ErgoDox - Custom split ergo keyboard.

[agodinhost]

(BTW, I'm typing this on my new ErgoDox, was a bit slow going at first but rapidly getting up to speed, definitely liking it already... )

Show off!!
I'm so envy, gosh!!!
 

AHHHHH, I'm just planning myself to build something like that:

[CommunistWitchDr]

Ordering a case with one size color for inner layers and a different size/color for the outer. Probably black inner and white outer.

What is the best size to use? Options are 1/8, 3/16, and 1/16.

The Massdrop case uses 1/8" for the outer layers and 3/16" for the inners. Using 1/8" for the middle layer 3 (switch mounting plate) would allow room to top-mount thru-hole diodes on the PCB, but then you may need a thicker 1/4" layer 2 below that, or two 1/8" layer 2s, to allow enough room for the PCB and solder bumps.

Would the top layer work with 1/16 or should I stick to 1/8? Worried about that little thumb cluster piece if it's too small.

[tp4tissue]

guys, has there been word on a convex space bar key, that would be pretty awesome.

[shad]

Hi everyone,

First, I need to say that I've been a silent reader for months, and enjoyed it a lot. Thanks you guys!

Now, for the issue at hand: last Friday, I received my kit from the second Massdrop batch (hapiness). I'm almost done with the assembly, all that's left for me it to solder the keyswitches on the right hand. However, I'll need help troubleshooting things. So far, I haven't read about anyone facing the same issue, so I'll try to be specific. I wanted to test the left side of the keyboard because every component is already in place (except for the keyswitches on the right side, as noted above). However, the keyboard does not register any keypress. Here is what I confirmed to work:
- initially, the teensy USB was blinking
- I can load a qwerty-keyboard (from the massdrop configurator) with no trouble
- I can confirm that the right hand side of the keyboard register keypress when creating a short with a wire.
- no keypress from the left side are registered (pressing a keyswitch or creating a short with a wire)

It seems pretty hard to find out what wrong on the left side, and I have no clue. I tried melting some solders in case of a cold joint. I can't seem to find any part where the circuit would be broken. All the SMD, the I/O expender seems to be correctly oriented (I'll double check that). Perhaps a faulty cable, but that would be surprising.

Any thoughts, insights or similar experience?

Regards,
Shad

[ic07]

Welcome to Geekhack .  And thanks for a well written post.

It sounds to me a lot like the left hand side's not getting power.  Can you confirm with a multimeter?

Also, just to make double sure, are you plugging directly into the Teensy?  If so, that's most likely the problem, and you'll need to either solder in the USB Molex connector and use that, or put a jumper cable from the Teensy VCC pin to the USB Molex VCC.

Other than that, if it were me, I'd start poking around randomly with a multimeter, lol.  Other people will probably have better ideas.  Design files are here, and a little circuit diagram is here (download first, then view), if you wish to reference them.

[bisl]

Some ideas:

Did you remember to flip the diodes in the other direction for the left board? The square pads are on the opposite side from the right.
Did you check the joints on the TRRS cables?
Did you remember to jump the holes next to the TRRS connectors?

Small errors, as far as I know, should only affect single key here or there, or maybe a whole row or column or something if it was a problem with the IO expander or the Teensy; I wouldn't think there would be too much that would knock out the whole left hand. Hope something in here helps!

[pprjr]

I am interested in a ergodox, but I do not want to assemble one, someone would be willing to sell a assembled to me or tell me where I can find to buy?

[hramrach]

There is/was an assembly service offered on massdrop as well.

Hearing about the assembly problems does not make you want to do that yourself but if you have or can borrow a soldering iron and a multimeter you should be able to make it eventually ;-)

[daerid]

Can somebody post a right/wrong pic of how to orient the SMDs? That would be immensely helpful

[shad]

OK, I found the culprit. bisl was spot on. I forgot to flip the diodes (I don't think the build instruction clearly point out the orientation of the diodes, so I placed them all in the same direction on both sides). After ~2h30 unsoldering/resoldering, I got the left side of the keyboard to work. I also got the right one to work.  However, I found out this morning when playing with the device that multiple keypress are registered when I press any key of the left column of the right side, most likely a diode not being soldering correctly). I'm slowing getting there. I just need to reopen the keyboard tonight, and the keyboard will be fine physically and I will be able to start playing around with the keymap.

Thank you both bisl and ic07 for your suggestions. You were both of a great help.

