75-Key Aluminum Mechanical Keyboard Discussions | Drop

Jul 24, 2018

We did not expect such a rush for this drop.... Vendor quoted us 100 units for this drop originally - we're working with them to see if we can reopen this asap.
Sorry about the confusion + thanks guys!

Jul 24, 2018

XiKThank you! Still a few questions though: What brand/type of hotswap sockets are these? And will the unassembled kit require soldering (or are the sockets pre-installed)?

Jul 24, 2018

wtoeThey are the same factory that made the XD, KBDfans if I recalled correctly - not sure if they all use the same "brand". But you can expect similar if not higher quality. The unassembled kit will require soldering --> I will confirm this info

Jul 24, 2018

XiKAlso (and I'm in on the drop either way, because I assume an XD75 plate will fit or can be made to fit) what kind of plate does it have? The photo looks like it might be a composite of some kind?
Just my two cents (regarding many other comments on this drop), the price on this drop is good enough that, while I also felt like there's not enough information in the description / photos to really know what's in the kit, it seemed worth the risk. Under $100 for everything but key caps? Even if I have to buy a plate or do some modifications, I'll come out all right.

Jul 24, 2018

e.l.bXD75 should fit, the plate is also aluminum in this one I believe... Will double check the sample later after I locate it... lol things move fast at massdrop hq....>_<

gigaflop

152

Jul 24, 2018

XiKI hope they can quote some more units - I was waiting until payday this week to order one.

Jul 24, 2018

gigaflopWaiting for chinese vendors to wake up and respond.... =_= thoughts and prayers

Jul 25, 2018

XiKDrop will be back at 6:00 PM PT! Thanks for all the support guys! Drop is limited to 200 sets!

Jul 25, 2018

XiK@ XiK Maybe i'm to dumb to see/understand?
" The unassembled kit will require soldering --> I will confirm this info " What needs to be soldered going for the kit, leds, "holtites"?
Cheers

rockydbull

568

Keyboard Club Member

Jul 25, 2018

XiKKpreublic makes the XD series. Could we get a shot of the pcb and what needs to be soldered? A blow-up shot of the parts included in the kit would be great
Edit: other reports are coming in that it is kbdfans and xd was a mislabel

Jul 25, 2018

rockydbullthanks thanks
Got confirmation that the pcb is SMT, w/ Kailh hot swap sockets. No need to be soldered. Will look for the sample and take a pic of the plate as well.

rockydbull

568

Keyboard Club Member

Jul 25, 2018

XiKThanks, for the update. Info seems to be trickling in from you and the vendor (different account). Good to know kit does not require soldering.

Jul 25, 2018

rockydbullYeah, we're not sourcing these directly from KBDfans nor KRepublic. But straight from a related distributor that also produces the plates and cases for both parties (at least that's what I was told). Sorry to confuse you all, just trying to be as transparent as possible to what I know.

rockydbull

568

Keyboard Club Member

Jul 25, 2018

XiKThanks I appreciate the transparency. I am in for a kit to show support for the distributor, hopefully they can keep bringing good designs.

Jul 25, 2018

rockydbullAww thanks, I am confirming a few things on the plate. These unicorn/new items are always hard to get the best info on, we'll try to answer all the questions you guys may have.

Botato

Jul 25, 2018

XiKSorry if this is repetive, but for the assembly kit, we dont need to solder the hotswap sockets?

Jul 25, 2018

XiKThank you,
joined for a kit, this had been a rough birth.

Jul 25, 2018

XiK" These unicorn/new items are always hard to get the best info on ... "
What about, get the info first, once received, place the drop. Hope this isn't to much logical thinking.

XTaran

361

Jul 25, 2018

XiKSo since the "sold" counter on the product page is at 202 now, and the one on the mechkeys drop listing page is at 102, I assume that these are 200 devices in addition to the initial 100 devices, i.e. 300 devices overall, right?

Jul 25, 2018

XTaranyes, 300 total is what you'll see.

Jul 25, 2018

XiKHighly appreciative of all of the follow-up information. Sorry to reiterate the same question over and over but could you clarify the following?
Is this: "Got confirmation that the pcb is SMT, w/ Kailh hot swap sockets. No need to be soldered." ...an update on this?: "The unassembled kit will require soldering --> I will confirm this info"
I ordered the assembled kit before this new information because I don't have soldering tools, but if the kit requires no soldering then I'd like to know so that I can change my order.

Jul 26, 2018

Jul 26, 2018

XiKHow many screw mounts are there?

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Jul 26, 2018

Joe405I can only see two.

