Programming QMK RGB Keyboard

Hello everyone.

Unfortunately, I have reached a point again where self-help through forum posts and reading instructions has ended in stress and I still haven’t made any progress.

What do I have?
I have a Framework 16 with the RGB ANSI keyboard and the RGB Macropad. I work with Ubuntu 24.04.

What do I want?
I want to set up the keyboard and the Macropad according to my wishes (logically). In the standard version, for example, the letters should light up blue, the numbers green (on the MacroPad only when NumLock is active) and the rest yellow.
Then the keyboard should react (if possible) to running applications. For example, in first-person games (e.g. Satisfactory) the classic WASD should light up in a different color to the rest of the letters, and the 8 or 10 keys that have a function should light up in a different color (M for the map, F for destroy, etc.).

My problems?
I have a) quite a lot of problems with English (my native language is German - I had this post translated by Google, you might notice it), and b) the forum and GitHub posts are apparently so riddled with special terms that the translation by Google into German leaves only gibberish.
And I still can’t get to grips with GitHub to this day… I’m not a developer who works with this kind of thing every day.

Maybe there’s someone here in the forum who hears this desperate cry for help for a push in the right direction (I don’t usually need more than that: once it’s done cleanly and understandably, the rest usually becomes clear to me completely on its own). I’ve already had a lot of email correspondence with Framework on the subject of keyboards, but the part about help with free programming of the keyboard was always ignored in their replies.

Regards,

Ralph

I’m with you on that!!! GitHub does my head in!!!
I need a Course of Instructions and Explanations of how to use GitHub.

And what makes it even more difficult is searching for the keyword Framework. I mean, there are many QMK keyboards, but if I add the manufacturer Framework to the search, then I find all references to Framework… the word as a search term is almost worthless…

This is not something the keyboards do by default. They can do it, but you need to either find someone who has already created something that is close enough to what you want, or you need to learn to write custom QMK configurations yourself. What you’re looking to do, I think, is sometimes called “Per-key colors”.

If you search the forum for “per-key” you’ll find some posts and topics on doing it. Here is one: How to get to point you can have per key RGB control for keyboard and macropad?
A forum member created a keyboard firmware fork with support for OpenRGB which can allow you to set per-key colors using a GUI (point and click) interface [RESPONDED] OpenRGB support - #4 by tagno25 But it will still take work to install. And the github instuctions may not be clear enough through Google Translate. I could try assist a little, but I do not have an RGB keyboard. Also, by itself / as-is, I do not think the OpenRGB firmware will change colors when NumLock is active, or not active.

This part would be a seperate, additional thing, which you would need to configure / learn how to do.

This part will be more complex. QMK can not do this on its own. The keyboards are USB connected standard keyboards, and do not know what programs are running on your PC. You would need to find or create an app, that runs on your pc, which will monitor running applications and send commands to the keyboards.

I’m afraid writing custom firmware and software is not likely something Framework is going to do. These specific functions which you desire are not things that the RGB keyboards were advertised as doing without the user having any QMK programming knowledge.

i am in the middle of stripping down the QMK firmware so that only the parts that will pertain to our 3 input modules: keyboard with any layout and language, macropads and numpads. also a companion program so the user can configure their firmware to include exactly what they want without needing coding experience. its taking a while to do but i think the finished product will make the work worth it.

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Ohh… I’m excited!!

Despite everything, I would also appreciate a hand showing me GitHub. I can’t make any progress just by reading it.

But I’m looking forward to what you build!