Noob wants to 'fix' firmware

[Wretchedness]

Hi there,

First time poster here, gotta say i lvoe all this stuff about keyboards and mice, im really into it and i never imagined there would was actually a community for this.

Anyway, to get to the point, I have a Gigabyte GK-K8000 Keyboard which seems to crash my computer when i play Starcraft:Broodwar. Now, playing this game means alot to me, so having a keyboard which causes my computer to freeze every 2 games is not acceptable.

It also appears to crash my girlfriends computer when playing starcraft. (both using windows 7 RC)

I don't know much about electronic things, but i would assume it has something to do with the terrible drivers and firmware. They seem buggy, and frankly i couldnt care less about macros or firmware, i just like the feel of the keys on this thing. For all i know, it could also be the pointless audio drivers.

So im wondering if there is anyway for me to disable or destroy whatever firmware inside the keyboard is crashing my game. Can it be physically done without destroying the keyboard by busting the chips inside?

[keyb_gr]

Dumb q: Does the thing also work as a regular USB keyboard? Then you may want to uninstall all the software and drivers belonging to it, including any INF files. The problem is indeed likely to be related to the additional functionality.

BTW, the first step would be to bug the manufacturer's support here (do not forget to include any relevant details). This kind of problem is not acceptable after all.

[Wretchedness]

The problem is, it happens without the drivers being installed at all. I firstly uninstalled the drivers on my computer, which didnt help, then used it on my girlfriends computer without installing anything, and it still had the same problem.

I'm skeptical of getting any useful help from Gigabyte. The drivers have not been updated on their website since the keyboard was released. On top of that it seems like a very unpopular keyboard considering that i can barely even find more than a couple of reviews on the internet, all of which are commercial.

[keyb_gr]

Now that is strange. Have you tried with any other random USB keyboard yet? Or any idea on what kind of input might be triggering the crashes? I mean, it's only a keyboard after all.

[Wretchedness]

I have several other USB keyboards which i have used in the past which don't give me any problems, but unfortunantly they dont have the mechanical key switches.

[Wretchedness]

Yeah I hate all the gimmicks that come with gaming keyboards. Believe it or not, i actually got this keyboard because it appeared to have the least ammount of gimmicks compared to other 'gaming keyboards', and because it was the only mechanical keyboard i could buy without ordering over the internet. I wanted something that felt good to use at the most basic level.

Anyhow, now im stuck with a $210 paperweight.

Does anyone know if the sound chips, USB hubs or any other dubious gizmos can be removed from ther circuit so that i can use my keyboard as a basic USB keyboard?

Worst case scenario I will store it away in the closet until Starcraft II is relased, and hope that it doesnt crash that game. Either that or i keep it under my bed to bludgeon anyone who breaks into my house.

[keyb_gr]

Anyhow, now im stuck with a $210 paperweight.

Yikes. Online ordering suddenly doesn't look like such a bad option... Something like a NKRO Filco or a Deck would probably have been almost ideal...

Does anyone know if the sound chips, USB hubs or any other dubious gizmos can be removed from ther circuit so that i can use my keyboard as a basic USB keyboard?

For someone with an electrical engineering background, mechanical skill, a stereo microscope, scalpel and surface mount friendly soldering station (plus some associated stuff) it's definitely possible. One would need to cut and reroute some traces (after finding out which ones), since I guess the keyboard itself connects to the hub internally. Now as you can probably tell, this is not something for the average Joe to undertake...

[lowpoly]

Maybe replace the entire controller pcb?

[keyb_gr]

Maybe replace the entire controller pcb?

Even more fun, I'd say... (Provided it's even possible - everything might be on a single PCB, ā la older / Czech-made G80s. It's a board with blacks after all.)

[quadibloc]

Your keyboard has a built in USB hub and a sound chip and one of them is probably causing the crashes.

So he might be able to solve his problem, and save a keyboard with mechanical switches, by routing around the built-in USB hub, and connecting the USB from the keyboard part directly out?

That would be "easier" than rewriting the firmware, if the internal USB signal were of a type to be routed out (it might not have the oomph to go through a cable, depending on how customized the keyboard is, as opposed to being built out of off-the-shelf components...).

[JBert]

It can be some USB HID thing, but somehow I wouldn't leave power or other hardware issues out of the picture.

If mutilating it is an option, I would seriously try to solder a USB cable directly to the keyboard controller.

[molto]

I'd step back and try to understand the problem before attempting to solve it.
Does it "crash" the game or the whole system? Or does it freeze the game or the whole system? In case of a system crash (a.k.a. BSOD), I'd decipher the bug check code and analyze the memory dump. It could either be a legitimate bug in a driver (or kernel in rare cases) or faulty hardware causing it. Solving system freezes is usually more difficult because you have to remotely debug the machine in order to spot any deadlocks, etc.. Running release candidates isn't optimal either.
If only the game is (were?) affected, I'd search for logs or similar.

[JBert]

Reminds me - I still need to do my soundcard in a keyboard mod for my Model M mini so I can use that speaker hole for something.  Maybe I'll have it simulate Blue Cherry key presses and post a YouTube video just to annoy you guys.

We'd just grin, contrary to the poor souls in your vicinity.

But back to the problem at hand: it does seem odd that it also acts weird on other computers. Unless they had the same drivers, OS and games installed, its hard to say what is wrong.

You could try a Linux boot CD...