Desibidu

Jul 26, 2018

MakamiAre ther 16 rgb smd led’s Pre installed along with kailh hot swappable sockets? What else needs to be soldered ?

Jul 26, 2018

DesibiduHello, i'm just a customer like you. All we have is XiKs comment https://www.massdrop.com/buy/xd75-aluminum-mechanical-keyboard/talk/2150596?utm_source=linkshare&referer=LBT7AM

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Jul 26, 2018

wtoeThey should be Kailh Hotswap sockets.

Jul 26, 2018

MakamiXD75 comes in two flavours.
-> XD75am requires soldering the switches. Check this - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/xd75-xd75am-Custom-Mechanical-Keyboard-alps-matias-mx-compatible-75-keys-Underglow-RGB-PCB-GH60-60/32831044551.html
-> XD75Re has Kailh Hotswaps and should come assembled from factory or self assemble.
The only thing that got lost in translation was whether you want a PCB where you can solder the keys of your choice or get a PCB with hotswappable switches which doesn't require any soldering work.

Jul 26, 2018

DesibiduYup. Both 16 rgb SMDs and Kailh Hotswappable sockets come pre-soldered. Clearly visible from the green PCB photo that @XiK posted.

Jul 26, 2018

Makami2!

Jul 26, 2018

XiK2 Hearts Beat As One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIuAFBRyjj4
Wish you all the best and a lovely day.

Jul 26, 2018

MakamiSmoooooooth, bruv. Hope Xik notices. xD

Jul 26, 2018

shadyincNo need to be smooth, she is used to my manners and kidding since day one. Besides that, a few decades of age and couple of thousand miles inbetween, nothing to worry about.
But that smile on her face, thats what it is all about and worth it!

Jul 26, 2018

Makami 😁👍🏻

Jul 26, 2018

Makami^_____________________^ <3 thanks for keeping us in check

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Jul 26, 2018

XiKAlways a pleasure. People often forget the second word right next to Massdrop on the top - Communities. That's what it is about - helping people make informed decisions and get good products along with enough information. :)

hongook

Jul 26, 2018

shadyincWas there any confirmation stating the differences between the kit and assembled?

Jul 26, 2018

hongookI don't see any yet. Either @XiK or @lewis0014 should be able to confirm it.

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datadanne

Jul 27, 2018

XiKCan you confirm if it is the same PCB with pre-soldered Kailh hot swap sockets for the kit and the preassembled version of the drop? I feel like that is still unclear given the discussions below in this thread.

Jul 27, 2018

datadanneEdit: "Assembled" = put together at the factory "Kit (-$20)" = you get to put it together at your home.
@XiK please confirm this once and for all. Hope it helps.

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snivets

Jul 27, 2018

XiKI didn't get it in time! I would love one of these... Hoping for more!

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Desibidu

Jul 27, 2018

shadyincEven if we got the unassembled kit, I really hope we don't need to solder the hot swappable sockets. @XiK can you please clarify if we need to?

Jul 27, 2018

DesibiduSo to answer your question, you will have to solder hotswappable sockets if you buy Unassembled. At this point I am not sure if the PCB in unassembled kit will have physical points marked for soldering the hotswapple sockets.
As someone who has no clue or interaction with Drop Leader or Component Vendor, this is the closest to accurate answer I can provide you. :)

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Clone7

Jul 27, 2018

shadyincXik confirmed earlier here that the PCB would not require soldering
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/xd75-aluminum-mechanical-keyboard/talk/2150596?utm_source=linkshare&referer=6PYAQ3
Edit: that was in the context of the prior query being: " The unassembled kit will require soldering --> I will confirm this info " What needs to be soldered going for the kit, leds, "holtites"?

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Desibidu

Jul 27, 2018

Thank you for trying to help.

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Jul 27, 2018

Clone7Actual query by rockydbull: "Kpreublic makes the XD series. Could we get a shot of the pcb and what needs to be soldered? A blow-up shot of the parts included in the kit would be great"
Her response: "Got confirmation that the pcb is SMT, w/ Kailh hot swap sockets. No need to be soldered."
Response to unassembled kit and soldering required is yet to come from @XiK. What I feel about unassembled kit is either of these three possibilities: a) Unassembled: You just have to put the PCB, Top Plate, and Case together. b) Assembled: Read to use out of the box.
Apologies for the confusion.

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Clone7

Jul 27, 2018

shadyincThose are possible indeed. There were many people claiming that unassembled kits came with the kailh sockets soldered on though. Honestly, Massdrop should allow everyone who joined this drop to edit if they want assembled or kit AFTER they have confirmed this info.

