Author Topic: Nostromo N52 Black Cherry Mod (Read 175995 times)

chimera15 · « **Reply #100 on:** Tue, 10 November 2009, 18:18:54 »

Quote from: ripster;131066

Here's a pic of the innards of the N52te. The good news is you could get leads to the pads easily and not have to deal with the connector and spaghetti wiring. The bad news is it looks a little tight for Cherry Keys even if you sunk the PCB down as far as you could into the base.

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Source: link

Actually, I would just remove the PCB and go back to the Spaghetti route. But you'd lose the pretty leds.
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Other than that and the LEDs you see on the PCB it looks identical in design. No metal plate but lead would take care of that.

Oh wow!! I have 3 of them but never took them apart. No wonder they're so much better they're conductive rubber switches like the new siig minitouch plus or btc compacts that I used for my steampunk board. Yeah I could do a steampunk type mod to it easy!!

That would be super wicked now that I think about it, a steampunked n52te. lol I even have the extra keycaps for it from my first one.

chimera15 · « **Reply #101 on:** Tue, 10 November 2009, 21:01:44 »

Rajagra · « **Reply #102 on:** Tue, 10 November 2009, 21:20:09 »

Quote from: ripster;131618

All that hard work paid off.

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Modern Warfare 2 - Game Rankings Avg Review, N=20 95.02%

Wonder how they got the idea for the cover picture.

Edit> Ouch. I was getting to buy it then I read the Amazon reviews. Shorter than normal 1-player mode and gimped online mode. I saw a comment "Activision are the new EA", seems spot on. THAT attitude is what's killing PC gaming. I spent over 2K on a gaming PC last year and all I've really played on it is Crysis. :-( I can't even get Crysis 2 because I object to the limited number of installs and the way the copy protection scheme interferes with the PC's operation. I'll dig out Far Cry, I never played that through.

AndrewZorn · « **Reply #103 on:** Wed, 11 November 2009, 06:28:47 »

PC gaming is still dying, and MW2 is part of the problem. did you not yet notice you are playing a console game on a PC, not a PC game? have you joined in on the 9v9 max, unmoddable, P2P room-to-room-fun multiplayer?
EDIT nevermind, i forgot what the EA rep said, about the significant changes made for the PC version... MOUSE CONTROLS, GRAPHICAL OPTIONS, IN-GAME TEXT CHAT...

L4D2 isnt helping either. valve releases a great game, with which they promise all sorts of new content... LEVELS, CHARACTERS, AND WEAPONS... what happens? a year later, they re-release the same thing, but with different LEVELS, CHARACTERS, AND WEAPONS... and charge $50 all over again! fans get mad, so they release HALF of ONE level for all those suckers that bought #1. split community, etc.

its funny that the type of games keeping PC gaming alive are not even making much money. quake live, for instance.

chimera15 · « **Reply #104 on:** Wed, 11 November 2009, 16:51:37 »

Quote from: AndrewZorn;131662

PC gaming is still dying, and MW2 is part of the problem. did you not yet notice you are playing a console game on a PC, not a PC game? have you joined in on the 9v9 max, unmoddable, P2P room-to-room-fun multiplayer?
EDIT nevermind, i forgot what the EA rep said, about the significant changes made for the PC version... MOUSE CONTROLS, GRAPHICAL OPTIONS, IN-GAME TEXT CHAT...

L4D2 isnt helping either. valve releases a great game, with which they promise all sorts of new content... LEVELS, CHARACTERS, AND WEAPONS... what happens? a year later, they re-release the same thing, but with different LEVELS, CHARACTERS, AND WEAPONS... and charge $50 all over again! fans get mad, so they release HALF of ONE level for all those suckers that bought #1. split community, etc.

its funny that the type of games keeping PC gaming alive are not even making much money. quake live, for instance.