Regards,
Shad

[Glod]

Can somebody post a right/wrong pic of how to orient the SMDs? That would be immensely helpful

does zooming in on this help?




Line -> Square for both hands, one hand will have them the opposite direction of the other

[lkong]

The GB is open again. Cheers
And Im the first one in this drop.

[Glod]

well that was quick

not sure if it will be successful in round 3 though.

[SubGothius]

well that was quick

not sure if it will be successful in round 3 though.

Looks like we only need 100 buy-ins to unlock the deepest discount; wasn't that threshold more like 200 for the last couple rounds?

BTW, looks like they recycled the original URL for this round:
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/ergodox/

[Dgsbllx]

Anyone from the UK ordered one of these from a previous Massdrop sale? The few times I've ordered from Massdrop I've been stung by customs, so just wondering if anyone from the UK can confirm their customs fees.

[ic07]

Lol, I'm surprised too.  But good for them :-) .  They seem to be running the buy as soon as requests have reached 1.5x the number needed for the max discount.  Wonder how they got the discount thresholds down... whether the shops they've been using are just really happy with all the business, or whether they figured they could just order the difference to ~200 kits, and sell the extras in a round 4... lol.

[william]

I've been using the ergodox exclusively for several months now, and I i have two major complaints:
1. having the keyboard split is a pain in the ass when you are using a mouse and want to hit a key that is on the side of the keyboard that the mouse hand operates.
2. the thumb key positioning is total balls.

if i could do it again, i would buy a point of sale matrix keyboard.

[Glod]

not for everyone....lol

[SubGothius]

2. the thumb key positioning is total balls.

I mitigated the thumb reach issue somewhat by using a DCS row 3 cap with its upper, nearly-vertical edge facing the main cluster; this puts the cap face as close as possible, and the way it slopes down towards the main cluster makes it easy and comfortable to strike glancing blows with the flank of my thumb (I may yet try a row 4 cap, which has even more of a slope).

if i could do it again, i would buy a point of sale matrix keyboard.

If you go that route, you may be interested in the POS matrix layout I developed and  recently posted here.

[tadbitnerdy]

Any possibility of an aluminum case only GB for the ergodox?  I'm an aluminum snob.

[CommunistWitchDr]

Any possibility of an aluminum case only GB for the ergodox?  I'm an aluminum snob.

>2013
>aluminum
Tungsten all the way. Titanium if has to be portable.


But in all seriousness an aluminum case gb woulde be awesome if they were made real high quality. It would probably cost like 200 bucks though.

[thadood]

For those of you who were like me and went, "WAIT, IT'S BACK ON?!?": https://www.massdrop.com/buy/ergodox

I put my order in for one - #10!

[ic07]

If you guys are serious about aluminum, you could always start a poll.  :-) Don't see how it could hurt anything, anyway.

[daerid]

EFFF IT. Just committed to buying one at $200. Could always use a second one with different case style.

[shad]

Just a small follow up. I finally got the leftmost row of the right side to work. One of the solders on a LED was to widely spread and created a short. For those with a similar issue, here was the symptoms:each keys of the colums 7 would get all the keys of its row to be registered (but not the key itself). Because the board can use SMD and "regular" diodes, I was confident that the SMD could use any of the two holes on each side without creating a short. Making the same assumption about the LEDs (i.e. the second closest hole also works the same) led me to my mistake. I hope this small explanation can help others not to reproduce the same error.

Also, I wanted to say that I'm really impressed by the key configurator provided on the massdrop website. It makes key reconfiguration dead simple. I'm using the bépo keymap (optimized French keymap, pretty much like dvorak) and it requires some key remapping to make the default qwerty mapping saner in that configuration (namely, the right alt was not accessible).

Regards,
shad

P.-S.: I typed this message using my ergodox. It takes some time to get used to, but I'm quite confident that I'll be able to type at the same speed in a matter of days (coming from a Typematrix 2030 keyboard).

[tp4tissue]

Just a small follow up. I finally got the leftmost row of the right side to work. One of the solders on a LED was to widely spread and created a short. For those with a similar issue, here was the symptoms:each keys of the colums 7 would get all the keys of its row to be registered (but not the key itself). Because the board can use SMD and "regular" diodes, I was confident that the SMD could use any of the two holes on each side without creating a short. Making the same assumption about the LEDs (i.e. the second closest hole also works the same) led me to my mistake. I hope this small explanation can help others not to reproduce the same error.