Chinspike

155

Jul 27, 2018

shadyincI don't think XiK could have been referring to anything other than the kit. Obviously an assembled keyboard doesn't need to be soldered. That's not information anyone would be requesting, and as the previous poster mentioned, she said it in response to her previous post about the kit. You said yourself that everything is pre-soldered based on the pictures of the PCB that she posted. I don't know how anyone could take what's been said and interpret it to mean anything but option a).

Jul 27, 2018

ChinspikePeople are getting confused by the term "unassembled" and don't care reading full threads (because it can get tiring when the clock is ticking.)

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Jul 27, 2018

ChinspikeTrue. I realised she posted that the PCB is SMT. So it's just two options - Let them put it together for you or you put it together yourself. That's it.
Note: Editing previous responses which might have lead for further confusion.

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Jul 27, 2018

Clone7Agreed. MD should've provided a fine print between both options. Let's consider this - communicating with the manufacturers located in the East could take longer due to language and timezone barriers. Since MD is directly dealing with the manufacturers, I guess that should be cleared soon.

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Jul 27, 2018

shadyinc" Yup. Both 16 rgb SMDs and Kailh Hotswappable sockets come pre-soldered. Clearly visible from the green PCB photo that @XiK posted." Aw man... Before the drop ended I changed my order to the kit because I took this comment to mean that the kit would require no soldering, but I'm so confused now. Trying ask support to change my order to assembled because this is way too much guesswork.

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Jul 27, 2018

wtoeYou should be able to do it. Most likely your order might get shipped early since it is a kit.

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linneverstops

160

Jul 27, 2018

XiKPlease kindly confirm whether the PCB from the kit requires soldering of the hot-swappable sockets. Thanks a lot.

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Jul 27, 2018

linneverstopsHey all, the kit does not require soldering. The sockets are ready to go.

linneverstops

160

Jul 27, 2018

XiKThanks a lot. Have a good weekend.

Jul 27, 2018

XiKAaaaaaahhhh finally! I've been going crazy over this! Time to update my support ticket again...

techtree

Jul 29, 2018

XiKi cancelled because i was not sure if this required soldering before the drop ended, any chance to get one?

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Jul 30, 2018

techtreeAh sorry you missed the drop! :( The second batch sold out before the intended end date as well, we are going to fulfill these two batches (300 units). Hit the request button, we'll try to bring it back as soon as we can.

MoreNark

Aug 3, 2018

XiKReally hoping this drop comes back! The board with the DSA caps looks great!

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xiudi

Aug 7, 2018

XiKHi, I'm the PCB designer and manufacturer of XD series. Just would like to clarify that: I never use same manufacturer with other brand. Any further questions please contact me via xiudi@outlook.com freely. Thanks.

Nov 7, 2018

XiKHi Xik, received mine yesterday and put it together, so far so good. Any chance we can get a copy of the default firmware and keymap posted somewhere so we can start customizing our layouts? Thanks!

Nov 7, 2018

ElijahdprophetAlready asked the supplier/vendor, hope we can hear back soon! Your keyboard looks neat!!

Nov 7, 2018

xiudiHi XiuDi! Can you help us out with the fireware / keymap / config? Thanks!! [edit]: nvm

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Nov 7, 2018

XiKI may be mistaken but on Reddit XiuDi said that they were the designer of the XD75 and this is not the same board. The reason we are asking for the stock firmware is the XD75 firmware that is already available online doesn't map correctly to this PCB and without a proper stock firmware people's keyboards are bricked...

Nov 7, 2018

Elijahdprophetah make sense, we shall wait from the vendor then :)

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Nov 8, 2018

ElijahdprophetThe fact that this doesn't run the stock XD75 firmware is *very* disappointing. I will not be able to use this board without being able to build a good qmk for it, so I hope the vendor replies soon. (Particularly as the original drop was notified to me because I had requested the XD75 in a poll, and also said it runs qmk!)

Nov 8, 2018

e.l.bI was able to reset the board it and QMK Toolkit recognizes it as a DFU flashable device, but without the right pinouts anything people are flashing to it becomes a janky mess. The ATmega32U4 only has so many pins, I'm tempted to start trial and error flashing it to figure out rows and columns, but since it has integrated lighting I have no idea if it could cause permanent damage if I goof too hard with the settings.