Yeah I didn't like the first l4d, I really disliked the difference between the level difficulties. At the highest setting it was like impossible to get through a level, with like constant unrealistic wave after wave of zombies coming at you out of nowhere, then one setting down, it was like practically no zombies at all. I only played through 1 campaign of the 4 before I quit. I disliked how the campaigns were all separated too. The basic design in the game was just off imo. It was no surprise to me when they sacked it. I really had high hopes too, I love zombie games and movies. I guess I'll try the second one, but probably won't be buying it. How are you playing it? Early release or pirated or something? I thought it didn't come out till the 17th?

chimera15 · « **Reply #105 on:** Wed, 11 November 2009, 17:03:59 »

Quote from: AndrewZorn;131662

PC gaming is still dying, and MW2 is part of the problem. did you not yet notice you are playing a console game on a PC, not a PC game? have you joined in on the 9v9 max, unmoddable, P2P room-to-room-fun multiplayer?
EDIT nevermind, i forgot what the EA rep said, about the significant changes made for the PC version... MOUSE CONTROLS, GRAPHICAL OPTIONS, IN-GAME TEXT CHAT...

L4D2 isnt helping either. valve releases a great game, with which they promise all sorts of new content... LEVELS, CHARACTERS, AND WEAPONS... what happens? a year later, they re-release the same thing, but with different LEVELS, CHARACTERS, AND WEAPONS... and charge $50 all over again! fans get mad, so they release HALF of ONE level for all those suckers that bought #1. split community, etc.

its funny that the type of games keeping PC gaming alive are not even making much money. quake live, for instance.

pc games are still thriving when related to the web. Some flash games have become really well developed and fun to play as well. I've killed thousands of hours playing different flash games on the web. lol

chimera15 · « **Reply #106 on:** Wed, 11 November 2009, 17:04:42 »

Quote from: ripster;131810

Demo. No more waves.

PC Gaming Limps Along!
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not my pic

cool lol

chimera15 · « **Reply #107 on:** Wed, 11 November 2009, 17:13:32 »

They made zombie legos? lol Have they broken down and made military legos yet? They have all kinds of legos that kill people and junk, but they'll never make military ones? lol

AndrewZorn · « **Reply #108 on:** Fri, 13 November 2009, 10:02:13 »

i havent even played the demo, i dont need to know, valve already admitted, "the same... but MORE!"

and i loved L4D, as well as the at-first-impossible hardest difficulty

timw4mail · « **Reply #109 on:** Fri, 13 November 2009, 10:37:35 »

Quote from: AndrewZorn;132128

i havent even played the demo, i dont need to know, valve already admitted, "the same... but MORE!"

and i loved L4D, as well as the at-first-impossible hardest difficulty

The characters don't seem as memorable, but the melee weapons in L4D2 are worth it. Seeing zombies split with a machete, and spill blood...

AndrewZorn · « **Reply #110 on:** Fri, 13 November 2009, 13:04:59 »

Quote from: ripster;132146

Here's the best review of MW2 I've seen yet. Arstechnica. Unlike those stupid gaming sites or gaming forums, they can write AND know their stuff. I pretty much agree with everything the guy says (and yeah, lots of PC copies left at my retailer).

PC Gaming is dying fast if this is any indication.

My next mod is gonna be Red Cherries on a PS3 Controller - Uncharted 2: Among Theives is in the mail!

tell me how that mod goes... i really want to replace mine! i was just reading the other day about using plastic discs to reinforce and 'stiffen' PSP buttons and dpad, from street fighter enthusiasts... but an actual SWITCH replacement would be awesome

skimming through, your review seems to be what i expected... still fun, but ruined for that "ill still be playing this in 6 years" part

here is the best article on the matter i have found
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/104/1044701p1.html

