Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
Symptoms:
* Nothing is emitted by the keyboard when any keys are pressed. * Keyboard not recognized by PC -- with the USBTreeView app running, I plug it in and nothing changes, no new USB device is shown. * The Teensy Loader app doesn't see the keyboard either. * All 3 LEDs are on solid (num lock, caps lock, scroll lock). * Pushing the button on the Teensy turns off the LEDs (the only response I see), but the keyboard still doesn't show up as a USB device.
What I've tried:
* Disconnecting and reconnecting the keyboard. * Pushing the Teensy board button. * Disconnecting the keyboard, pushing and holding the Teensy board button, while reconnecting the keyboard. * Using a different USB cable. * Rebooting the workstation (Win XP -- yeah, I know). * Connecting the keyboard to a different workstation. * Combinations of the above.
So far, nothing is effective.
Has anybody had an experience like this? Any clues on what I can do next, what to look for, what to test? Who to ask?
Thanks for any advice you can provide.
[Edit 2013-12-16:]
I informed support@massdrop.com of the issue. Excerpt:
" I had issues with static shocks over the two weeks I used the keyboard, to the point where I started using an anti-static wristband at my desk. I now believe that the USB connector from the Teensy board to the main ErgoDox board (stripped USB mini cable) was the culprit, possibly touching the aluminum top plate (or forming a small-enough air gap) and providing a path to ground for electro-static discharge (ESD). The USB socket on the Teensy board sits very close to the top plate, and if the stripped USB cable's connector is at all bent (easy to do in the stripping process) or if there's any stray metal shielding, it's very likely to contact the top plate or come close enough for some nasty sparks.
Please amend the assembly instructions to include insulating the Teensy board from an aluminum top plate. A piece of electrical tape affixed to the USB socket & connector on the Teensy board would suffice. The assembly instructions describe an aluminum case and a supplied mylar sheet; I assume this was an option on earlier drops. Perhaps such a sheet should be included with the optional aluminum top plates as well. "
I ordered a replacement Teensy board from PJRC (http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy_pins.html). Hopefully that, and a bit of electrical insulation, will fix the issue.
See http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=52303.0 for a useful discussion.
I'm getting some replies there, hopefully I'll be able to diagnose the issue.
Perhaps I have to get a new Teensy board... But it seems to me that an ErgoDox should be more robust than this.
Has anybody else had issues with static electricity or their ErgoDox breaking?