Nov 8, 2018

Elijahdprophet @Elijahdprophet I am sure you have already looked at the zip file from the XD75 webpage on KPRepublic, yes? (https://kprepublic.com/products/xd75re-xd75am-xd75-xiudi-60-custom-keyboard-pcb) I did, and it includes "How to Flash" instructions, but they seem to be a bit of a corn-maze at it first glance. Do you have any comments regarding those instructions? As a side note, I used keyboardtester.com to see what the key layout is at default and it has a few 'discrepancies' to put it lightly, such as; more than one "Z" and random "3", "4", and "5". This is all disconcerting concerning the fact that this board was advertised as "QMK compatible". Of course I have also attempted to get use the QMK Toolbox to flash, but I am having an issue with the Configurator, as it cannot Compile the .hex file(s). I am a bit at a loss right now, and sad. What do you think I should do @XiK @xiudi ?

Nov 8, 2018

KeeblurThe problem is that this is NOT an XD75 board. Its similar in layout and shares some design aspects, but any XD75 firmware that is flashed to it leads to inconsistent keymapping. I've seen the same issue with the default keymap as well, and without a proper pinout to work from nothing can be flashed to it. I may take line into the office today and try to reverse engineer a pinout, but I shouldn't NEED to do that, the thing should have been shipped with a working default firmware.

Joe405

353

Nov 8, 2018

XiKWhy is Massdrop even selling products with non-existent documentation and details? Aside from the price, this drop has felt underwhelmed from start to finish. The flimsy plate only adds physical evidence to the poor experience.

Nov 8, 2018

ElijahdprophetJust heard back - see below: *Works on Firebox, Chrome, and Opera, Explorer: 1)Please use this site: http://qmkeyboard.cn/. 2) Select below:

3) This should appear:

Hope this helps @Elijahdprophet

Nov 8, 2018

XiKThank you! That keymap looks like the default mapping we are seeing with the boards, and the pinouts are definitely different from the firmwares people have tried flashing. Hopefully I can give this a try tonight after work, or someone else on here can test it out before me.

Nov 8, 2018

ElijahdprophetFingers crossed!! :DD

superuser41

Nov 8, 2018

XiKThis is great, and I'm glad that the pins are changed compared to the xd75. If this mapping is correct then the backlight pin is on hardware PWM finally.

Nov 8, 2018

XiKUnfortunately, the "Download .zip" link for the source does not work on that site. Can you get the vendor to release a qmk source package for the keyboard, or at least the relevant files?

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Nov 8, 2018

e.l.bYou can try creating it on http://kbfirmware.com/ by manually building the 5x15 layout and setting the pins tab based on the .CN site https://imgur.com/wUBZrD9

Nov 8, 2018

ElijahdprophetNice, I didn't try the pins tab! I have qmk here, I use it for a Preonic, I'll try to create a layout. Massdrop is required by the terms of the GPL to provide us the source for the firmware that's on the board they sent, of course.

Nov 8, 2018

e.l.bHere's a JSON that can be uploaded to http://kbfirmware.com/ with a super basic incomplete keymap, single layer, pins and built in LED options are set. https://github.com/elijahdprophet/75KeyMD

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Nov 8, 2018

e.l.bHere are the source files for the default config. http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=01069216118569163907

Nov 8, 2018

HydromoverPerusing this source and the qmk upstream (pulled from git today), it looks like this is just plain a new design. I can't find any keyboard in the qmk sources with a substantially similar matrix configuration or backlight setup. Still, with the mappings, all things are possible. :-)

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Nov 9, 2018

e.l.bLol I noticed. I'll try and get a config setup tomorrow but I'll need someone to test it that has a board

Nov 9, 2018

HydromoverI can flash the board, i've currently got it working, just haven't decided on all the keys to assign, layers, etc.. I shared my JSON above which can be uploaded to kbfirmware to compile a hex that flashes with qmktoolkit no problem.

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Nov 9, 2018

e.l.bI was able to compile the sources above against today's qmk (which is more than a year newer!) with minor changes. The diff is here: https://gist.github.com/eblanton/f5c0c9371637eb6c0155b37fe0b9098a I can't test it yet, my keyboard is en route, but 'make md75:elb' builds a .hex file. The autoconfigurator sources don't do anything at all with the backlight or LEDs, so neither does this build. Once I have the board in hand, I'll look at that.

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superuser41

Nov 9, 2018

e.l.bThe configurator does set port B7 for backlight and F0 for underglow, as well as setting the number of RGB LEDs to 16. I imagine all that should work fine as long as you have keys mapped to enable them and set the appropriate rules in your own build.

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Nov 9, 2018

ElijahdprophetI'm going to try and convert over the xd75 default so our board can be added to the qmk GitHub. I want to have the variables match so any of the xd75 layous can be easily transfered

Nov 9, 2018

superuser41I set a key to LED_TOGGLE with the configurator and it works as intended with the above LED settings.