Also, I wanted to say that I'm really impressed by the key configurator provided on the massdrop website. It makes key reconfiguration dead simple. I'm using the bépo keymap (optimized French keymap, pretty much like dvorak) and it requires some key remapping to make the default qwerty mapping saner in that configuration (namely, the right alt was not accessible).

Regards,
shad

P.-S.: I typed this message using my ergodox. It takes some time to get used to, but I'm quite confident that I'll be able to type at the same speed in a matter of days (coming from a Typematrix 2030 keyboard).

congrats.

I am back to 85% key speed in a week. Hopefully I will be at 100% by the end of the month.

[Jagriff]

Here's my review of the ErgoDox. It is my first time ever reviewing something. Hopefully I did the keyboard justice. Please let me know if I need to make any corrections!

[tarakan]

I want to buy one.
What do I do?
May I come to get it and pay on the spot?
I don't want to deal with massdrop.
--Vladimir T.

[vatin]

I want to buy one.
What do I do?
May I come to get it and pay on the spot?
I don't want to deal with massdrop.
--Vladimir T.

At this point i don't think you have other option than massdrop, else you need to fabricate parts yourself as listed on ergodox.org
Another is to buy as used from someone who has already assembled. Or who will do that for you for a price.

[kurplop]

Jagriff-  Nice job on  the review. Clear and thorough but concise. You do the keyboard justice without outrageous superlatives or distractions. I never understood why some reviewers feel the need to have "In a gadda da vida" blasting in the foreground as they attempt to review something. Thanks for sharing it.

[actionbastard]

Do you guys think that there is enough interest for the $200 board to go through this time?

Also how long did it take for everything to get to the buyers after the GB ended?

Keyboard looks really good.

[vatin]

Do you guys think that there is enough interest for the $200 board to go through this time?

Also how long did it take for everything to get to the buyers after the GB ended?

Keyboard looks really good.

I think the momentum is still good. Come join us :-)

[Glod]

man i really wish massdrop offered different acrylic colors like solid black. its a shame, i really dislike the completely clear so much. The cases litster made awhile back for the filco/phantom were different colors and i really think it looks better with it layered like that, like if they made them with black top and bottom and clear center. Or maybe a whole other case option. What i'm getting at is It just sucks seeing round three with the exact same options as round 2.

[daerid]

Just built mine this afternoon. Totally  surprised that everything worked perfectly first time! Now to settle on a layout :-/

I agree about alternate case colors. Clear really shows every little scratch and spec of dust.

Still want a second one though.

[daerid]

Speaking of which, I got the full hand case, and while I love the wrist rests, I know I'm gonna sweat all over them. Anybody got any ideas about something I can put on them to help mitigate that?

[WhiteFireDragon]

I got a decent amount of PMs saying my assembly video was not viewable. Apparently I put some music in the video which flagged the whole video as a copyright infringement, so some countries and all mobile devices cannot view the video. Sorry about that. I uploaded another one and stripped the music. This video link is not public, so it's only viewable through this GH thread:

The original video, with music:

[kurplop]

Speaking of which, I got the full hand case, and while I love the wrist rests, I know I'm gonna sweat all over them. Anybody got any ideas about something I can put on them to help mitigate that?

Leeku had an attractive solution for his Ergodox like keyboard. 
 http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=40880.msg813775#msg813775
Leather could be secured with double sided tape or contact cement. A thin wood or matte finished acrylic plate could be substituted using the existing holes and screws.

[AcidFire]

man i really wish massdrop offered different acrylic colors like solid black. its a shame, i really dislike the completely clear so much. The cases litster made awhile back for the filco/phantom were different colors and i really think it looks better with it layered like that, like if they made them with black top and bottom and clear center. Or maybe a whole other case option. What i'm getting at is It just sucks seeing round three with the exact same options as round 2.

Unfortunately since I don't have the actual PCBs I would need help testing the fit, but it's possible that I could produce some alternative colors if people were interested. I have access to 3 laser cutters at work that I have free reign with at the end of the day.

[linziyi]

man i really wish massdrop offered different acrylic colors like solid black. its a shame, i really dislike the completely clear so much. The cases litster made awhile back for the filco/phantom were different colors and i really think it looks better with it layered like that, like if they made them with black top and bottom and clear center. Or maybe a whole other case option. What i'm getting at is It just sucks seeing round three with the exact same options as round 2.

