HHKB Pro 2 - dip switch 3

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Muirium
µ

07 Feb 2015, 11:38

Yup, it's always tradeoffs. Mine is a real home away from home for my HHKB, and is exactly where I put it when the keyboard's not in use, being OCD about dirt and yellowing…

Besides, I don't backpack. So I've no specific need for something smaller.

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ShivaYash

07 Feb 2015, 11:42

This looks good, if the Apple Wireless case is a better fit. What do others think? Adore June - Keeb - Case / Sleeve for Apple Wireless Keyboard https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004WWBUZG/ ... 1ub123MZZ1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004WWBUZG/ ... 1ub123MZZ1

User avatar
Muirium
µ

07 Feb 2015, 11:58

How deep is it? The HHKB is much more chunky than the razor thin Apple board.

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Hypersphere

07 Feb 2015, 17:46

Muirium wrote: Correct. That's what I mean. Karabiner is clearly centred around Apple's own somewhat oddball names for things, and "Fn" refers strictly to Apple's Fn key, everywhere it shows up.

I don't use Karabiner. (I'm allergic to 3rd party kernel extensions, period.) But if I did, I'd look at pointing "Clear" to Delete.
I haven't tried Karabiner on a Macbook or Apple keyboard, but it works well on any keyboard for which you can define your own Fn key. For example, if I remap "Menu" or Right Control as Fn in Karabiner, then various built-in features such as Fn+Delete --> Forward Delete work just fine. I've become dependent upon Karabiner -- it works beautifully and enables emulation of the HHKB layout on all my keyboards. I now have 12 keyboard profiles in Karabiner. I plug in a given keyboard, select its profile from the drop-down menu, and it will behave as if it were a HHKB.

EDIT:

@Muirium: I've gone back to my HHKB Pro 2, and using Karabiner, I found a built-in option, "Clear to Forward Delete". I checked this, and now when I hit Fn+Delete, I get Forward Delete. Hurrah! Note that with the HHKB Pro 2, I have not been using any Karabiner settings, and I have DIP switches 2 and 3 set to On. Switch 2 On = Mac; Switch 3 On = Delete --> Backspace. Without Karabiner, Fn + Backspace = Clear. With Karabiner set to Clear --> Forward Delete, I get Fn+Backspace = Forward Delete.

This setting brings my HHKB Pro 2 in line with all my other keyboards, for which Fn+Backspace = Forward Delete.

Thanks, Mu!
Last edited by Hypersphere on 07 Feb 2015, 19:13, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
ShivaYash

07 Feb 2015, 18:43

Muirium wrote:How deep is it? The HHKB is much more chunky than the razor thin Apple board.
It doesn't say. If however the other case, by the same company, for the Apple keyboard fits nicely, I thought perhaps this one would as well.

I'm going to keep this one I think. As I only travel with my usual bag and wanted something to avoid damage by rubbing against other things. My MacBook Air lives in an incase sleeve and the actual computer wears a very thin Moshi branded hard case. It's very discreet and since trying such cases a while back, they really appeal for the super thin MacBook Air.

User avatar
Muirium
µ

07 Feb 2015, 21:07

Might as well stick with what works for you. Buying stuff like this blindly off the internet makes the chances of a good match all the more important. This is why I like getting the simplest sure fire answer. And to be honest, I really wanted a case that said this!

Image

@Hyper: Good stuff. If you had the nice white caps on it, as Wada intended, the legends would have pointed you the right way at the outset. I simply read "Clear" straight off the front of my Delete key. Sure enough, it was showing up as the mysterious Clear key in OS X's keyboard viewer too: the crossed square that Macs expect instead of the redundant Num Lock at the top left of a standard numpad.
Yosemite Keyboard Viewer.png
Yosemite Keyboard Viewer.png (233.43 KiB) Viewed 2196 times
As far as OS X is concerned, that's my HHKB! USB doesn't inform the host of the actual layout of the keyboard. (Well, unless it's an Apple keyboard. Interestingly, ADB has the same feature. My old Blue & White G3 is the only Mac with an ADB port that can run OS X, and when I hook up an ADB board to it, sure enough Keyboard Viewer shows the appropriate layout. Very sneaky.)

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Hypersphere

08 Feb 2015, 01:44

@Muirium: Yes, I sneaked a peek at my unaltered Type-S to remind me of the Clear on the front of the Delete keycap. Nevertheless, I prefer the cleaner look of the Topre replacement keycaps with legends only on the top; the legends also look crisper and more correctly sized than those on the HHKB. Although my replacement are blue, Topre also makes them in white.

Yes, my HHKB layout shows up in keyboard viewer just like the one you have depicted, although I get different layouts with some other keyboards. Because of the USB hub built into the HHKB, the keyboard is not recognized when you go through the "Change Keyboard Type..." routine on the Mac. However, if you do "Modifier Keys..." the "Select Keyboard" menu explicitly displays "HHKB Professional".

Owing to all this testing of the HHKB, tonight I switched over first to my Type-S and now my standard model; my V60 Matias is sitting on the sidelines for now. There is much to like about each of these 60% boards. Meanwhile, my Poker II is tucked away in its box on a closet shelf, its Cherry mx switches no match for Topre or Matias.

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