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.
Announces != releases.
They claim 2027 Q1 will be the release date.
Links below purporting to be “the repository” lead to a repo with no source code.
Sorry, I’m cynical. An announcement 6-9 months ahead of release? Why? Right now it’s vaporware.
Keychron is a real company with a good history so it isn't unreasonable to expect it and thus you shouldn't be too cynical. However don't confuse that with don't be cynical at all - many companies with a good history have canceled projects, and this is still vaporware.
This would be more exciting if Keychron had mice of more interesting / experimental form factors and functionality. Just like their keyboards, their mice are mostly differentiated by obscure technical features (polling rates!).
I'm a bit worried that a decent, modern replacement for the extremely obsolete multi-button mouse I have now (Logitech G602) will never be available.
i'm using this mouse for over 2 years now: https://happort.org/mouse
it uses this board: https://github.com/jfedor2/rp2040-pmw3360 and i can dig into my .stl files for the mouse if you want... made it on Blender and https://ryanis.cool/cosmos/beta - it's not the most lightweight thing in the world (would say around 100 grams) but it slides nicely and maybe by cycling/exercising often i don't think this one would give me RSI at any point in time... it's angle based on the most muscle neutral position the human arm anatomy has, between 20° - 30° [0] https://www.jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.2519/jospt.2004.34.10.638
I miss my G602 so much. Replaced it with a G604 and then replaced that one with another G604 and then a third G604 before realizing that Logi's build quality has seemingly dived off a cliff for the premium they charge for their product and swapped to the 50% as expensive Keychron mice and keyboards and have been satisfactorily living with the decrease in available buttons (though quite an adjustment was needed). Onset of carpal tunnel has seen me switch to a vertical mouse anyways, so a change was inevitable.
My G602 died due to Logitech's infamous double-click issue. :(
I've been fine with the G502 X Lightspeed (which should avoid said double-click issue due to optical switches) and some more efficient button use to compensate for the fewer side buttons.
> Logitech's infamous double-click issue. :(
Isn't that just the tact switch failing? Two minute job to replace...
I do not casually have spare tactile switches, nor the hardware skills to replace.
> a decent, modern replacement for...G602
What's wrong with the G502? I like the wired G502 pretty well. Ideally I'd tweak the shape to be a little more like the M500s shape, but I'm happy enough with it overall.
I bought a Q6 wired keyboard. Most solid keyboard I've ever owned.
Only problem is the backlight didn't actually light up the keys.
It wasn't fixable. first, the keys that came with the keyboard were opaque. And after the arduous task of replacing the keys with shine-through keycaps -- all the LEDs were positioned below the keystem instead of above, so the lettering wasn't illuminated.
I would have loved to use that keyboard. Switched to steelseries apex pro.
Keychron announces it has too much time on its hands while never being Datahand.
Hmm that opens up a way for cheating in games - have a Screengraber and image processing running directly communicate with mouse and let it calculate the distance to region of interest internally and then give out delta position. For the system, it looks like the mouse has been moved very fast and far
It's already being done. The fanciest game hacks use a custom PCI card to DMA game memory, read it on another computer, where it can do wallhacks and such.
But also, the second computer can drive a virtual mouse and keyboard which is connected to the 'legit' PC to even aim/move/shoot for you.
There's a ton of low-latency proxy hardware meant for cheating that does exactly that, out of the box, for those too lazy to do it themselves on any devboard. It's not an excuse for closed source mouse firmware
it's hardly difficult to do that already. Like a Raspberry Pi Pico can be turned into a HID mouse rather easily: https://www.instructables.com/Raspberry-Pi-Pico-As-HID-Mouse...
and yes, hdmi/displayport capture -> ML object detection -> fake HID mouse to cheat is absolutely already a thing.
For those that are interested: - https://github.com/Keychron/zgm - https://zgm.gg/
Um, did they announce opensource firmware without providing the source?
