USB Dvorak Dongle?

[Soarer]

Interesting, certainly looks like it would be easier than wiring the host board to a Teensy. As you can see there, only certain connections are needed, so it might even be 100% match! (Well, apart from the 5V connection, the position of that on the host board sucks).

[hasu]

For people who is interested in this kind of things,

FYI:
Skilled guys on colemak forum have done the job, IIRC. See and applaud!
http://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=1561
I didn't try this myself yet.

[clickclack123]

Just to let anyone trying this know, apparently the pins aren't exactly right, according to a post here. Still very close though.

Ok, found the culprit. Unfortunately, the Pro Micro has pin 3 assigned to GND, where the Pro Mini uses that as a RST line. This causes the host shield to be held in reset. I really don't understand that design decision... really dumb move, if you ask me. The only answer is to disconnect pin 3 (the GND pin right next to TxI), and connect it to the RST pin on the other side of the board. Seriously, this design decision makes absolutely no sense to me. The Pro Micro is supposed to be pin-compatible with the Pro Mini... why, guys?

Anyway, that modification seems to work for me.

Something else to be aware of is that the cheap board that I bought I think is a 5V version, so I'll need to switch the regulator for a 3.3V one. Dammit it looks like I have to buy 5 minimum on ebay for $11. Anyone have any ideas on where to get a single suitable 3.3V regulator (need a MIC5219-3.3) cheap?

[Soarer]

That pin change could be really annoying if you didn't know about it beforehand! But, forewarned, it's not a big deal.

Also, don't forget the 5V connection

PJRC sell a different regulator, but I don't know if it's compatible.

[clickclack123]

That pin change could be really annoying if you didn't know about it beforehand! But, forewarned, it's not a big deal.

Also, don't forget the 5V connection

PJRC sell a different regulator, but I don't know if it's compatible.

Sorry, don't forget what about the 5V connection?

Yeah, I saw a lot of ones in that packaging on ebay, but unfortunately they're a lot bigger and the pins don't match up. It'd be really ugly if I used them. Pity though, LM1117's are available on ebay for about 16c each! Seems stupid that I need to pay 15x more and buy 5 at a time just to get the same thing in a different case with less current capacity. Oh well, that's how they get you, I'll have to buy them anyway.

The one I need will look like this:

[Soarer]

That pin change could be really annoying if you didn't know about it beforehand! But, forewarned, it's not a big deal.

Also, don't forget the 5V connection

PJRC sell a different regulator, but I don't know if it's compatible.

Sorry, don't forget what about the 5V connection?

5V to the host shield for powering keyboards etc that need 5V power. It's the pad almost underneath the USB connector, in from the edge of the board. Orange wire here, explained in section '4. Power Options' here. (I had to hack the Teensy to put 5V on one Vcc pin and 3.3V on the other, but on the Pro Micro there's a 'RAW' pin which will still have 5V even after its Vcc has been converted to 3.3V).

[clickclack123]

Thanks again soarer.