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readme.md

ergodox-firmware: Firmware for the ergoDOX keyboard

About this File

If you're viewing this on github, please note that directory links will only work if you're viewing this from the directory, and file links will only work if you're viewing this as a file. This is true for all the '.md' files here. The limitation is due to the way github addresses directories and files, and the fact that Markdown doesn't have any way (that I know of) to rewrite the URLs as would be required.

About this Project

This project is definitely in beta, but I'll do my best to keep the 'master' branch working. Please see the source (and especially the accompanying '.md' files) for documentation. And [references.md] (references.md) contains lots of good links, along with descriptions.

If you're just trying to compile, jump to the bottom of the file and read the [Dependencies] (#dependencies-for-building-from-source) section. Once that's taken care of, navigate to the [src] (src) directory, compile using Make, and fire up your teensy loader to transfer the '.hex' file. Just to be safe, you should also check the '.eep' file. If it's larger than 0 bytes, you need to load it too.

If you're looking to hack on the source, or just feel like reading it, you probably don't need much direction for a small project like this. I'll try to write more later (for people who are new to AVR programming, like I was when I started this project), but for now:

[src/lib] (src/lib) is for generally useful stuff. The TWI and USB libraries are in there, along with the file containing basic key press and release functions.
[src/keyboard] (src/keyboard) is for keyboard specific stuff. All the chip initialization code is there, along with the layout files, the software matrix to hardware matrix mapping, and hardware specific documentation.
[src/main.c] (src/main.c) ties it all together.

Open issues and such are tracked [on github] (/benblazak/ergodox-firmware/issues).

Notes

(2012-04-11) (first major release on branch 'main')

As of now, it looks like we have a working 6-KRO keyboard firmware for a Teensy 2.0 with a MCP23018 I/O expander. It's scanning at ~167 Hz, most of which is spent communicating over I²C. This should be fast enough, I think. Slight improvements might be possible (without finding a microprocessor capable of > 400 kHz I²C or using SPI, that is, which I imagine would speed things up a lot - but it'd also be much less convenient). I'll attempt them if I see the need.

Also, layers are implemented, but untested, as no keymaps are written to use them yet. Implementing on-keyboard hardware remapping seems like it'd be very possible too, but I'd need to try it (and learn how to programmatically store stuff in program space) to see if it'd work; and I'm not sure of a good way to do the interface, since different people will likely have different keycap layouts on the ergoDOX.

Getting to N-KRO is a goal, but I honestly have no idea whether it'll be accomplished. Ideally, I'd like a variable-KRO, where the keyboard is 6-KRO till you press the 7th key (so if you're worried about compatibility, just don't press more than 6 keys at a time). From what I've read, it might be possible, but I just finished everything else (so I'm slightly tired), and the USB spec is scary.

Discussions about the project as a whole are going on at the forum page (linked in the title) so if you have any imput (or want to participate in the group buy!), please stop by. :) .

Dependencies (for building from source)

See the PJRC [Getting Started] (http://pjrc.com/teensy/first_use.html) page for instructions on how to set up an AVR programming environment. This project uses C (not Arduino), and Make. I'm compiling with GNU tools under Ubuntu, but other environments (especially [WinAVR] (http://winavr.sourceforge.net/) under Windows) should work too.
I also assume that you are using [git] (http://git-scm.com/) (for make clean).