Open veryalien opened 3 years ago
The problem is probably in the keyboard controller chip (SAMD20) firmware. The code is called "BB Q10 Keyboard-to-I2C Software" (https://github.com/solderparty/bbq10kbd_i2c_sw) and there is an interface that allows the chip to be reprogrammed, if you can use a soldering iron. You have to solder wires to the KBD IC SWD pads on the back of the board and use a hardware debugger. I haven't done it (yet) but it appears to be possible.
Sounds promising - thanks @SapientHetero for the info.
I'm now looking for ordering the Solderparty Featherwing keyboard (https://www.adafruit.com/product/4818 ) but can't seem to find it anywhere. I just hope it wasn't discontinued.
I got an email from Digi-Key, who resold them for Adafruit, saying that it's obsolete. The hardware is open source, so it's possible to build your own. I have no idea whether solderparty plans to make more batches in the future. They've made two batches so far.
Finally getting around to using this and came across this issue issue -- FWIW for those of you looking to order one of these, I originally found it at at Tindie (https://www.tindie.com/products/arturo182/keyboard-featherwing-qwerty-keyboard-26-lcd/?pt=ac_prod_search), but it's currently out of stock there; Pimoroni seems to have some in stock (at least at the time of my posting this): https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/keyboard-featherwing-qwerty-keyboard-2-6-lcd?variant=32192379256915
Arturo replied to my query about the product's future on Feb 2, 2022:
"Hi, Adafruit didn't restock after they ran out recently. There are still over 100pcs available at Pimoroni: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/keyboard-featherwing-qwerty-keyboard-2-6-lcd Currently there's no plan to do another production run because of the chip shortages, but I'm not ruling it out in 6-12 months if things get better on that front."
Discussed in https://github.com/solderparty/bbq10kbd_i2c_sw/discussions/2