Make Omarchy works with keyboard.frame.work and Framework 16 laptop

[liancheng]

I'd like to share a recipe that made my Framework 16 laptop (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) running Omarchy 3.2.3 work with keyboard.frame.work, the web application for configuring Framework keyboards. There are posts related to this issue, but no complete solution/mitigation specifically for Omarchy on Framework 16 laptop.

While trying to customize my keyboard layout, I saw keyboard.frame.work throwing the following errors:

timestamp, productName, vendorId, productId, message
21:28:29.310, Framework Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI, 0x32AC, 0x0012, "NotAllowedError: Failed to open the device."
21:28:29.326, Framework Laptop 16 Numpad Module, 0x32AC, 0x0014, "NotAllowedError: Failed to open the device."
21:28:29.327, Framework Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI, 0x32AC, 0x0012, "Received invalid protocol version from device"
21:28:29.332, Framework Laptop 16 Numpad Module, 0x32AC, 0x0014, "Received invalid protocol version from device"
21:28:45.028, Framework Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI, 0x32AC, 0x0012, "NotAllowedError: Failed to open the device."
21:28:45.037, Framework Laptop 16 Numpad Module, 0x32AC, 0x0014, "NotAllowedError: Failed to open the device."
21:28:45.038, Framework Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI, 0x32AC, 0x0012, "Received invalid protocol version from device"
21:28:45.045, Framework Laptop 16 Numpad Module, 0x32AC, 0x0014, "Received invalid protocol version from device"

Investigation suggested that I needed to add the 50-qmk.rules file from qmk_firmware to /etc/udev/rules.d/. However, two extra steps are required to make things work:

1. Append the following two rules to 50-qmk.rules to cover the Framework 16 laptop keyboard and numpad.

   # Framework Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI
   SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="32ac", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0012", TAG+="uaccess"
   
   # Framework Laptop 16 Numpad Module
   SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="32ac", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0014", TAG+="uaccess"
   

   Instead of appending them to 50-qmk.rules, you can also put them in a separate rules file, e.g., /etc/udev/rules.d/framework.rules.

   The vendor and product IDs of the keyboard and numpad can be found via sudo lsusb -v:

   $ sudo lsusb -v
   [...]
   Bus 001 Device 005: ID 32ac:0014 Framework Laptop 16 Numpad Module
   Negotiated speed: Full Speed (12Mbps)
   Device Descriptor:
     [...]
     idVendor           0x32ac Framework
     idProduct          0x0014 Laptop 16 Numpad Module
   
   Bus 001 Device 008: ID 32ac:0012 Framework Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI
   Negotiated speed: Full Speed (12Mbps)
   Device Descriptor:
     [...]
     idVendor           0x32ac Framework
     idProduct          0x0012 Laptop 16 Keyboard Module - ANSI
   

2. Replace the plugdev group in the rule for hidraw* devices

   50-qmk.rules contains the following rule:

   KERNEL=="hidraw*", MODE="0660", GROUP="plugdev", TAG+="uaccess", TAG+="udev-acl"
   

   Unfortunately, it fails udev rule verification:

   $ sudo udevadm verify /etc/udev/rules.d/50-qmk.rules
   /etc/udev/rules.d/50-qmk.rules:71 Unknown group 'plugdev', ignoring.
   /etc/udev/rules.d/50-qmk.rules: udev rules check failed.
   
   1 udev rules files have been checked.
     Success: 0
     Fail:    1
   

   This is because by default, the plugdev group does not exist in Omarchy (and Arch in general?).

   Honestly, I'm not sure the best/safest way to address this issue, but replacing plugdev with root mitigated it:

   KERNEL=="hidraw*", MODE="0660", GROUP="root", TAG+="uaccess", TAG+="udev-acl"
   

References:

1. Framework forum thread: Can’t use keyboard.frame.work after firmware upgrade?
2. [Bug] 50-qmk.rules Broken on systemd 258. qmk/qmk_firmware#25847
3. Allow regular users and groups own device nodes systemd/systemd#39056

[sgruendel]

I don't have a Framework (yet :) ) but here's from my experience using Solaar which also depends on plugdev:

sudo groupadd plugdev
sudo usermod -aG plugdev $USER

should be sufficient to add that group, you'll need to open a new terminal after executing so it'll pick up the new group.

[liancheng]

Thanks! I do know adding the plugdev group works, just not sure whether that's the best way to do it. From the information I gathered, plugdev by default only exists in Debian, etc., so using this group does not seem to be very portable.

My motivation is to provide enough information for someone with enough context in Framework/Arch to deduce a proper fix, so that Omarchy + Framework 16 + keyboard.frame.work works OOTB.