Unfortunately since I don't have the actual PCBs I would need help testing the fit, but it's possible that I could produce some alternative colors if people were interested. I have access to 3 laser cutters at work that I have free reign with at the end of the day.

go to ergodox.org, they have a file for the case and PCB

[AcidFire]

Unfortunately since I don't have the actual PCBs I would need help testing the fit, but it's possible that I could produce some alternative colors if people were interested. I have access to 3 laser cutters at work that I have free reign with at the end of the day.

go to ergodox.org, they have a file for the case and PCB

Oh I've already got all those, I'm talking more to the height of the acrylic layers since I had read that the case that was made available used 1/8" & 3/16", while I've got ready access to a variety of colors in 1/8" and clear in 1/4" (which looks slick sandwiched between the black), so I'm not sure how the height difference would work out. But like I said, if someone is willing to help me test the fit, could definitely try a couple different combos.

[xman]

Looking into it a little further, it seems that Plover can work without NKRO, provided one is willing to "arpeggiate" the keys.  Not sure how much of a pain that might be...

It's a big pain... It's kind of tricky and slow to do, even for testing purposes.
My experience trying to arpeggiate was disappointing.
(But Plover is working well for me now with a keyboard that has full NKRO.)

[lkong]

any key cap recommandations?
since the dsa seems dont have the bump on 'f' and 'j'

[daerid]

I really didn't like the DSA honestly, my accuracy went to complete crap. I might try them again later. Now I just need to find some DCS blank black caps with nubs

[CommunistWitchDr]

any key cap recommandations?
since the dsa seems dont have the bump on 'f' and 'j'

You can get dsa deep dish keys. I might have a couple spare if you can't find any elsewhere.

[linziyi]

:O left over from the Groupbuy? where can I get those?

[CommunistWitchDr]

I'm going to be using 8 on my board. I think I ordered 10 or 12, if I did I'll give ya a couple.

[dominicclifton]

Anyone from the UK ordered one of these from a previous Massdrop sale? The few times I've ordered from Massdrop I've been stung by customs, so just wondering if anyone from the UK can confirm their customs fees.

£14.64 - delivered by royal mail.

built mine last night.

I was not a touch-typist before buying one. After half a day I'm finding it hard still. Re-using some of the QWERTY keys from my corsair keyboard is helping.

I'm waiting for some vinyl stickers to arrive in the post.

I had no problems building the keyboard apart from the diodes being really frickin' small!

[linziyi]

I'm going to be using 8 on my board. I think I ordered 10 or 12, if I did I'll give ya a couple.

Thanks!

[ic07]

Looking into it a little further, it seems that Plover can work without NKRO, provided one is willing to "arpeggiate" the keys.  Not sure how much of a pain that might be...

It's a big pain... It's kind of tricky and slow to do, even for testing purposes.
My experience trying to arpeggiate was disappointing.
(But Plover is working well for me now with a keyboard that has full NKRO.)

Mmm, I can imagine.  Glad to hear you found something that works though :-) .  Plover looks really interesting... it's actually the first reason that I personally care about to want NKRO at all, lol.

[SpAmRaY]

Just a small follow up. I finally got the leftmost row of the right side to work. One of the solders on a LED was to widely spread and created a short. For those with a similar issue, here was the symptoms:each keys of the colums 7 would get all the keys of its row to be registered (but not the key itself). Because the board can use SMD and "regular" diodes, I was confident that the SMD could use any of the two holes on each side without creating a short. Making the same assumption about the LEDs (i.e. the second closest hole also works the same) led me to my mistake. I hope this small explanation can help others not to reproduce the same error.

Also, I wanted to say that I'm really impressed by the key configurator provided on the massdrop website. It makes key reconfiguration dead simple. I'm using the bépo keymap (optimized French keymap, pretty much like dvorak) and it requires some key remapping to make the default qwerty mapping saner in that configuration (namely, the right alt was not accessible).

Regards,
shad

P.-S.: I typed this message using my ergodox. It takes some time to get used to, but I'm quite confident that I'll be able to type at the same speed in a matter of days (coming from a Typematrix 2030 keyboard).

congrats.

I am back to 85% key speed in a week. Hopefully I will be at 100% by the end of the month.

bro you need some of these.....

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44906.new#new

might not help you type faster but it'll complement your favorite keyboard!