Thanks, I was sent that in pm. Maybe I'm just coming from a place that no one who's ever bought this has come from before. I was recommended in on OCN and just purchased it hoping it would be plug and play. I didn't know what AVRs are or what firmwares were available or who metaliqaz was. Didn't know about flip or hex files or anything. None of this is mentioned in the OP of the replacement controllers thread which is the only thread I knew and the one I used find out who made the controller and then make the order. I guess most other people who order these have some experience or at least know of similar controllers. I'm going to make up a guide eventually and while it may be useless for people who have spent time on this site and have heard of these kinds of controllers, I hope it will be useful for people like me who've just joined and decided to jump right in and support the custom projects of its members. As for RTFM, its quiteu hard to do when you dont know where it is.
Anyway my small question has been answered and i will cease cluttering up this thread now. Thanks everyone.
Sorry, I was laughing at Pacifist's answer, not you...
I understand your frustration. Most of the people who have struggled with this at some point have conveniently forgotten that it was hard to get started. There is absolutely a learning curve to try to get replacement controllers working. I bought HID Liberation Device for my Filco and I had to learn all this stuff to use it.
Here are my recommendations:
I would start with the software that metalliqaz wrote.
You can find it here...
His software gives you a nice UI for creating your layout and generating a hex file. This will simplify things a lot to get started. This will limit your exposure to just figuring out how to get the hex file flashed to your device.
His software originated from his Epsilon project, so some of his original documentation (and useful guides)
can be found in that thread. You will have to flip through a bunch of pages to find the valuable pieces, but there are not too many pages, so its not too daunting.
Once you get your layout configured in his software you will be able to export a HEX file. This hex file is what you need to get on your replacement controller. The act of replacing the hex on the controller with the new hex file is called 'flashing'. Assuming you are using Windows, you will use Flip for this. I would recommend getting this software and Flip and try to follow along with that video (but with your own layout) and try to get your layout on the controller.
One more thing. In order to flash your controller with a new firmware, you will need to first put your controller into "Boot Mode". In this mode it is essentially unlocked and will allow a different firmware to be flashed to it. I am not entirely sure how you put your controller into boot mode, but with my HID Liberation device, I originally put the controller into boot mode by holding a strong magnet over it. I believe both of our controllers were created by bipiphony (probably spelt wrong), so it is possible that will work for yours as well. Someone else may be able to answer that better. Metalliqaz's software allows you to assign a key combination to put your keyboard into boot mode once you get it flashed on, so that will simplify this process later. I think there is even a warning in his software if you don't bind a key combination for boot mode.
I think thats it. It is a steep learning curve to get started with this, but don't get frustrated you will figure it out. Just ignore the people who are not actually helpful, it is a forum after all.
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions that you think I may be able to help with.
