Recently, I stumbled across a dual-mode replacement master for the HHKB, which allows the wired version of the HHKB to be transformed into a Bluetooth keyboard. I grabbed two sets without saying a word. Recently, the installation was completed, and I found the effect is very awesome. Even the energy-saving mode and manual switch are complete. It can be said that it is the HHKB Bluetooth customized product with the highest completion degree that I have used in recent years. And the whole transformation process only needs a Phillips screwdriver, no need for any welding, very simple.
At present, this product supports HHKB Pro2, HHKB Pro2 Type-S, HHKB JP, which is basically the most mainstream wired version of HHKB in recent years. Search for “YDKB HHKB” on TB.
Now let’s see how we can install the replacement master on our HHKB.
Install replacement master
Before we begin, we need to prepare the only extra tool we’ll need – a Phillips screwdriver.
First, we need to open the HHKB housing, use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the three screws on the back of the keyboard.
When you open the keyboard, you can see the main control chip on the back, and that’s what we’re replacing. First, we remove this screw in the upper right corner, and then we can remove the whole chip. After that, we need to unplug the lower left corner of the row, so that we can completely remove the master chip.
Then, we can replace our new dual-mode master chip. It will be easier for us to insert the three ports in the red box, and then install the main control chip back on the back. Rescrew the connected main control chip, and arrange the battery and internal USB port as shown below. The USB port on the right is an internal port into which a small USB drive can be plugged for a built-in storage function.
There is also a shielded magnetic ring in the figure below, which needs to be pushed as close as possible to the line connection so that there is enough space between the back and the circuit board to accommodate the magnetic ring.
Re-cover the top cover, then tighten the three screws on the back of the keyboard, and we’re done. Isn’t that easy?
Next, we need to turn on the Bluetooth hardware switch, the position is in the previous DIP switch position, open the baffle can be seen. When opened, we can connect the keyboard to our device through Bluetooth. How to connect to different systems can be found at: help.ydbk.io /doku.php? Id…
After passing through the miniUSB interface, the battery can be charged. The red light in the picture below is the charging indicator light, which will be off when it is full. The green indicator on the right indicates whether the keyboard is currently in brush mode, which will be used in the following configuration modification process.
Modified with column
However, the default configuration on the chip is not necessarily what we want, we can customize to achieve the desired configuration scheme. Of course, the official also provides the default HHKB configuration scheme for users to download and use directly.
- The column generation website: ydbk.io
- IO /doku.php? Id…
First of all, we log in to the column generation website yddKb. IO, and an interface like the one below will appear. We can click the “Select keyboard” button in the red box to select our corresponding key layout.
In the list of keyboards that appear, we select “HHKB BLE”.
Then we can see the following interface, this is the official default HHKB configuration, the key Settings are basically the same as the default HHKB, we can directly download and use. Of course, if you want to customize your own solution, there is also a great deal of freedom. The following figure shows a brief description of each area. Id…
After setting up the key, we can download and use it. Click the “Download and Share” button in the upper right corner, then select “Generate” from the drop-down menu. BIN firmware “can be downloaded to the BIN file representing the configuration scheme. Next, we will install this BIN file into the hardware of the keyboard. The operation method is different for different systems. This article mainly introduces the installation method for Mac system.
Below is a screenshot of “HHKB BLE Brush Instructions”.
Because my computer is Mac, so next to the Mac system as an example to introduce the method of row brush. Pressing Esc on the keyboard while plugging the keyboard into the computer is recognized as an external storage, which can be found in the left sidebar of the Finder.
After clicking “HHKB_BLE” to save, we can delete the file “HHKB_BLE.BIN” in the list of files on the right, and in order to delete the file completely, we must delete the file completely in the wastebasket. Then, we’ll name the BIN file we downloaded “HHKB_BLE.BIN” as well, and copy it to this folder. Finally, we put the keyboard corresponding storage out of the system, so complete the whole process of modification of the column.
Below is a screenshot of the description of the energy saving mode, which not only reduces battery consumption when used on the desktop, but can also be turned off by hardware switch or button when carried in the bag to prevent accidental contact. Therefore, this HHKB replacement master is really quite complete, which makes me want to use amway for more people.
