v0.2

This repository supports:

• Original Unicomp controllers that contain a Raspberry Pi Pico as a daughterboard, that Unicomp started shipping since ~March 2023, called Aristides
• The open hardware replacement controller, called OverNumpad Controller

New in this release:

• Fixed: Issue around keyboard not enumerating if a key is held while the keyboard is plugged in pull request
• Fixed: Suspend & remote wakeup are now reliable (thanks to @KarlK90 's pull request )
• Added better deghosting that works well with eager debouncing too
• For Aristides, increased the eager debounce time. By its own design eager debouncing is more sensitive than defer type debounces. Global defer restarts its counters any time it sees more changes. And per-key defer debounce only takes into account the final signal value once the timer expires, and so as long as bouncing happens for < twice the set up debounce time, chatter won't be observed. However eager debouncing doesn't have these advantages. The Model Ms appear naturally chattery especially on key-up, so for eager debouncing they need larger debounce time. If you've seen key doubling then this change should fix it.
• For the Overnumpad Controller it's still using defer debounce, mainly due to my lack of trying it out, a future release might switch that to eager too.

Steps to flash:

1. Disconnect the keyboard from USB

2. Open the keyboard with an 5.5mm or 7/32" nut driver with a small diameter. (Or a Phillips screwdriver on some New Model Ms), and remove the top case.

3. To get the controller into bootloader mode:

   • For the Aristides controller hold the BOOTSEL button (the only button there is on the pico itself) while plugging in the keyboard. When the keyboard is in bootloader mode the keyboard doesn't work as a keyboard. It will instead show up as a virtual USB drive, until flashed with new firmware, or power-cycled.
   • For the Overnumpad controller, when it's already plugged in just short-press the button on the controller once. When the keyboard is in bootloader mode the keyboard doesn't work as a keyboard. It will instead behave as a DFU device until flashed with new firmware, or power-cycled.

4. Optionally, for the Aristides controller, use picotool to save the existing firmware on the command line like this: picotool save -a filename.uf2 -t uf2.

   • On Windows you can download a version prebuilt by me, follow the instructions on this link: http://purdea.ro/picotool/
   • On Mac, according reddit user plazman30, you can install picotool with brew install picotool
   • On other OSes follow the instructions here on how to build: https://github.com/raspberrypi/picotool

5. Flash the firmware:

   • For the Aristides controller: Flash one of the files called *_aristides_2862_vial.uf2 downloaded from this release page below, by copying it onto the virtual USB drive.
   • For the Overnumpad controller: Use QMK Toolbox to flash one of the files called *_overnumpad_1xb_vial.bin downloaded from this release page below.

And that's it, enjoy.
For future updates as long as you stay on my firmware you don't have to open up the keyboard again, you can just hold ESC while plugging it in. You only have to open it again if you go back to the original firmware, or if you somehow flash wrong firmware.

Notes:

• To configure the keyboard you can use:
  • The downloadable Vial tool that runs on your computer: https://get.vial.today/download/
  • Vial Web aka vial.rocks, which runs in chrome-based modern web-browsers: https://vial.rocks/
• The firmware is by default 6-key rollover, however you can place the "NKRO Toggle" or "NKRO On/Off" keys (form the Quantum tab) on your keymap. Please be aware that some BIOSes might not support a keyboard that is in NKRO mode, and this is why we default to NKRO off.
• It may not be obvious from the naming, but unicomp_classic_ultracl_post_2013_* firmwares are also compatible with the full size New Model M

Testing

• Thanks @ethanrjones97 for testing the unicomp_classic_ultracl_post_2013_aristides_2862_vial.uf2 variant on his New Model M.
• Other variants in this release have not yet been tested

Note: Initially I forgot to include ibm_model_m_4th_gen_overnumpad_1xb_vial.bin in this release. I added the file on July 15 2024

v0.1

This is the first real release.
At the time of writing this has not been tested at all on a real keyboard.
If there are issues, then for Unicomp's New Model M, with the aristides 2862 controller, you can fall back to release v0.0

EDIT: the unicomp_classic_ultracl_post_2013_aristides_2862_vial.uf2 variant has now been tested and working.

v0.0

This version is known to work on the New Model M, but it's based on a dirty tree.
Note, that for this particular release, the associated tag does not actually point to the source code from which the .uf2 has been built.
This release exists only for archiving this known good build.