AndrewZorn · « **Reply #111 on:** Fri, 13 November 2009, 13:43:42 »

oh yeah, they are all membrane... just like the psp EDIT now that the images are up, are you showing that it is one HUGE membrane? the PSP just has two little rubber pieces, each containing 4 rubber domes, to connect the contacts below on the PCB... like the 360 controller, i guess.
but as a best-you-can-do-easily type mod, the plastic disc thing supposedly helps a lot, i am going to do it to my psp as soon as i can find a suitable material (ive already opened it several times, im not worried about that)

itlnstln · « **Reply #112 on:** Fri, 13 November 2009, 14:23:21 »

How about ML switches? I bet they are still too big, though.

timw4mail · « **Reply #113 on:** Mon, 16 November 2009, 10:39:25 »

Quote from: ripster;132845

P.S. Uncharted 2 is a great game. Plus, the babe is named..... Chloe!
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this pic is for examining pixels only! :biggrin1:

Can you say no anti-aliasing? Yech.

timw4mail · « **Reply #114 on:** Mon, 16 November 2009, 11:00:57 »

Quote from: ripster;132861

Why am I not surprised......

Because it's a pixel-related gaming comment?

Rajagra · « **Reply #115 on:** Mon, 16 November 2009, 15:40:57 »

I just remembered I have a Steam account, so I downloaded HalfLife2, Counterstrike Source, to my newest PC. The video stress test at 1920x1200 4xAA runs at 275fps. Doesn't really make the games better though.
That machine is overpowered and underused, sadly.

(Crysis can still bring it to its knees with the highest settings though.)

Arc'xer · « **Reply #116 on:** Tue, 17 November 2009, 17:46:06 »

Quote from: Rajagra;132966

I just remembered I have a Steam account, so I downloaded HalfLife2, Counterstrike Source, to my newest PC. The video stress test at 1920x1200 4xAA runs at 275fps. Doesn't really make the games better though.
That machine is overpowered and underused, sadly.

(Crysis can still bring it to its knees with the highest settings though.)

Actually, it does make a difference. Your monitor might not display all those frames but the feel of the game will certainly be different. Considering most people are running with 60Hz LCDs not many use the new 120Hz LCDs like the Samsung 2233rz or Viewsonic 2265/68 and fewer yet have high-end CRTs with 100-200Hz refresh rates. You may not see all the other frames but aside from the feel remember CSS works similar to CS 1.6. If you run at 100 FPS in 1.6 your registration will be a lot better than using a lower number. Since the GoldSRC and Source are both modded quake engines the frame rate calculates the data of your and your enemies position.

And ignore people who say the human eye can only see X amount. The human eye is constantly streaming, it's the monitor that is unable to provide more frames per second.

Plus, certain games do benefit from a lot higher frames per second. Quake engine games are a good example. Pretty much any game that has FPS-dependent physics like Call of Duty will allow you to use your framerate to an advantage.

For example in CoD setting com_maxfps to 125, 250, 333, 666, 999/1000(at 400/500 you become heavier) will let you run faster, shoot faster, bounce from certain surfaces(super jumps basically), run silently 333+, and also jump higher than normal. Perfect example is if you ever saw CoD1 SnD matches, if you played Germans in Carentan since your closer to the wall near the tank you could jump high enough to make your field of view pass the wall and shoot people. When normally using below 125/250 you can't really jump that high.(That's why punkbuster would kick you for 333 FPS cause it really changes the physics much more so than 250).

It all depends on the game really but it's not like there's anything wrong with running the game at such high framerate.

chimera15 · « **Reply #117 on:** Tue, 17 November 2009, 17:57:56 »

Quote from: ripster;132845

Nurse! I'm ready to call it.

PC GAMES DEAD ON NOV 16TH 2009
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So much for MW2 - that game sure didn't last long for $60. Now on to the PS3. As you can see the Cherry Keys are too big and the MLs are only a tad smaller in one direction (depth is a big issue).

The other problem - the PS3 controller is actually pretty great as is! Even though the buttons are 100g they are short travel, tactile, and I don't have sore thumbs.

