Inherrent problem with keypad - any possible solutions?

[Keypadgamer]

I got my first mech board for gaming a bit over a year ago and ive been having a problem with it thats taking me a long time to nail down whats causing it. I bought another recently to test and im having the same exact problem with this one too fresh out of the box. The keyboard is a SmartYao LY092-MINI/SN/Koolertron SMKD72-A

The issue is that i have three keys bound to '' control''  ''alt'' ''shift'' and when i press and hold them very occasionally the key press doesnt register that im holding it down until i let go of the key and press it again.

This is VERY bad for gaming and i have tried everything to fix it.

- I have tried binding them to different keys on the keypad to see if faulty switches but the problem remains.

- I have tried different computers but the problem remains.

- I have tried different settings in windows and using autohotkey to rebind a letter to the modifier i want and having the keypad itself transmitting a simple letter instead but the problem remains.

- When i open the on-screen keyboard and press a modifier key it will show highlighted on-screen normally, but when the problem occurs the key is not highlighted on the on-screen keyboard even though im still holding it on the keypad.

-When i open notepad while still holding the key in its glitched state the keypad will behave as if no modifier is held until i release and press it again also, so it is not just in the game window this happens.

I've reached out to the manufacturers but wondered if anyone here might be able to provide some insight or possible solutions in the meantime.

[suicidal_orange]

To be clear is the problem holding any one of these keys or two or three at once?  It could be to do with the matrix and/or firmware not being configured with enough rollover, it's advertised as a macro pad and 48 macros is a lot so kinda makes sense not to enable lots of keys at once though it would cost pennies.  In the tester that would look like hold ctrl (highlights) press shift (also highlights) press D (ctrl un-highlights and doesn't register again until released)

[yui]

SO beat me to it but i will second him on saying that your problem sound like a rollover limitation... so yeah it would be inherent to the board and short of rewiring the matrix there is not really any solutions i know of... let's hope i am wrong

[Keypadgamer]

To be clear is the problem holding any one of these keys or two or three at once?

When the key doesn't register im just holding one down, if could be any of the three, im never holding two modifers down at once ever but i might go from shift to control to alt quickly.


It could be to do with the matrix and/or firmware not being configured with enough rollover, it's advertised as a macro pad and 48 macros is a lot so kinda makes sense not to enable lots of keys at once though it would cost pennies.  In the tester that would look like hold ctrl (highlights) press shift (also highlights) press D (ctrl un-highlights and doesn't register again until released)

I downloaded key test and held the three keys i have bound to modifiers down (they are all right next to eachother) i then proceeded to mash my hand over the keypad to hold down as many buttons as i could at once. All three keys stayed red in keytest until i released them. After i let go of alt and control but still held down shift i went over to a notepad file and the keypad was still registering i was holding shift as it should.

[suicidal_orange]

The only thing that would make sense would be a temperamental switch which could be dust inside but surely not on a brand new board...

Will be interesting to see what the manufacturer says so please post back

[Keypadgamer]

The only thing that would make sense would be a temperamental switch which could be dust inside but surely not on a brand new board...

Will be interesting to see what the manufacturer says so please post back

It had certainly crossed my mind but it definately isnt from testing, i have two of these boards (1-2 year old and brand new one) and both exhibit the same problem, I can use it in the traditional 8 keys wide layout or turn it sideways for 6 keys wide or use it upside down and whichever keys ive decided to bind the modifiers to will show the same problem on both boards in the exact same ''random with no obvious trigger'' way.

I REALLY hope its something that can be updated via firmware and that they actually look into my problem because ive had a look at other keyboards to replace it and i cant see anything close except the ergodox which doesnt look as good for me and cost 4x as much. Im now married to the form factor and could never use a normal keyboard to game on so this is particularly frustrating to me.

So far all i've gotten as a reply is them asking for my order numbers so will have to see and will keep post updated if they do come back to me.

[Keypadgamer]

So i found something that is perhaps significant to diagnosing this. While I was playing i noticed the problem had occured again so while still holding the offending key down(ctrl) i opened up https://www.w3.org/2002/09/tests/keys.html

Normally what you would expect when holding down control while opening this window is that it keeps spamming keydown events until you let go when it registers a key up event

When i got over to this window with the key held it didnt register i was holding it down and no keydown events were being sent. The interesting thing is though that when i let go the key up event WAS registered.

Other keys on the keypad behave as if no modifier is held but otherwise send inputs fine while im still holding the key down.