Posts tagged: zmk

move zmk keyboard to new bluetooth adapter

2026-03-23T17:59:59Z

I’ve been having issue with my keyboard disconnecting to my main desktop for awhile. Today I got a cheap bluetooh dongle in and am giving it a run this week to see how things go. The first step was to move it to the new adapter. I’ve never had multiple adapters installed so this was a new to me process.

I was able to do it all with the same keyboard, It did require some juggling between usb and bluetooth modes plugigng and unplugging, two keyboards would be simpler to reason about.

I can’t be bothered to change my brain to think about this machine on a different zmk profile it is of absolute importance for it to remain on the same profile, otherwise this would be a simple bind to another empty profile.

Why not use a cable on desktop?

I dont mind cable, and have used one on this setup for years, but I have actually been picking up and moving this keyboard and using it with different devices.

I’ve got a big battery and performace cranked up, unless my machine is under load I do not notice any key lag.

I did it with bluetoothctl, I’m sure it could have been done with a gui like blueberry or blueman.

bluetoothctl
# list adapters
list
select <old-adapter>
devices
# fin the MAC address of the device 42BLOCK
remove <42BLOCK_MAC>

Now I plugged into usb. And importantly cleared out the zmk profile. If you do not clear the profile your board does not go into pairing mode.

bluetoothctl
# switch adapters
select <new-adapter>
power on
agent on
default-agent
scan on
Put 42Block in pairing mode, then:
pair <42BLOCK_MAC>
trust <42BLOCK_MAC>

At this pint I saw this show up in the logs, I think there was some masking issues or something in zmk, output kept going out usb no matter what so I disconnected the keyboard and typed the passkey in, and it worked.

[agent] Passkey: 540044

Boom, it just started working right away.

bluetoothctl
connect <42BLOCK_MAC>
info <42BLOCK_MAC>
scan off
exit

💭 urob/zmk-config: Personal ZMK firmware configuration for vario...

2024-09-29T16:50:30Z

GitHub - urob/zmk-config: Personal ZMK firmware configuration for various boards (34-keys, Glove80, Planck)

Personal ZMK firmware configuration for various boards (34-keys, Glove80, Planck) - urob/zmk-config

GitHub · github.com

This is a very well thought out zmk config featuring many macros, numword, and timeless homerow mods. The build system to build locally looks on point, I really need to give that a try!

Note

This post is a thought. It’s a short note that I make about someone else’s content online #thoughts

💭 add quick-tap-ms and require-prior-idle-ms · WaylonWalker/zmk-...

2024-07-25T13:40:14Z

add quick-tap-ms and require-prior-idle-ms · WaylonWalker/zmk-config-42block@cb2cda4

Contribute to WaylonWalker/zmk-config-42block development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub · github.com

Even after switching to my hm and ht behaviors I am running into some issues where sometimes I am still accidentally hitting mods(&hm) and layers(&ht) while typing and it’s been getting frustrating. My main issue has been on &ht, they are configured the same so I suspect that my pinkies just move a bit slower over the keys than my pointer/middle finger.

I just added quick-tap-ms and require-prior-idle-ms to my &hm and &ht behaviors, and a few intentionally sloppy passes through monkeytype seem to show that its working well. A few days of trying this will tell whether it was a good fix or if I have maybe gone too far the other way.

The end goal here is to be able to roll over keys faster without worrying about hitting other layers or mods.

Note

This post is a thought. It’s a short note that I make about someone else’s content online #thoughts

💭 all lt keys to hl · WaylonWalker/zmk-config-42block@ce25356

2024-07-22T13:42:46Z

all lt keys to hl · WaylonWalker/zmk-config-42block@ce25356

Contribute to WaylonWalker/zmk-config-42block development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub · github.com

Today I swapped out all of my keys that are used dual purpose for letters and layers to homerow layers. This prevents goofy things happening when rolling, and prefers-tap makes it so that keys that are rolled over get hit as letters instead of as layers. This was one of my biggest hurdles jumping into zmk, lt as a homerow key just does not behave the same as the ht/hm behaviors with tap-preferred set.

Seealso

See previous commit where I added the hl https://github.com/WaylonWalker/zmk-config-42block/commit/9522c859cdf024a2c2b73931c130ddc907c09ffc

        hl: homerow_layer {
            compatible = "zmk,behavior-hold-tap";
            label = "HOMEROW_LAYER";
            bindings = <&mo>, <&kp>;

            #binding-cells = <2>;
            tapping-term-ms = <150>;
            flavor = "tap-preferred";
        };

Note

This post is a thought. It’s a short note that I make about someone else’s content online #thoughts