Whats more interesting is the implications of PC Gaming dying:

- Maybe the Gaming keyboard companies will start looking for other target markets?
- Nvidia stock anyone?
- Why DO people pay $300 for a video card and less than $30 for a keyboard?
- 6000 DPI mice.... snore......

P.S. Uncharted 2 is a great game. Plus, the babe is named..... Chloe!
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this pic is for examining pixels only! :biggrin1:

Yeah, I finished mw2 in 2 days on the highest setting. The only part that gave me problems was when you're running from that house in the mountains to the choppers. Fricken bullets coming out of nowhere, and either landmines or explosives of some kind. Had to replay that like 20 times to finally make it.

It sucked, like practically no vehicle control at all, and small maps. Playing it at 1080p was nice though. First stand alone fps I've played at that level, the detail and scenery looked pretty good. The best part of the game was the end credits where all the people were in the museum. lol

mushbert · « **Reply #118 on:** Fri, 04 June 2010, 19:06:46 »

Hi ripster, I've been planning to do this mod for a while, so thank you for the nice worklog. I have a few questions you might be able to help me with:

Something was mentioned about the switch loci needing to be very precise to keep the keycaps from colliding. When you expanded the N52's holes for the Cherries, did you just centre them on the original locations, or did you redo the whole layout?

The other thing is, I have an older keyboard with a broken keycap, and whatever type of plastic it's made of will not hold together with cyanoacrylate type glues. How is your orange button holding up? I've seen you talk about using plastic epoxy, can you recommend something?

mushbert · « **Reply #119 on:** Sat, 05 June 2010, 13:52:39 »

Thanks. I'll have to check if there's enough of the keycap's stem to glue back on.

niplfsh · « **Reply #120 on:** Thu, 22 July 2010, 14:05:08 »

This is totally awesome. Thanks for the writeup. I've got 2 N52s laying around and I'd like to try this on one of them. My question is where can someone who doesn't have a zillion mechanical keyboards laying around acquire the switches and keycaps? The only switches I've seen for sale are blues, blacks, and clear... seems that brown would be ideal for this application. Keycaps, I have no idea.

morffius · « **Reply #121 on:** Thu, 22 July 2010, 14:19:11 »

Me too! I'll be digging into mine later this year when I have some time. But first to acquire some Browns or Blues...

Infinite north · « **Reply #122 on:** Thu, 22 July 2010, 15:13:44 »

You really won't want to use blues for gaming because the actuation is staggered. makes double tapping harder.

morffius · « **Reply #123 on:** Sat, 24 July 2010, 20:09:04 »

I actually have a bunch of blacks, so I was thinking of cannibalizing a brown or blue for some springs to make some reds. ... On that note, I wonder if there is a Cherry brown/blue that has double shots and a normal Right sift key..

minnus · « **Reply #124 on:** Wed, 18 August 2010, 20:10:20 »

I had to make an account to tell you how awesome this is...if only I had switches laying around

Stone · « **Reply #125 on:** Wed, 25 August 2010, 11:49:58 »

Do you use it as a (admittedly slightly handicapped) HID keyboard, or do you use the n52 drivers? I stopped using mine, it was about 50/50 the dodgy switchfeel and the shockingly poor drivers and software. Used as a composite keyboard/mouse device it would actually be tolerable with decent switches...

itlnstln · « **Reply #126 on:** Wed, 25 August 2010, 12:01:38 »

When I was using my Nostromo, I would "permanently" map the keys in the UI, then map each game to the Nostromo. I would only use the UI once.

Lanx · « **Reply #127 on:** Thu, 07 October 2010, 04:06:07 »

had some extra cherry browns from my mod, so i decided to do this full n52 mod. basically followed Ripsters guide, pretty awesome.

I'm using it as a "faux" numberpad and if/when i want to game i have that option.
btw Ripster my num15 (the space bar) seems a bit high, i guess i didn't test out the physical distance of that, do you just recess it deeper?

