my NovaTouch as well.

phinix · 24 Oct 2016, 20:07

the_marsbar wrote: ↑Are the dental bands you're using much different than the o-rings that comes with the board?

I was happy with the effect of Hypersphere's rings on my HHKB Pro 2, so bought a set of these for my NovaTouch as well.

Dental bands are thinner a lot. i don't think you can use o-rings for this kind of mod.

I went with dental bands cause they cost me £1, compared to Hypersphere pads, which would cost me around £40 to get delivered to UK.

Laser · 24 Oct 2016, 20:31

Before I made my own rings, I did try dental bands - and I didn't like it: they were still too thick, and so the travel was shortened and it all felt too linear. If you can manage to find an old dual-layered mousepad, top - plastic, bottom - thin white rubber, separate that bottom part and use two punches to make your own thin rings

(there is a thread on geekhack somewhere with pics and dimensions; use a heat iron to make that rubber even thinner before punching the rings). Of course, this is a lot of work ...

The o-rings that come with the board solve (albeit much easier) a different problem: bottoming-out, not ... "topping-up".

zslane · 24 Oct 2016, 21:20

What do Type-S boards use to dampen the upstroke of the slider?

Hypersphere · 24 Oct 2016, 23:18

It appears that Type-S boards use rings similar to my Silencing Rings to attenuate the return-stroke clack. However, something seems slightly different. Trying to be as objective as possible, I prefer the sound and feel of my own silencing treatment on my HHKB to that of my Type-S HHKB.

E3E · 25 Oct 2016, 00:34

Hypersphere wrote: ↑It appears that Type-S boards use rings similar to my Silencing Rings to attenuate the return-stroke clack. However, something seems slightly different. Trying to be as objective as possible, I prefer the sound and feel of my own silencing treatment on my HHKB to that of my Type-S HHKB.

Ignoring the travel issues, how do you say your rings compare to the rings used on stock silenced Topre Realforce keyboards?

Hypersphere · 25 Oct 2016, 02:09

@E3E: I think that my rings are similar to those used in both, the Type-S HHKB and the factory-silenced RF keyboards. However, although I have a Type-S HHKB for direct comparison, I do not own a factory-silenced RF board. I can say that I am very pleased with the result of installing my silencing rings on HHKB, RF87U, and Novatouch keyboards. Moreover, the very best results are obtained from lubing the switches and stabilizers along with installing the rings. I also like to put foam pads under the spacebars.

Laser · 06 Jan 2017, 14:25

Just a heads-up - it seems it's now possible to tweak the Novatouch keyboard's keymap, without using an external programmer device (2nd method described here, also the text in the opened issue): https://github.com/vekkt0r/novatools There are some risks though, if the model/firmware version are not exactly the same, so inform yourself before bricking your keyboard!

Wodan · 06 Jan 2017, 14:26

Holy cow that is impressive ...

is there a thread for this anywhere ?

Laser · 06 Jan 2017, 14:28

You can see the details at the only opened issue at the project's page, and perhaps in the 2-parts (earlier) blog: http://vekkt0r.github.io/articles/novat ... ng-part-1/

I didn't try it yet, have to build up a little courage before performing such a daring action

Wodan · 06 Jan 2017, 14:33

Seems like you need a MSP430 launchpad for the communication/flashing ...

Thank god I got one when they were still 5€ ...

This is so funny, finally a keyboard that runs on a MSP430 .. it's been my µC of choice when I was still messing with that stuff.

Laser · 06 Jan 2017, 14:34

Or you can try the 2nd method, which doesn't need one ... you only have to put the keyboard in BSL mode by shorting the PUR pin with VCC, and then reflash it directly from the PC using the default USB connection. Now, *if* something goes wrong, then one does need that external programmer device, yes

But, if everything goes well, you can then put the keyboard in BSL mode (for other reflashing) by pressing FN + F1 + F4, if I got that right.

(EDIT: just added a post to the opened issue, basically I managed to reflash it without using an external programmer device).

Laser · 09 Jan 2017, 13:57

https://github.com/vekkt0r/novatools/is ... -271004658

sungwon · 13 Jan 2017, 16:06

we can't novamod anymore

Laser · 13 Jan 2017, 17:18

sungwon wrote: ↑we can't novamod anymore

The entire Github site seems to be down.

Hypersphere · 13 Jan 2017, 17:41

Thus far I've been too cowardly to risk messing up the default layout on my NT. Instead, I rely on either remapping software or my Hasu USB-USB converter.

Laser · 13 Jan 2017, 18:48

I think it's the safe decision right now - I hope in the future someone can reverse engineer and port TMK or something similar to the Novatouch.