Firmware help

[Yangif]

Hi, Gona repost this here Thanks in advance



Hi Everyone,

Long time lurker here, i love this forum and all the eye candy here -  i have a bit of an issue...

So decided to do something stupid when Covid lockdown hit and decided to design and build a 75% keyboard from scratch...

I figured the build would be around the same price with a Aluminium machined case ( which is about the price of a Rama M80 or Satisfaction 75 on mech market ). And i would have all the functions i personally want

So i proceeded to reach out to freelancer and hired a guy to design a PCB with ill the functions i want.

Encoder knob (EC11E18244A5)
75%
Bluetooth 5.0 (BMD-340-AR)
2 X USB C hub
Gold exposed tracks etc

Got this designed, looks sweet ( pics attached ) sent to a PCB manufacturer in China, got all the BOM parts bought and assembled.250270-0250268-1

Just got this last month in Canada, plugged it in.... then BOOM realized i need firmware! LOL

So i spend the last little while looking around and trying to figure this out
I look at Zadig, QMK and Easy AVR but to be honest im in over my head - the board lights up when plugged in but i cant seem to flash / push anything to it.

If someone could assist with this, i would be more than happy to compensate you for your time and results. And upon completion give you a PCB as well ( i made 3 from the sample run)

Thanks

[nevin]

looks great.
is there firmware already written for it and you are just having trouble flashing it? (is it based on another board)?
or you need firmware written for it?
if starting from scratch, we'll need some info form whoever designed the board.

[Yangif]

looks great.
is there firmware already written for it and you are just having trouble flashing it? (is it based on another board)?
or you need firmware written for it?
if starting from scratch, we'll need some info form whoever designed the board.

There isnt firmware for it yet. i severely underestimated this difficulty of this project ...

what information would you need - the freelancer is actually very good with communication

[nevin]

is there a name for it?
1. if they created the pcb, they may already have firmware pieced together. or is it based off of another board sat75? isometria75?
2. processor & wireless chipset used?
3. how are the rows & columns are wired (matrix)
4. what pins were used on the mcu to wire the matrix & other components (encoder, wireless, wireless control. etc.)

[Yangif]

is there a name for it?
1. if they created the pcb, they may already have firmware pieced together. or is it based off of another board sat75? isometria75?
2. processor & wireless chipset used?
3. how are the rows & columns are wired (matrix)
4. what pins were used on the mcu to wire the matrix & other components (encoder, wireless, wireless control. etc.)

Ah - no i created it from scratch with inspiration from a few boards i saw - so there isnt something to go off of  because i think its because the pins / matrix and components are not exactly the same.

BMD-340-A-R with nRF52840 processor built in was used - its an all in one

i think this PDF has all the info

[fpazos]

I've done a search for this chipset in the qmk proyect and I haven't found anything. Only for the nrf5182 which I don't know how similar/different it's from yours. I found yours is also ARM, the only thing I can tell you is that I worked 2 years ago in the development of qmk adaptation to a bluepill stm32 and it is doable but also is a pain in the ass. Try searching github. Good luck.


https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/blob/master/docs/feature_bluetooth.md

[nevin]

yes. that doc does help.
i'm familiar with qmk but i believe that processor (nRF52840) is rather new & i can't find a whole lot of documentation or support for the nRF552840. the nRF552832 has been around a little longer and has had more work/support done so far. but even the 832 is new compared to the good old 32u4's we've been using for years.

here, looks like someone is working on some similar hardware.
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96147.0

some stuff i was able to find (most based on the bluemicro nRF552832  (promicro style) controllers)
https://github.com/joric/qmk/wiki/jian_ble
https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki/Software
http://bluemicro.jpconstantineau.com/#supported_hardware.html
https://github.com/jpconstantineau/BlueMicro_BLE

[fpazos]

yes. that doc does help.
i'm familiar with qmk but i believe that processor (nRF52840) is rather new & i can't find a whole lot of documentation or support for the nRF552840. the nRF552832 has been around a little longer and has had more work/support done so far. but even the 832 is new compared to the good old 32u4's we've been using for years.

here, looks like someone is working on some similar hardware.
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96147.0

some stuff i was able to find (most based on the bluemicro nRF552832  (promicro style) controllers)
https://github.com/joric/qmk/wiki/jian_ble
https://github.com/joric/nrfmicro/wiki/Software
http://bluemicro.jpconstantineau.com/#supported_hardware.html
https://github.com/jpconstantineau/BlueMicro_BLE

I have seen it. At the end of the post you sent I found a qmk issue where people were working on it. If the main difference between both chipsets is the pinout it should be quite easy to change the pins and try.

Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 7 mediante Tapatalk

[nevin]

yes, fpazos is correct. arm and stm support in qmk is bleeding edge right now.
the only one i know that has done some work on it is hasu, check his documentation in TMK/protocols (QMK is a fork of TMK)
https://github.com/tmk/tmk_core/tree/master/protocol/chibios

[fpazos]

One last thing. I recommend you to make your research and development on a separate mcu. If you have that many info from start it isn't going to be as hard as it could. Depends on your coding knowledge.

Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 7 mediante Tapatalk

[fpazos]

yes, fpazos is correct. arm and stm support in qmk is bleeding edge right now.
the only one i know that has done some work on it is hasu, check his documentation in TMK/protocols (QMK is a fork of TMK)
https://github.com/tmk/tmk_core/tree/master/protocol/chibios

It isn't as bleeding edge as you think now. The proton c is also arm but we haven't the code, and arm chipset will be more common in the future. I also think that now qmk is further developed than tmk

Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 7 mediante Tapatalk

[nevin]

It isn't as bleeding edge as you think now. The proton c is also arm but we haven't the code, and arm chipset will be more common in the future. I also think that now qmk is further developed than tmk

bleeding edge... i just meant, it's not common or easily supported/well documented yet.
TMK... agreed, definitely a lot more boards and a lot more programmers in QMK, but a lot of people don't know about TMK (just giving credit where credit is due). i got my start in all of this on his ADB converter.

[Onnimar]

Removed*

[Yangif]

Yep, this seems way above my level .... Anyone want to take on a commission to code this for me?