WhiteRice · « **Reply #128 on:** Thu, 07 October 2010, 13:53:14 »

Ok here's a crazy idea. What if someone made a split ergo keyboard based on the nostromo design. You could use the thumb nub to mouse around.

Or something like this, which I just found on the internet;

Lanx · « **Reply #129 on:** Thu, 07 October 2010, 16:10:31 »

Quote from: ripster;230813

Great Job!
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This is how low I recessed my spacebar. Experiment with different keys (Cherry's are low profile).
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yea that's exactly the same height i have too, i was thinking of lowering it by 2/3mm or something, everytime i try to hit the down arrow on the pad i end up hitting the space bar too, ended up removing the cap and just having the exposed stem, this seems to work, but looks ugly heh, i'll try later to mod it but i don't want to open it up again!

vegaman · « **Reply #130 on:** Sun, 19 December 2010, 18:37:36 »

Just ordered myself an n52 to join in the fun

I've been using an n50 for a while, but after getting a mechanical keyboard my fingers aren't too happy on the crappy rubber domes. So I decided to keep the n50 as a backup and mod the n52.

I guess the differences for me will be:
Plan to paint the silver bits yellow to match my keyboard and mouse - might have to ask my gundam/warhammer friends for info on how to go about this
Cherry brown switches - though I'm tempted to try some ghetto reds
Replace the controller with a teensy so I get n-key rollover, keys/macros can be stored onboard and I don't need drivers.

Lanx · « **Reply #131 on:** Sun, 19 December 2010, 21:49:08 »

Quote from: vegaman;265898

Just ordered myself an n52 to join in the fun
I've been using an n50 for a while, but after getting a mechanical keyboard my fingers aren't too happy on the crappy rubber domes. So I decided to keep the n50 as a backup and mod the n52.

I guess the differences for me will be:
Plan to paint the silver bits yellow to match my keyboard and mouse - might have to ask my gundam/warhammer friends for info on how to go about this
Cherry brown switches - though I'm tempted to try some ghetto reds
Replace the controller with a teensy so I get n-key rollover, keys/macros can be stored onboard and I don't need drivers.

you could just as easily (if not easier) do this mod to a n50, the n50 has pins sticking out. But if your bent on using a teesy guess you know more about that than me.

vegaman · « **Reply #132 on:** Sun, 19 December 2010, 22:38:48 »

Quote from: ripster;265936

Great! Fun mod but cutting the switch mounts is a PITA!

N52 is NKRO.

Although the teensy mod would be nice to get rid of the drivers. And you would have to be able to load multiple profiles quickly.

Hmm, NKRO makes keeping the controller a bit more tempting, though it looks harder to solder to than the n50 controller or a teensy. I think I'll order the teensy anyway and I'll find something else to use it for if I decide to stick with the n52 controller.

Quote from: Lanx;265960

you could just as easily (if not easier) do this mod to a n50, the n50 has pins sticking out. But if your bent on using a teesy guess you know more about that than me.

Yeah, the n50 does look like it would be easier, but I'd like more keys and buttons than it has. And doing something different is always fun :biggrin1:

Edit: ordered the teensy++ since the teensy isn't in stock. Trying to track down some switches without huge shipping cost now too. Hopefully I'll update in here to make sure I keep going

roads · « **Reply #133 on:** Mon, 17 January 2011, 00:02:44 »

Indeed a nice mod. I did an analog Joystick mod that will only work with the XIM3. See it here. http://www.xim3.com/community/index.php?topic=7745.0

Now I would like to give it some cherry keys also. I have some questions that do not seem to be answered in this tutorial.

1. Will the regular high keys fit the N52te or do I need a low profile Cherry keyboard, if yes which one do you suggest.
2. Can someone list what key has to go where in the spaghetti wiring?
3. If I may use large keys, what Cherry board has red keys that are nowadays available?

