Ultimate Hacking Keyboard
ultimatehackingkeyboard.com
ultimatehackingkeyboard.com
1. Does it require drivers to use a non-standard layout? If I want to customize it, do I need drivers on the computer I use the keyboard on, or just a program on the computer I do the customizations on?
2. Can I map any key to any button? For example, can I move the Mod key to the caps lock position, and place Enter where Mod is? I think you can; the page says "How about swapping Space and Mod? Or any other crazy remapping ideas? We've got you covered!"
3. Why is the keyboard still laid out in the "traditional" way, with non-vertical rows? Q should be directly above A, not offset.
4. I want to be able to have more than four layers.
5. How does layer switching work? Does pressing Fn go to the Fn layer, or are layers (to use Jef Raskin's term) quasimodes, where releasing the Fn button goes back to the Base layer?
6. If I switch to the Fn layer, how do I get back to the Base layer?
7. What if I want to press two buttons on the Fn layer in a row?
8. Can I use it on Linux? Can I customize it there? Can I use the media keys, and can I use application-specific keymaps?
9. I hope you can save layouts, and quickly switch between them. Ideally they're sharable.
First of all sorry for the delayed response. Here are the answers:
1. No drivers required. You only need Agent, the cross-platform configurator application installed on your computer.
2. Yes, these remapping scenarios are all possible.
3. I've only used staggered layouts up until this point so it was natural to me to design a staggered keyboard but I'm very interested in matrix keyboards and we plan to design a matrix keyboard in the future if everything goes well.
4. This might be possible. I'm not sure how much SRAM will be available after implementing all the planned functionality.
5. Layers are stateless, so you have to keep Fn pressed to use the Fn layer and so on.
6. Keymaps, however, are stateful, so you can permamently switch keymaps, not having to keep any modifiers pressed. Hopefully this answers your question.
7. The Ultimate Hacking Keyboard is a fully NKRO keyboard and it features diodes in its key matrix so no ghosting will happen if that's what you are worried about.
8. Yes, you will be able to do all of this. As a matter of fact Linux is our primary development platform.
9. Yes, the keymaps and the layers of the keymaps along with all the other configuration settings get permamently saved in to the EEPROM of the keyboard. We also plan to make them easily sharable eventually.
"Following successful funding we will immediately open source the firmware, the electronics design files and Agent under the General Public License, version 3. We've already released the bootloaders and will also release the mechanical CAD files within 5 years of the initial release."
Unfortunately no one really sells them pre-assembled though...Massdrop (and a few other places) does group buys on kits regularly, with an option for getting the more difficult components soldered up for a reasonable fee of $10 or so.