A bit ago I accidentally bought a Keychron keyboard that didn't have QMK support, but then found that someone had ported it anyway, and I was able to flash it and fix some problems I had (the main one being that it seems like the default firmware only scans a single row of keys while asleep, possibly to save energy, but I want any keypress to wake the computer.) Maybe it's not perfect, but the community around open source keyboard firmware is great, it's a good example of how open source is beneficial for end users, especially power users.

And, in an era where vendor software and firmware for all kinds of devices is constantly having vulnerabilities, it is possible the liability of doing custom shit will eventually outweigh whatever benefits hardware companies seem to think it has, versus just having industry standards and free software instead. But, maybe that is wishful thinking.

My only complaint with Keychron is that of 5 or so keyboards I've owned from them I wound up having to resolder 3 different hotswap sockets on 2 different keyboards right out of the box. That is... Not a fantastic failure rate. OTOH, they are otherwise an unambiguously great value, with materials and build quality that feels pretty impressive for the cost, QC issues notwithstanding.

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danudey 25 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

My only complaint is that the backlight behavior has like a dozen different settings, none of which are "off". There's "on", "flicker", "blink when you hit the key", "ripple out when you hit the key", "move in waves regardless of input", etc., but there's no "don't be light" option.

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martinjc 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I bought a K4 Nordic version, only to learn none of their software supports it. So i can't reconfigure the firmware.

The keyboard has swapped Super/Alt (Windows/Alt) on the windows layout which is so annoying. I hate spending money on hardware so i'm living with it, but i curse the engineer that burned the prom every day.

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benoau 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That sucks, the main reason I like KeyChron is the little switch on the side of mine that toggles between Mac and Windows! I wouldn't buy another keyboard without this feature TBH.

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martinjc 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah on the mac it works fine. The keyboard just shipped with the Left Alt and Left Windows key in the correct positions, but they are mapped opposite in the firmware. Imagine how maddening it was in the beginning.

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mananaysiempre 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

GP’s point is that many keyboards these days come with a Mac/Windows switch, and one of the things that switch does is swap the keycodes sent by the Alt and Win keys—the “Mac” behaviour is exactly what you’re describing. (The other thing it does is toggle FnLock for the F-keys.) So if I had a problem like yours with my keyboard I’d think that the Mac/Win switch were in the wrong position. If I’m reading page 9 of the manual[1] right, on the K4 the switch in question is right next to the USB-C port.

[1] https://www.keychron.com/pages/k4-keyboard-user-manual

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benoau 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Are you sure you don't have a tiny switch on the side? The manual indicates it should have one -

https://www.keychron.com/pages/k4-user-manual

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martinjc 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I do, but when on the windows mode the keys mentioned are in the wrong positions.

Edit and if i switch to the macOS mode. The right alt-gr key is not mapped correctly.

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Barbing an hour ago | parent [-]

On macOS:

I use my Keychron C3 in Windows mode because the macOS mode ain't right with the bottom left corner keys.

Maybe placement of Control/Option/Command aren't similar enough to the MacBook Pro keyboard for me.

Been meaning to figure this out and fix it... swapping physical keycaps or remapping in software or replacing the keyboard...

	▲	martinjc an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Waiting for it to die and will not buy another of theirs. Piece of shit.

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theodric 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Just remap it! If you're on Windows, SharpKeys will do that for you. https://github.com/randyrants/sharpkeys

	▲	martinjc 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I have autohotkey for remapping. The issue is when i boot into a rpi with a new build, i don't want to pollute it with custom xbind mappings.

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ThrowawayR2 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> "the little switch on the side of mine that toggles between Mac and Windows"

The physical slide switch on the Keychrons is a net negative for power users who use a KVM between Windows/Mac/Linux because it would wear out quickly and isn't replaceable. It's more sensible to have switching between layouts by keypress combination.

	▲	bigfishrunning 29 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		At least on the keychrons i've got, you can absolutely configure layout changes via key combination, and that slide switch is just an input like every button is an input. I've got 2 that both run QMK firmware, so maybe the non-QMK ones can't do that, but at least some can.
	▲	svelle an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Have been using one of their keyboards for two years switching between windows and macos and that key was not the one that wore out first. Plus on most keyboards you could configure the layout switch with qmk anyways.

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BrandoElFollito an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Why not reconfiguring it with something like AutoHotkey at the OS level ?

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spike021 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

my issue with the one i have (k2, iirc) is that if i use it wirelessly and the battery dies, it becomes a brick until its been fully recharged. it won't even work as a wired keyboard until then. so ever since then i only use it wired.