Mechanical Keyboards and NKRO with Plover

[Tom]

I just heard about Plover through Hacker News, and I'm excited to to give it a try. 

In response to some RSI pain, I recently switched to a mechanical keyboard and did see some pain reduction.  So I'd like to stick with a mechanical keyboard---this rules out using the Sidewinder X4.  I'm wondering what my options are.

From what I've read, most keyboards are low-speed USB (1.1) devices (even though they are usually USB 2 or 3 compatible).  The low-speed nature ends up being the main reason for the typical six-key rollover USB limitation.  With PS/2, you get full n-key rollover, but alas, most laptops do not have PS/2 ports.  Some helpful discussion on all this appears here:  http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37567.0

How much of an issue would 6KRO be for steno?  I'm assuming it would be, but I'm curious to hear how much.

Since I will be plugging into a Mac, I need a "proper" implementation of NKRO, and not one of those hacks (that usually do not work for Mac).  So probably this means a full-speed USB mechanical keyboard.  Unfortunately, this (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=38786.0) forum doesn't paint a good picture of the NKRO USB market.  Has this changed recently?

I've also heard about using a PS/2 adapter for my USB keyboard and then plugging that PS/2 adapter into "Soarer's Converter" (http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/xt-at-ps2-terminal-to-usb-converter-with-nkro-t2510.html) to get back to USB.  The benefit of this is that I would get full NKRO over USB.  I don't really want to build such a converter (I would consider purchasing one though).  Any Plover users using this?

[Mirabai Knight]

The Filco Majestouch works great with Plover, even via USB:

http://www.amazon.com/Filco-Majestouch-2-Keyboard-FKBN104M-EB2/dp/B004VKUSG6

You definitely need more than 6-key rollover (16-key rollover is about
the minimum, I'd say, to be able to use the majority of the Plover
dictionary), but fortunately the Filco Majestouch has at least that.

Apparently the Noppoo Choc Mini works too, though I haven't tried it personally:

http://www.amazon.com/Noppoo-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-Cherry-Switches/dp/B00A45WJZA

Nice thing about it is that you've got parallel (as opposed to
staggered/offset) columns of keys way at the top there (thanks to an
anonymous informant for pointing this feature out to me), so if you're
not a number bar user, you might be able to situate your stenoing way
up there. You'd have to play around with Plover's keymapping to make
it work, but it should be doable, if parallel columns are that
important to you. I'm a diehard number bar user, so it wouldn't work
for me, but hey. (':

[Benoit Pierre]

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 9:48 PM, Mirabai Knight <askel...@gmail.com> wrote:

[...]

Apparently the Noppoo Choc Mini works too, though I haven't tried it personally:

http://www.amazon.com/Noppoo-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-Cherry-Switches/dp/B00A45WJZA

I can confirm that the Noppoo Choc Mini works with Plover. Careful if you have a Mac though, as it is reported to have issues (I'm on Linux).

--
A: Because it destroys the flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting dumb?

[Tom]

On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 3:19:01 PM UTC-5, Benoit Pierre wrote:

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 9:48 PM, Mirabai Knight <askel...@gmail.com> wrote:

[...]

Apparently the Noppoo Choc Mini works too, though I haven't tried it personally:

http://www.amazon.com/Noppoo-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-Cherry-Switches/dp/B00A45WJZA

I can confirm that the Noppoo Choc Mini works with Plover. Careful if you have a Mac though, as it is reported to have issues (I'm on Linux).

The OS-dependency is the hiccup here.  Because these keyboards are low-speed USB, the way they achieve NKRO is to act as multiple keyboards.  But on OS X, multiple keyboards are independent (keystrokes from different keyboards are not combined)---or something like that.  The result is that most of the NKRO USB keyboards do not work on Mac.  However, I did find this:  http://deskthority.net/wiki/NKRO-over-USB_issues   So maybe I will just purchase an active PS/2 to USB converter and try it with my existing mechanical keyboard (USB -> PS/2 -> USB).

Since I didn't find it the first time I google'd, let me include a backlink to the wiki on this stuff:  http://stenoknight.com/wiki/N-key_rollover

 

[Andrew Martin]

Just saw these on ebay for $1.20. PS2 to USB converter. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/131056954986

No idea if it does NKRO, but worth a try for $1.20. I bought two, I'll use one just to get the ps2 connector to make a soarer converter.

[silentbat]

I didn't try it yet, but there is another very cheap keyboard which should be able to 18KRO. You may tell better than me whether this is enough for steno.

It's called the Tactix Gaming Keyboard and is made by Sharkoon. Price: about 20£ or 15€ or so.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharkoon-Tactix-Gaming-USB-Tastatur/dp/B008JU1UW0/

[Gabriel Holmes]

The Ergodox, with Shayne Holmes's firmware is an excellent alternative. It's NKRO and has a layout that's uniquely suited to Plover. And the keys are lined up.