Based on what I understand, pull requests are coming. In the meantime they provide directions for people that want to contribute here -> https://github.com/Keychron/zgm/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
Where are the PRs coming in? I see a repo without source code.
Yep!
> This repository is currently in its early setup phase.
> At the moment, the repository mainly contains project scaffolding, policy files, and the initial project direction. Firmware sources, board support, build instructions, and flashing guidance are still being prepared.
> That means zgm is early, but it is intentionally early in public. The goal is not to wait until everything is finished before opening the door. The goal is to make the long-term direction visible and let the project grow into a useful open firmware platform in the open.
Hopefully better than their QMK fork. They force push over their branch in their fork each new release effectively erasing history of the last version...
Of course there's no change log anywhere either...
> effectively erasing history of the last version
Does that mean they remove any release tags as well?
I don't blame them though. QMK is a mess of a monolithic repository.
QMK should be thrown away. ZMK is much, much cleaner.
I stumbled upon this brand when I was looking for a hall effect QMK keyboard.
Glad to see them introducing this - I might make a purchase as while my current mouse is great, I can't customise it because the associated bloatware runs only on Windows.
I’ve had positive experiences with Keychron products in the past, but I’ve moved past them as I now prefer orthogonal layouts. That said, I loved their support of QMK on my Q1 Pro and I really hope this ends up on that same level.
Ortholinear, surely?
Which one do you use/have now?
Very interesting. I've been eyeballing a mouse/trackball project for a while based on some of the open source designs like Ploopy and the like. Slap a Nordic chip on it and a joycon battery. Even better if you can cook up a wireless charging mousepad like Logitech offers!
I hope this leads to macro programmable mice, the only brand I know of that saves macros on board and supports while loops is A4tech
I suspect that a lot of hardware will start shipping open source firmware soon. Routers, IP cameras, etc.
It'll be a selling point for everyone tinkering with vibe coding, and it's no longer a moat.
Companies that don't do this will have their firmwares dumped with open source models and tools. Companies that do this will have community goodwill and extra distribution that comes from having people talking about your product.
That might happen in niche enthusiast verticals like PC gaming. It's not going to happen in the broader market because there is no broader interest in it.
Most people want open source firmware for their router like they want open source sewing patterns for their pants. Primarily these are consumer products where people buy the product as a way to intentionally avoid spending time dealing with the problem they solve.
Open source pants might sell well in a Hobby Lobby and an open source IP camera might sell well in a Micro Center, but neither would sell well enough to get shelf space in a Walmart... and the best selling one in Walmart sells a tiny fraction compared to whoever can land an Xfinity contract.
Tangential but open source pants are very much a thing https://freesewing.eu/
Of course they are, as are open-source IP cameras and routers. My point is not that they don't exist, my point is that these things have interest only within relatively tiny bubbles.
> Routers, IP cameras, etc.
Those already exist: OpenWRT, OpenIPC. I wish more hardware was available though, especially for cameras.
Do you have any cameras that support openipc you’d recommend?
I need surveillance cameras (outdoor mostly) but the cheap ones I found are a horrid proprietary mess. I even bought and returned one after the setup was complex and invasive.
Basically all I need is access to the live stream from a raspberry pi where I can store and process the video.
> Do you have any cameras that support openipc you’d recommend?
I don't, unfortunately. My suggestion would be to use cameras that stream over RTSP, an open protocol, so you don't need to use any proprietary tools/apps. Make sure the cameras are air-gapped.
I suspect a lot of that firmware has NDAs with Broadcom attached.
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> Companies that don't do this will have their firmwares dumped with open source models and tools
This is not as "one and done" as you make it sound.
I still wait for someone to beat logitech m500 (released 2009) in ergonomics.
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Keychrone mice are already pretty nice, this is a welcome improvement
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
I do, but when on the windows mode the keys mentioned are in the wrong positions.
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Edit and if i switch to the macOS mode. The right alt-gr key is not mapped correctly.
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.