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geekhack Community => Ergonomics => Topic started by: Infinite north on Mon, 14 June 2010, 21:20:12

Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: Infinite north on Mon, 14 June 2010, 21:20:12
Could anyone fill me in on what kinesis boards have diodes. I have done some searches on the forum and google, all I decided is that some of them do. It looks like the newer Advantage boards have nkro but I am not sure about the rest of their mechanical product line.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: Zalusithix on Mon, 14 June 2010, 21:38:25
Only the Contoured line is mechanical. The Maxim and Freestyle are rubber dome.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: Infinite north on Tue, 15 June 2010, 00:37:54
Yeah, I understand that they only make one style of mechanical keyboard. what I am asking is what variations are there in the various renditions of that one model.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: ricercar on Tue, 15 June 2010, 12:08:21
There are sub models in Advantage to differentiate DVORAK vs QWERTY.

I've owned only the first two.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: Zalusithix on Tue, 15 June 2010, 13:06:03
Dvorak and QWERTY are just firmware settings. The hardware remains the same and thus the NKRO traits do as well.

Advantage (USB) and Advantage Pro should be the same model with more flash and a lock switch in the Pro. The Advantage USB is NKRO as far as the USB spec allows. Or at least I've yet to find a key combo that trips it up in less than that. (Aside from the '=' key + certain letters which change mode.) That being the case, I assume the Advantage PS/2 model is NKRO without the USB limitations.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: ricercar on Tue, 15 June 2010, 16:24:38
Quote from: Zalusithix;193333
Dvorak and QWERTY are just firmware settings. The hardware remains the same

In my world firmware = hardware. Different ROM means different hardware. Your mileage obviously varies.

The Contour Essential had two unpopulated ROM DIP sockets.
The Contour Classic had one unpopulated and one populated by an ATMEL 24C164.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: Zalusithix on Tue, 15 June 2010, 17:53:24
By firmware I mean it's simply a reprogram of the same board. The Dvorak can flip between Dvorak and QWERTY with a single key combo which reassigns all the keys' values. In fact I'm pretty damn sure the standard QWERTY board can become Dvorak quite fine. The Dvorak option should just be for the dual legend keycaps.

Quote from: Advantage Manual
Activating on-board Dvorak is basically a “global remap” of the keyboard, so any other remapping that you may have done is erased.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: ricercar on Tue, 15 June 2010, 18:06:26
My 130 had no Dvorak firmware.
My 133 has QWERTY/Dvorak firmware but only QWERTY caps.

My understanding from the website indicates there are models still shipping without DVORAK.

To answer the original question properly, all models have Cherry browns with diodes.
Title: kinesis and nkro.
Post by: Forsaken on Tue, 15 June 2010, 19:10:27
DVORAK mode on the Advantage USB and Pro USB is just a automatic remapping. The boards are fully remappable in onboard hardware, and when you "switch" it to DVORAK or back to QWERTY, it just remaps itself. This makes for a pain if you want to swap frequently between the two layouts, as it overwrites any custom remapping you've done with the standard DVORAK or QWERTY layout every time you "switch" it. Kinesis recommends using macros rather than remapping to swap key function if you need to use the auto Qwerty/Dvorak remap feature, since macros operate below the remap level, and remain intact after remapping.