I haven’t owned a mechanical keyboard in years, but I found this while thrifting the other day. Cleaned it up, everything seems to work fine.
The only thing that irks me is the spacebar. It sort of teeter totters and only works when I press in the center. Are there supposed to be three switches under it?
Also, is there any way to swap the alt/windows keys at the hardware/firmware level? I prefer the macOS layout and would like to avoid juggling configuration software on each device I own.
You’re missing these pieces that connect the spacebar key to the stabilizer wire. They should be on the original spacebar but can be slightly difficult to remove. They are just friction fit and are removable though.
It looks like you’re missing the stabilizing bar that normally goes under the spacebar. It looks something like this, though I don’t know if the one featured in thst link will work for your keyboard.
Getting a spacebar stabilizer might help with the spacebar problems
I like the colors, cool find!
This is a very standard AliExpress keycap set, it should be on the first page of results for “DSA keycap set”
I’ll be honest I haven’t explored much
Followup question, where do you recommend getting keycaps from?
I have bought sets from https://typemachina.com/collections/keysets. They used to be called Originative but changed the name at some point. Keysets can be really really expensive. Like $125 you wait months for that is essentially plastic but it’s made in a specific factory in Germany lol But, there are lots of cheap sets too. mechanicalkeyboards.com is another place that should have more affordable sets. Just make sure you choose the right layout and get the correct amount of keys for your board. There are artisans too and you can spend lots of money on a single key that is a piece of art.
I get mine from AliExpress. They’re by no means good, but I refuse to spend more than 30€ on plastic. I also get my board from there, there are some good deals on subpart boards that are actually quite serviceable.
They’re by no means good
I would also say they’re (mostly) by no means bad. For me, keycaps get into the area of diminishing returns very quickly. If some iffy kerning on Caps Lock bothers someone that much, then they should do what they need to, but it’s not hard for me to find durable and attractive keycaps at a good price these days.
Also, while I try to avoid cloned novelties, I have fairly little sympathy for designers trying to assert some sort of moral claim to colorways, often colorways where they were already adapting existing vintage boards. By all means make as much money as you can from the channels who want to be first to market and work with you. Or sometimes, the only way to get a certain profile is to go through the vendors who own the molds; that’s cool too.
Pink and green Enter keys, however, do not obligate anyone to pay GMK prices.
Completely agree. Also, fuck the artificial scarcity culture in mk. Why are DSA drifters a collector item, they’re pretty but there’s nothing that says only 500 of them must exist.
DSA drifters
Had to look that one up myself. I can’t think of anything in particular that would keep them from re-running it, unless it’s maybe something to do with the licensed IP from the game? Also, DSA seems to be a bit out of fashion for the collectors, though it looks like TheKeyCompany already ran it once in KAT profile.
I support people working to get the stuff they like made for small runs, and understand that those runs will sort of necessarily be higher priced, based on the small number of companies willing and able to do community designs at reasonable minimum-order-quantities. There’s still a point for me though, where the rewards and loyalty that are expected can feel a little naive, and that’s all I’m saying. Hell, a lot of time it’s not even the designers themselves (especially veteran designers), but rather gatekeepers within the broader hobbyist community.
Wow that’s lucky
Can’t you change function keys in Settings, on your Mac?
Otherwise, you can use Karabiner on a Mac to remap keys.
Yeah I’ve got it swapped in macOS and it works but I can’t figure out how to do that on my Steam Deck
Try Razer’s config tool; not available on macOS though. If you can’t get that software to work, then try using that karabiner tool mentioned on another comment for macOS or AutoHotKey on Windows.
Note: I do all of my keyboard config stuff the hard way with qmk, so I can’t vouch for, or explain, any of the tools I just listed.
As for your spacebar issue, you have a key set that only supports Cherry Mx-style switches. This isn’t a problem for the switches themselves, but those stabilizers look to be incompatible with that spacebar. I don’t know much about razer boards, but it looks like the stabilizers are designed for their original spacebars, or there is an adapter that didn’t get installed with these new caps. You could confirm this by looking at the stabilizers for the shift or enter keys; pop one of those off and see how they are mounted.
You might be able to open the case and install mx-style stabilizers. You’ve got a 6.25u size spacebar, which is usually covered in stabilizer kits like Durock or Cherry. The real issue is whether you could install them on the PCB. Cherry style stabilizers are also noisy as hell, so be ready for that (the noise can be controlled with some modifications, but that’s a rabbit hole all by itself).
Good luck!
