Hey, ordered I ordered an AMD 13 a few days ago and am excited to get it!
Would installing a MCU with QMK make the framework 13 keyboard NKRO, or does the keyboard’s diode matrix make that impossible? Soldering diodes onto the membrane seems impractical.
One possible mod might be to replace the bottom membrane with a custom-made double-sided PCB. Then the membrane’s contacts would make contact with the circular contacts on the PCB, and the PCB could have surface-mounted diodes on the bottom side for N-key rollover. But the PCB will probably be too thick to fit. At that point making a fully custom mechanical keyboard with ultralow profile switches might be easier.
The worst part is I know the 16 is NKRO out the box. I don’t want such a big laptop though.
I saw some posts here of people discussing making their keyboard QMK but didn’t find a done project. Has anyone made one and can test if they can enable NKRO? Has anyone successfully made their keyboard NKRO and if so how?
Seems very unlikely that the Framework 13 keyboard would have diodes. You wouldn’t add the cost and manufacturing complexity, then just not follow through by not enabling NKRO in the Embedded Controller.
Soldering diodes onto the existing membrane I don’t think would be possible. The layers in membrane keyboards never seem to be polyimide (aka kapton), which would be needed for it to tolerate soldering temperatures. You can see in the keyboard cables in laptop teardowns or repair guides like Framework’s. The “cable” is just part of one of the layers which extends out in order to serve as a cable. Polyimide is orange-yellow. And circuit traces seen through it take on the orange color. But the keyboard layers always show silver traces.
The thinnest mechanical ultralow profile switches available, Cherry MX ULP at 3.5mm, I fear might still be too thick to work. Without tricks to create more room.
There are other reasons to convert the Framework 13 to QMK though. It has lots of features which can be hard to live without, once you get spoiled by them.
Thanks for the thorough reply. I can’t seem to find Cherry MX ULP vendor in Canada, I’ve never been a custom keyboard type of guy so I might just not know where to look. CHERRY MX6C-K3NB: CHERRY MX Ultra Low Profile RGB - pushbutton module at reichelt elektronik would cost ~$170(CAD). Finding 1.5mm seems plausible but with a PCB it’ll be 2.7mm… I don’t think that’s happening.
Getting a custom membrane keyboard would not only be expensive, but I couldn’t find any manufactures that would do one with an actuation force less than 100g
I think I’ll leave it up to the professionals to figure it out at some point. I can always hold out hope framework themselves find a supplier that’s up for it.
Like you said, QMK has other really nice features, so maybe I’ll get an MCU just for that.
