« previous next »
Pages:  [1]     Go Down

Author Topic: Switching Actual Keys  (Read 1114 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline KaILLERa-Ninja

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 3
Switching Actual Keys
« on: Mon, 26 May 2014, 23:30:37 »
Hello everyone from Geekhack, this is my first time on this site and I'm already loving it so far.  :thumb:

I was wondering who can help me out in terms of swapping keys around.

I'll explain. A few years ago I realized I wanted a nice keyboard so I bought a FILCO Majestouch. Pretty happy with it, but I'm now looking at the Rosewill RK-9200 thanks to its simple and modest, yet classy and flashy design.

(I like keyboards that don't need macro buttons and touch-screens to be awesome) There's ONE issue with this keyboard though; they've replaced the WINCLICK/context menu key (a key that I use relatively frequently) and put a FN key that assigns a secondary functionality to certain keys when FN is held down - laptops do it all the time.

So here's what I want to do. Due to the fact that FN doesn't have a scan-code, (meaning I can't just use a key remapper) I'd like to switch the FN key on this keyboard with the right Window key, then just remap that window key to be WINCLICK/context menu key.

Question is, how do I swap the keys themselves? Not just the caps, the actual... Keys? FN key just seems to be too "hardware-bound" for any kind of software to even detect, let alone tamper with.

Any help would be VERY greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
Logged

Offline Pacifist

  • Report me *again* if there are gifs in my sig
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 3599
  • Location: Cali
  • on hiatus
Re: Switching Actual Keys
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 26 May 2014, 23:31:17 »
jump some wires

desolder fn layer and jump some wires from right win to fn, and if you still want a fn, jump those wires too
Logged

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Switching Actual Keys
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 26 May 2014, 23:43:09 »
Welcome to Geekhack!

What Pacifist said - this is hard-wired at the keyboard level and you will need to modify the PCB.

This will void your warranty.
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline KaILLERa-Ninja

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 3
Re: Switching Actual Keys
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 26 May 2014, 23:58:23 »
Ahh awesome, thanks heaps guys I could freakin' kiss you (matter fact, here  :-*) xD

Okay, is there a name for this process? (Re-wiring would be my best guess so far but do excuse my ignorance) I'm looking for a tutorial (really terrified of doing this myself as I'm scared I'll break my KB)

Thanks again!  :)
Logged

Offline Pacifist

  • Report me *again* if there are gifs in my sig
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 3599
  • Location: Cali
  • on hiatus
Re: Switching Actual Keys
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 27 May 2014, 00:00:31 »
Quote from: KaILLERa-Ninja on Mon, 26 May 2014, 23:58:23
Ahh awesome, thanks heaps guys I could freakin' kiss you (matter fact, here  :-*) xD

Okay, is there a name for this process? (Re-wiring would be my best guess so far but do excuse my ignorance) I'm looking for a tutorial (really terrified of doing this myself as I'm scared I'll break my KB)

Thanks again!  :)

There are people here who will do this work for you for a small fee. Its pretty basic soldering. AFAIK there isn't a tutorial specifically for this, but the people here: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42824.0 will help you out with soldering specifics
Logged

Offline Razor Lotus

  • Posts: 351
  • Location: Singapore/United Kingdom
Re: Switching Actual Keys
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 27 May 2014, 05:05:33 »
There's a tutorial somewhere on someone doing it to a das keyboard. Perhaps you could see how they do it and figure out for the rosewill and filco? The PCB would be different though.

I can't really link you now cause I'm on mobile. But search something along the lines of "opening up a das keyboard" or something
Logged

Pages:  [1]     Go Up
« previous next »