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Just got GMMK Pro 75% board and GMMK numpad - help with issues, potentially wanting alternatives (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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PSA this is my first custom keyboard, so I am a newbie. I have a friend who helped me, but I am looking for advice and discussion from you guys. I got the barebones edition and stuck on my own silent switches (durock dolphin silent linear) and keycaps. GMMK Pro and GMMK Numpad

I'm already having issues and it hasn't even been 3 days. I want a keyboard that actually works well and doesn't have any restrictions. I like I want minimal to zero problems or hassle

So far:

1. FN key randomly sticks. Not the actual switch, but it stays on and I have to hold it to type. We found out that this was caused by unplugging it while the PC is on. This can consistently be fixed by factory resetting the keyboard, upon which I would have to re-apply the config every time. I don't like the idea of having to shut down every time I want to unplug my keyboard (for maintenance or cleaning)

2. Glorious Core software is straight garbage and I basically can't customize the knobs or slider as I expected. Turns out a lot of people are saying it's garbage

3. The left stabilizer for the spacebar is slightly sticky. Enough to be noticeable, I might be able to forget about it or slightly fix, or maybe I'd reach out to support and they could send me a new one. But obviously I don't want the hassle and this is pretty noticeable considering how often I use the spacebar, especially for games

4. I can't get the numpad working via bluetooth. I found a thread where someone said plugging in their wifi antenna made it work instantly and I did that, but it doesn't work instantly. More hassle to deal with

So I have some questions for you guys and hopefully can arise a lot of discussion from experts.

Does anyone know a PERMANENT fix for all of these issues? (FN bug, better software, stabilizer fix, numpad fix)
Does anyone recommend a different board and numpad?

If the answer to #2 is yes, here is my criteria (I know I'm picky):

75% black heavy aluminum RGB ANSI layout, USBC
hot swap
south facing LEDs for both board and numpad
excellent build (good stabilizers, etc)
excellent software (for rgb, and if it comes with a knob)
ideally: RGB side lit
ideally: left aligned cable (rather than center)
ideally: wireless (reliable, and only if long battery; for either/both kb and numpad)
ideally: have a knob, maybe just on the numpad

Thanks in advance for any help, and I'm sorry if this comes across as negative. I'm just very frustrated that shit just constantly has problems

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I can second that their software is bad. I tried it when I got a gmmk pro in.. 2021? and immediately got rid of it and just did a qmk firmware. Doing qmk was a little intimidating at first but most of the guides on it do a pretty good job and getting firmware from their configurator was easy. I just wish the finish on mine didn't feel like an emery board, though I have gotten used to using it to scrub dead skin off.

On the note of stabilizers, yeah, I didn't like them at all and bought some C3s.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There is a VIAL build for the GMMK pro. I used it for mine and never looked back.

The stabilizer issue is easy to fix, just take it off, clean it, and relube it with some Krytox 205.

Not sure about the wireless numpad issue.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Thanks for the reply. I just looked into VIAL, is it overly complex? I just want to avoid more complications or problems. Is your suggestion for this just to allow me to customize the knobs better? Or do you have other reasons that I should switch? Cause it turns out that I do still have the FN issue

We took the keyboard apart (which took ages, so I want to avoid having to do that again lol, though I guess that's part of the whole custom keyboard deal), and fixed the stabilizer. But then that created clacking from the left side of the backspace, so something was hitting, I managed to fix that mostly (good enough) without taking the keyboard back apart

I also learned that the GMMK Numpad comes with north facing PCB for some reason, but the I found that they sold their own south facing PCB which I was glad to hear. We started taking it apart, and one of the screws stripped sooo bad that it took us the whole night to figure out how to get that damn thing out. We ended up drilling it out (I don't know the details, my partner is an engineer so he figured it out) so thank god that's done, but just another complication that came up

Seems like nothing is ever easy when you buy anything now

edit: Forgot to mention, someone else (last comment by u/[email protected]) mentioned using vial with QMK - Is this what you did? My concern is that since my numpad is external, it'll make this a lot more complicated and tedious because then I'll have 2 separate devices, and one is supposed to be working wirelessly. I just want simple, but maybe that's not an option in my case. Maybe I'll just deal with the software until it's not meeting expectations anymore

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can you figure out what MCU is in your board? Depending on the version you might be able to install the SonixQMK firmware and use qmk/via as well as open RGB.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I honestly have no idea what that means and a google search didn't get me very far :/ Trying to not use reddit either, but I gave in once again

It's supposedly "STM32F303" ?

But also, apparently:

For this keyboard you don't need to select the matching MCU. Flashing will work with anything selected. See https://github.com/qmk/qmk_toolbox/issues/108.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I would definitely try and flash the qmk-via firmware for your GMMK Pro. Qmk is a much more robust keyboard firmware and Via makes it very easy to program. I found this guide on how to get it all up an running. This guide uses Vial instead of Via which in my opinion is much better anyway.

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