My firmware for CRKBDv3

A custom firmware written for the Corne keyboard (a DIY ergonomic & ortholinear keyboard), and based on QMK.

Layout

NOTES:

• There are 2 “modes” available, Typing and Gaming; the former comprised of the first 3 layers, while the latter corresponds to the last 2.
  • The Typing mode is intended for general purpose use, though might be a bit inclined towards coding.
  • The Gaming mode focuses heavily in taking advantage of its split nature. This allows it to use the left side independently, leaving more room for mouse movement; while also allowing to use both halves in keyboard focused titles.
  • Even though the keyboard has no indicators to show on which mode its in, you can easily make sure that you are in the desired one by pressing either both the innermost thumb keys or the middle thumb keys (the first for getting into typing mode, the second to get into gaming mode). Keep in mind that the left key should be pressed before the right one (at least to get out of gaming mode).
• Keys labelled L0 — L4 are for switching layers. Keys that change from one “mode” to the other are one way, while the rest are only active when held.
• The GUI key is also called either Windows, Command, or Super key, depending on the system.
• Backspace/Delete key changes behaviour when shift is pressed. Similarly for Backspace/Esc and the control key.
• The Space/L1 and Enter/L2 work so that if the keys are only tapped then the first value in inputted, but when held then they momentarily activate the assigned layer as long as they remain pressed.
• The PC needs to be set up to use en-US keyboard layout, otherwise it will not work as expected.

How to …

Build the keyboard

First, you'll need to acquire the base components for the build. The board schematics are all openly available @ GitHub, so you can try and get your own PCBs made wherever you want, but I bought mine from Keyhive in a nice kit containing most of the basics. To that I had to add in the MCUs, a TRRS cable, 42 key switches and keycaps, and a USB-A to USB-C cable.

Once you have everything you just have to put it all together. It is intuitive enough, but there is also a handy-dandy build guide that you can follow if needed.

Put the firmware onto the keyboard

This depends on your system, so I'll reference the official guide on this one.

You'll notice though that this is not inside the QMK repo itself, as the guide indicates. That's because I wanted to keep my own separate repo to keep things simpler (at least, from a certain point of view). To actually be able to use this keymap you'll need to copy the entire contents of this repo onto a folder inside the keyboard's keymaps folder. Then you can follow the guide without problem.

I've also included a set of scripts in the shape of a Nix shell, which will fetch all dependencies automagically. This allows to easily manage the unconventional setup under nearly any Linux system.

TODOs

• Don't restart when splitting apart (or at least don't lose the state).
• Custom lighting depending on current layer.
  • Not doable just yet it seems. See #6277 & #8789.

Licences

All the contents of this repo are distributed under the GPLv3, except the font Victor Mono used for the image for the layout of the keyboard, which is distributed under the MIT licence. The board itself is also released under the MIT licence, and QMK is under GPLv2.