[RESPONDED] Help configuring FW16 keyboard with VIA

Framework Laptop 16 Linux
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For the record: I’m on Ubuntu 22.04 and I had Chromium installed via apt install chromium-browser, and I had the same issues. Installing the .deb for Chrome itself fixed it.

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Thanks.
Yeah, ubuntu hijacks some apt install’s and redirects them to snap. It’s one of the things that pushes people away from ubuntu and over to Mint instead (based on ubuntu but has snap disabled by default).

23

The procedure in the firmware update instructions doesn’t work properly on my Arch installation. The folder for firmware files does not pop up (I’m certain it’s my own issue with my custom desktop environment where launching default app and URL handlers is not ironed out).

Is there an alternative way to navigate to the correct location?

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The keyboard just appears as if it’s a flash drive when it’s in bootloader mode. You can open it in a file manager same as you would a real flash drive.

1 Like
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Thanks! Another quick question if you know: How do I flash the firmware for the macropad? I tried the same procedure with the macropad firmware file and it didn’t work properly. I’ve searched around for macropad instructions with no luck.

26

Good question…

In Via (https://keyboard.frame.work) you could map a key to Reset (found in the “Special” section), then press that key on your macropad.

For the quicker ways / without Via, I’m not 100% certain which keys it is for the macropad.

I would try holding numlock while inserting the module.

Holding the key at (0,0) in the matrix while inserting the module is supposed to trigger a Bootmagic reset to bootloader. It looks like that would be the numlock key / row 2, column 1 key.

     *         ┌────┬────┬────┬────┐
     *   row 1 │Esc │Calc│ =  │ <- │
     *         ├────┼────┼────┼────┤
     *   row 2 │ Num│ /  │ *  │ -  │
     *         ├────┼────┼────┼────┤
     *   row 3 │ 7  │ 8  │ 9  │ +  │
     *         ├────┼────┼────┼────┤
     *   row 4 │ 4  │ 5  │ 6  │ +  │
     *         ├────┼────┼────┼────┤
     *   row 5 │ 1  │ 2  │ 3  │Entr│
     *         ├────┼────┼────┼────┤
     *   row 6 │ 0  │ 0  │ .  │Entr│
     *         └────┴────┴────┴────┘

The 3rd method should be holding keys 2 and 6 while installing the module.

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Holding numlock while powering the module on did the trick! Thanks again! :beers:

1 Like
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Good to know for others in the future. Thanks for confirming. I don’t have a macropad myself.

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29

Using this approach, I still do not have access to VIA using Chromium. I will do more research and post my solution in this comment.

OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Host: Laptop 16 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) AJ
Kernel: 6.8.9-arch1-1
Shell: bash 5.2.26
Resolution: 2560x1600
DE: Plasma 6.0.4
WM: KWin
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics (16) @ 5.263GHz
GPU: AMD ATI Radeon RX 7700S/7600/7600S/7600M XT/PRO W7600
GPU: AMD ATI c4:00.0 Phoenix1
Memory: 21141MiB / 63487MiB

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Some things to try
Confirm that the Chromium build has WebHID support WebHID API Test | WebAPI check
Check about:device-log in Chromium to see what error it’s giving.
Check permissions ll /dev/hidraw*

Perhaps not the best practice but if you want to get it working just for now you could open rw perms for all Framework keyboard modules. Presuming about:device-log is showing access denied. The Via electron app also takes this route, just applying MODE=“0666” and being done with it.

KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{manufacturer}=="Framework", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev", TAG+="uaccess", TAG+="udev-acl"

added to your udev rules at /etc/udev/rules.d/50-qmk.rules

And once again, reload the rules:

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && \
sudo udevadm trigger

Then reopen the browser.

Also I’ve noticed that occasionally you need to unplug and replug a USB device for the updated rules to take effect.