I must say I am very happy with my Framework Laptop 16 DIY edition purchase, everything arrived a few days ago and I managed to setup everything on my own (the guides were easy to follow and awesome!)
So then I installed Windows 10 (carrying over the license from my previous laptop), the Framework driver bundle and I updated the BIOS; however I noticed I am unable to type any ASCII character…
I am running the Italian layout and have the Numpad module installed, all keys work fine but if say I type ALT+126 to get the “tilde” special character nothing happens, as if pressing no buttons at all!
Yeaaah, there is an issue with window’s alt codes. Windows does not always accept them when they come from two separate keyboards, and the FW numpad is affected by this. Alt codes are window’s own creation, Mac and Linux don’t do ASCII or Unicode characters like that, so Linux has no problem with the keyboards.
There are a couple things you can do. Of course, we can’t change windows behavior to just remove this bug. So for some people, no solution is completely ideal, as yet at least.
Some people just switch to using the AltGr key (aka Alt Graph). wikipedia.org/wiki/AltGr_key. I read that there is an italian layout with AltGr ~ (tilde), known as the Italian (142) Layout: kbdlayout.info/KBDIT142. AltGr is usually a good solution for many, as AltGr keys are normally made to be intuitive. Or at least more intuitive than alt codes. Such as offering AltGr+E= €, rather than Alt+0128= €.
Using the customizable / programmable aspect of the FWL16 keyboards is another solution. For example, you can do Fn+\=~ or have tilde under any other key you wish. To do this, you would place tilde in that spot on layer 1 and layer 3. Those are the layers you are in when you hold the Fn key and Fn-lock is off (normal) or FN-lock is on, respectively. There is a link on this page, frame.work/laptop-16-support, which should take you to the keyboard customizer GUI, which known as “Via”.
A community member did create alternate firmware which can be loaded onto the FWL16 keyboards that uses a trick to force windows to recognize Alt codes. It’s a little hacky the way it has to be done, it is just a workaround, so I don’t know if it’s really suitable to be just installed by default on all keyboards. Though it should work without any problem. I don’t think this is currently an option for you or other ISO keyboard users because, last I looked, they only made the firmware for the ANSI keyboards. It wouldn’t be too hard for someone to add ISO support, it just hasn’t been done yet. Numpad alt codes? - #13 by Ionitor. It uses a keymap named altsync, github.com/ionitor/qmk_firmware/tree/ionitor-altsync
Ah! Thank you for pointing that out.
Will this work on windows:
For example, to get a dollar symbol ($), type 0024, press ALT, and then press X.
to get a “€”, type 20ac, press ALT, and then press X.
Didn’t know Windows 10 wasn’t supported, though I was aware of it going EOL soon and thus planning to later activate Windows 11 anyway, thanks!
I just wanted to play it safe by transfering my existing Windows 10 license onto the Framework Laptop first, then activating Windows 11.