1.0.0

AAKBD – Now with Vial

This major update adds Vial compatibility to AAKBD, i.e., you can use Vial GUI (either website or app) to configure the keyboard. This means it is no longer necessary to compile AAKBD from source to customize your key layout. You can simply download one of the precompiled firmwares and flash it to the keyboard as you would normally. Then open Vial and configure your keyboard!

Features

Most of Vial's layer and modifier key mappings were already supported by AAKBD, but I also ported practically all keycodes supported by the Vial GUI configurator to AAKBD. The only things missing, to my knowledge, are non-keyboard things like mouse keys, MIDI, etc. (but let me know if I missed something that you need).

I have also added things that Vial does not have:

• More layers
• Real Apple Fn / Globe key support
• Activating layers automatically based on which operating system the host computer runs
• Extra read-only layers (use them if you want, otherwise ignore – they are free extra layers you can use but don't have to, they take no slots away from your own layers)
• Override Num Lock / Caps Lock / Scroll Lock LED state based on which layer is active (e.g., for simulated Num Lock, or just to indicate some special layer is active by lighting something like Scroll Lock LED)
• PS/2 output on some devices (requires hardware mod)

Most of these extra features are just things AAKBD had but did not directly map to Vial/QMK keycodes. See the AAKBD Vial README.md for details.

Pre-Built Firmwares

I've pre-compiled various firmware option combinations for convenience. You can identify the settings based on the words in the file name. For most users I recommend simply this:

1. pick iso or ansi depending on your physical keyboard (but this doesn't matter that much on reconfigurable keyboards like the Model F, just change from Vial's layout tab)
2. pick applefn if you use the keyboard with Apple devices (there are no major downsides for picking this in any case, so pick it if uncertain)
3. do not pick secure when trying this out for the first time unless your keyboard has a physical reset button you can easily access – the secure option makes it harder to flash another firmware (to prevent malware from doing so), so test first without it and then switch to secure later if you want it (note that the matrix tester is only enabled on secure builds to prevent key logging by malicious apps)

See the AAKBD Vial README.md for more details.

See the AAKBD PS/2 README.md for details about the PS/2 output if you are interested in that. (Also let me know if you use it, I would love to know!)

Other Keyboards

AAKBD currently supports Vial compatibility with keyboards that have been ported from QMK, which is to say all commercial keyboards (but excluding the original PS/2 to USB adapter that started AAKBD).

At the time of writing those keyboards are only the ones that I personally have, since I want to test all of them before releasing.

If your keyboard is not supported but you know it runs the real Vial firmware (or even just QMK), and you would like to use it with AAKBD, let me know! For most keyboards it is easy to port them to AAKBD, but I just need someone who has that keyboard to test it.