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Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

digitalfoundry.net

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Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#81

Post by jerlam »

DemiGuru wrote: post #21
exidex wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

That file appears to be either copied from a completely unrelated repo or vibe-coded.

> This repository is a lightweight analysis and report-generation workspace.

And "please contribute to our blank open-source project" can be taken with a grain of salt.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#82

Post by jerlam »

RobotToaster wrote: post #28
kube-system wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

Tangential but open source pants are very much a thing https://freesewing.eu/

A seam ripper will "de-compile" any garment you like.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#83

Post by bigfishrunning »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #56
benoau wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> " 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.

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.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#84

Post by bigfishrunning »

Evidlo wrote: post #73
DobarDabar wrote: post #7

Keychrone mice are already pretty nice, this is a welcome improvement

Their mice are pretty nice, and they come at a good price. The M7 is a particularly good device, and their other offerings have enticed me twice.

Thanks for being so concise

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#85

Post by danudey »

jchw wrote: post #8

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 s…

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.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#87

Post by russianGuy83829 »

jerlam wrote: post #16

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.

While its not on the same level, check out the M6. You can remap the side scroll buttons, as well as the two other ones, which gives you four actions.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#88

Post by NormenKD »

danudey wrote: post #85
jchw wrote: post #8

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 s…

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.

It's fn+light-key on my keychron. Might work on yours.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#89

Post by palata »

phoghed wrote: post #66
fn-mote wrote: post #35

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.

If they plan on developing it in the open and taking early contribution / feedback could be a valid (and good) reason.

Or it's (again) a brilliant idea from those marketing people, something along the lines of "let's announce something we don't have and see how it is received, so that we will see if there is interest or not".

It's not even made up, I have seen marketing people actually do that.

Re: Keychron announces first open-source firmware for gaming mice

#90

Post by deepthaw »

It took me three hours to figure out how to blacklist my Keychron keyboard from showing up as a joystick - and screwing up several games that thought they were receiving constant joystick input - in Linux, so I'm not sure how keen I am on using their stuff in the future. Is that a common issue in Linux?
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