Thanks for helping!

roads · « **Reply #134 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 01:38:26 »

http://www.xim3.com/community/index.php?topic=8122.msg91041#msg91041

done for the N52te. Anyone here with brown cherries? would like to exchange some blacks

db_Iodine · « **Reply #135 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 03:15:46 »

Quote from: roads;280905

http://www.xim3.com/community/index.php?topic=8122.msg91041#msg91041

done for the N52te. Anyone here with brown cherries? would like to exchange some blacks

This makes me want to mod my N52te with brown cherries. I'd just need those switches.

What's the real difference between 4-pin switches and 2-pin switches, and would both options work well for this mod?

roads · « **Reply #136 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 03:24:19 »

Why brown why not make red ones? I hear the reds are best for gaming and they can be made of blacks and browns?

db_Iodine · « **Reply #137 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 04:06:30 »

Buying both blacks and browns/blues would get expensive. I'm quite happy gaming with my browns so I'll just stick those in the n52te and be happy.

roads · « **Reply #138 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 04:23:39 »

No, just buy a board with browns and we exchange 40 of them. You can even just cut the board if you don't want to unsolder them all as its quite a pain. Mine are already unsoldered. I am in Germany and we do have mail to Finland. Actually I am Hungarian origin so you are even family LOL.

db_Iodine · « **Reply #139 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 05:03:05 »

I PM'd you. If you could sell me a combination board, that would be awesome.

roads · « **Reply #140 on:** Wed, 19 January 2011, 05:19:09 »

No you misunderstood me I only have black, if you buy a brown cherry keyboard we can send each other 40. I build 40 reds and you do the same. We share the two boards.

Lanx · « **Reply #141 on:** Sat, 22 January 2011, 10:40:59 »

spring order is an option in group buy too.

roads · « **Reply #142 on:** Sat, 22 January 2011, 10:50:24 »

Really? Where?

db_Iodine · « **Reply #143 on:** Sat, 22 January 2011, 14:13:00 »

Here's the thread about it. And here's the thread where you can place your orders.

I guess it might be easier for you to just order a set of those springs than trade switches with me.

roads · « **Reply #144 on:** Sat, 22 January 2011, 14:58:16 »

Yeah as they are from Germany, you can still have some switches if you need them. There seems to be a deadline though there.

db_Iodine · « **Reply #145 on:** Sat, 22 January 2011, 16:28:02 »

The deadline was postponed because sixty had some troubles with the first springs he tested. You could send sixty a PM and ask him directly.

If your going to order those springs from the group buy, I think we can skip our little switch trade.

roads · « **Reply #146 on:** Sat, 22 January 2011, 22:39:57 »

Alright just wanted to say that I would have sticked to our deal also if you would have needed some blacks. I will pm sixty.

toddincabo · « **Reply #147 on:** Fri, 11 March 2011, 23:45:15 »

I was all over the place when excited, so made a pinky cup to put a break on that (mapped my WASD over to the left). The rest are obvious , but the most useful is the riser on the S button so all I have to do is toggle my finger on it to engage it.

The SPACE bar was extended with a little plastic and foam on it also.

Popped out the A button and spun it 180 for backward tilt before adding the finger rest plastic cutout. Also used a rear button 180 for the W button.

Drilled little holes and added little screws on the directional pad. Changing them to black later.

All the little balls are those push pin heads.

The pads are perfect for my wrist and large hands.

A lot of Goop (which makes a mess) but perfect for removing at any time by just peeling it off, unlike your regular glue.

The risers are drip system tubing. Tons of trial and error.

toddincabo · « **Reply #148 on:** Fri, 11 March 2011, 23:51:11 »

db_Iodine · « **Reply #149 on:** Sat, 12 March 2011, 02:58:50 »

It's still the membrane version. Did you think about modding it to use mechanical switches?

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Author Topic: Nostromo N52 Black Cherry Mod (Read 175995 times)