Nov 9, 2018

superuser41Yes, it sets those things, but its bindings do nothing with them. (You can turn the backlight on and off, but that's it.) It also doesn't define things like where the addressable RGB LEDs are on the board (although it does define that they exist). Once I get the board and play with it, I can give meaningful names to these things and define reasonable default behaviors. Like turning it all off, because glowing keyboards are stupid. ;-)

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Nov 9, 2018

HydromoverI think you could copy and paste an XD75 layout into the setup I linked above, and it would work. The XD75 defines some extra LED behaviors that I haven't looked at yet, but the layouts should be compatible (either using the full matrix, or the KEYBOARD() macro). I don't quite understand the qmk layout well enough to figure out how to bind in the "generic" 5x15 layouts, though, without linking them into md75/keymaps, and the one I looked at was actualy 6x16 for some reason.

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Nov 9, 2018

ElijahdprophetAll I've done is change the headers from xd75 to md75. Basically I want to see if the xd75 layout will simply inherit the pin mapping of the md75 out of the box. Really low hopes for it unfortunately but, if we are lucky the macros will just work... https://github.com/griffinmilton3/qmk_firmware/tree/master/keyboards/md75

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Merlin64

239

Nov 9, 2018

XiK @XiK and everyone, with the new information, I've opened a PR into QMK master, we should be able to use the QMK Configurator on this board shortly. I've called the IDOBO just like qmkeyboard.cn https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/tree/master/keyboards/idobo Please let me know of any bugs you guys find. =)

noroadsleft

Nov 9, 2018

HydromoverHeads up all, mechmerlin was able to take the data from qmkeyboard.cn and add this keyboard to the QMK repo. https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/pull/4401 Source files are at https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/tree/master/keyboards/idobo

Support on the QMK Configurator will come. https://config.qmk.fm/ I think I need to have someone poke the bot that updates the Configurator. Fixed. https://config.qmk.fm/#/idobo/LAYOUT_ortho_5x15 I'm not sure the default keymap in the repo matches what ships on the board. If anyone can confirm/deny on that, reports are appreciated.

Nov 9, 2018

noroadsleftAwesome! With that confirmed, we can almost drag and drop any of the xd75 configs over.

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Nov 10, 2018

noroadsleft @noroadsleft @Hydromover Quick question, I realize I am a total amateur with all this QMK stuff but; With no reset button on the bottom of the board, how do I get the QMK Toolbox to notice register the board in preparation to flash my .hex?

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Nov 10, 2018

KeeblurI don't have a board to test it but, the plank I have you start the configurator then plug in the keyboard

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DjGamer97

Nov 10, 2018

superuser41k

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Nov 10, 2018

HydromoverThis board does not work that way. I can't get my QMK Toolbox App to recognize when the board is plugged in. Any ideas? Could I take the PCB out of the case and use tweezers to reset the board?

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Nov 11, 2018

KeeblurThere is a reset button on the bottom of the board, near the center. (Just to the left of the CPU.) I was able to flash a custom firmware using the QMK head idobo board configuration, and all works as expected. Edit: I should clarify that I used dfu-programmer on Linux, but I imagine the qmk tool should work, as well.

Nov 11, 2018

e.l.bDid you have to remove the PCB from the case in order to access the reset button?

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Nov 11, 2018

e.l.bOh man! I unscrewed the (2) case screws and there it was; the answer to all of life's woes in the form of a beautiful baby reset button. That allowed the QMK Toolbox to register it and I was successful in flashing my layout. Whoop whoop! Thanks @e.l.b and everyone else who has made this drop a success!

Nov 22, 2018

XiKi was just able to successfully flash the board with the default xd75 key map and have it work except the lighting. Has anyone had luck with the lighting?

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Nov 22, 2018

HydromoverThe default xd75 layout just got merged into the QMK master for this keyboard. https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/tree/master/keyboards/idobo/keymaps/default75

Markus63

Nov 28, 2018

HydromoverHi ... can I ask how did you get the keyboard into bootloader mode? Thanks in advance . :)

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Nov 28, 2018

Markus63There is a button on the bottom of the board. Plug it in then hit the button and you'll be able to flash the new firmware.

Markus63

Nov 28, 2018

HydromoverLife saver !! ... Thanks I'll give it a shot

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vatin

Dec 18, 2018

XiKI will buy one only if the quality improves.

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Dec 18, 2018

vatinThe quality of the product is solid. And it now works on QMK without any difficulty. What's not to like?