Varmilo VB87M Bluetooth Keyboard Discussions | Drop

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Varmilo VB87M Bluetooth Keyboard

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wrose

Oct 20, 2016

Shortcomings of this keyboard on Mac (10.11): -No keyboard prefs as it's only detected as a generic bluetooth device -No battery meter in bluetooth dropdown -Need Karabiner to swap alt and cmd, something that might not be possible on 10.12 where you only have the more basic, WIP Karabiner Elements -Because the keyboard uses the Fn key for internal bluetooth functionality, the Fn/Application Key is never sent to the OS so you can't remap to standard macOS function key functions EDIT: -This is a major problem - since it's not detected as a keyboard, you can't use it until the machine is booted up. If you use File Vault, like I do, this means you can't log into the machine with the keyboard (from power-on, as the OS hasn't actually loaded yet).
I want to like this keyboard, but it is decidedly not Mac compatible. I typed this post with it, so it works, nominally, but the OS doesn't even think it's a keyboard. I suppose I could sell it...

Oct 20, 2016

msedano

Oct 21, 2016

wroseDo you think Karabiner will be updated to work correctly on 10.12? Currently using it to swap keys on 10.11 and it works perfectly. Pretty concerning though since i'm considering the new MB Pro releasing soon, which i'm sure will come with 10.12.

Oct 21, 2016

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wilmarvh

Oct 24, 2016

wroseSame boat here. Paid a truckload to get the keyboard all the way to South Africa on the grounds that it said it is Mac compatible. And yet it can't even pair to my Mac.

Oct 24, 2016

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wrose

Oct 25, 2016

msedanoThere's Karabiner Elements which I'm using on Sierra with my WASD TKL: https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements
But the problem with this is that it doesn't support complex bindings yet, like how in current Karabiner you can make mappings specific by hardware ID. This is important because if you swap super and alt in Karabiner Elements, you do it for all keyboards... including keyboards where you don't want to swap it, like a Macbook Pro built-in keyboard. I'm sure they'll add support eventually, but who knows when.

Oct 25, 2016

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techfresh

Oct 25, 2016

wroseAre you on a desktop or laptop? I'm having the same issue with FileVault login, but I think its because I'm on a laptop. I'm guessing it detects the built-in keyboard and won't try to pair with the Varmilo. Funny enough, it will pair with my magic mouse on the FileVault login screen even though there is a built-in trackpad so its making me doubt my theory. Since its only a generic bluetooth device that may also be part of the problem.
If you're on a desktop one of the troubleshooting steps I came across (but can't test) is to: 1. Ensure "Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant at startup if no keyboard is detected" 2. Disconnect all USB devices and then power down all BT devices. 3. Shutdown the Mac, wait 3 minutes and power back on. 4. The Mac should detect no devices and open the BT Setup assistant. Power on your keyboard at that point and it should be able to pair.
This came from: http://www.cultofmac.com/247979/whoops-reconnect-your-bluetooth-keyboard-and-mac-after-logging-out-os-x-tips/

Oct 25, 2016

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techfresh

Oct 25, 2016

wilmarvhWhat OS version are you running and how far along in the process do you get? There are reported issues with bluetooth devices not working on Sierra.
If you're not running Sierra there are a lot of articles who give steps to troubleshoot BT devices. Here are a few I came across that may help:
https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/os-x-bluetooth-menu-reset-devices http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-how-to-troubleshoot-bluetooth-issues-in-os-x-yosemite/

Oct 25, 2016

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wilmarvh

Oct 25, 2016

techfreshI just installed 10.12.1 and the pairing went without a hitch. Hopefully Apple fixed some bluetooth issues in this release of Sierra. I also performed all the tasks under the Bluetooth debug menu and all seems well.
Let's hope it holds.

Oct 25, 2016

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wrose

Oct 25, 2016

wilmarvhIt detects it as a keyboard? You can, without third party software, swap cmd and alt?

Oct 25, 2016

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wilmarvh

Oct 27, 2016

wroseNope. But the connectivity is fixed for me, and Karabiner Elements is sufficient to alter the key behaviour.

Oct 27, 2016

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