shit.cx

Keyboard Firmware

2021-01-15T21:08

Yesterday, I looked at QMK¹ and I think it will be the firmware I will use. In the past I've always used TMK² which QMK is forked from.

I'm mostly happy with TMK — functionally it does everything I need. QMK, however actively developed and supports newer microcontrollers which tend to be cheaper and faster. Support for the Teensy LC³ microcontroller is really the only reason I'm considering shifting.

I built a simple firmware supporting just a single button then I wrote it to a Teensy LC and it worked.

I then took a closer look at the configuration. Being a fork of TMK, it is very familiar to me. I noticed a few improvements like better support for custom functions and lighting controls but I use neither of those much. In the past I've found custom functions useful but over the years I've weeded them out as excessive bloat.

In 20 minutes, I found nothing concerning. I can make one button work so I'm confident that I can get them all to.

¹ TMK Keyboard

² QMK

³ Teensy LC

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