![]() 18-pin 0.5 mm ribbon breakout board: ( ).This version of the RP2040 has the perfect form factor for this mod, as it is short enough to fit sideways below the keyboard with USB-C port aligned with the existing hole for a USB cable. Fine file for smoothing/rounding edges of PCBs.Cutting tools for plastic (razor blade, x-acto knife, wire dykes).Scroll saw or other means to cut out a section of a standard PCB breadboard.Solder sucker (probably a desoldering gun if you plan to replace the key switches!).Fine screwdrivers and spudger for disassembly/reassembly of the Orbweaver.Thus it is possible to add up to 4 additional buttons without adding additional rows or columns to the overall 6 row x 5 column key matrix. These keys share the same columns as the main keyboard on lines J4, J5, J6, J7, and J8. The thumb pad PCB has a 8-pin JST connector (J1~J8), providing access to two additional rows of dioded keys: J2 (ALT, LEFT, RIGHT, DOWN, UP) and J3 (Spacebar, null, null, null, null). The keyboard also requires 5V, GND (R4, R1) and 3.3V (R8) for the I2C pull-up resistors (which are also conveniently provided on the PCB!). This ribbon also hosts a I2C serial interface (R2, R3 = SDA, SCL) for communication with the IS31 RGB matrix controller (which independently controls the RGB LED matrix). The keyboard PCB has a 18-pin ribbon connector (R1~R18), which provides direct access to the 4 rows (R17, R16, R15, R14) and 5 columns (R13, R12, R11, R10, R9) of the keyboard diode matrix. The image below summarizes the wiring on the two satellite boards (which I traced using a Fluke multimeter and/or oscilloscope). In other words, all the components we would need for a hand-wired keyboard, thumb pad, and RGB matrix are conveniently provided by Razer! All we have to do is tap into them with our own MCU. These satellite boards communicate with the MCU through an 18-pin ribbon connector and an 8-pin JST connector. They also used a stock RGB LED matrix controller (IS31F元731) for the LEDs, which they placed on the same PCB as the keyboard. Instead they used 3 separate PCBs, one for the proprietary MCU, another hosting the keyboard and RGB diode matrixes, and a third with the thumb pad key matrix. However, in the case of the Orbweaver Chroma, Razer (luckily) didn't do that. Maybe that's possible, but certainly beyond my limited abilities! ![]() Had Razer done that in this case, the mod would be impossible, since access to the key matrix and RGB LEDs would require tapping into traces on the PCB. Most companies use custom integrated PCBs with proprietary OEM components. So basically my objective with this mod was to replace the stock Razer MCU with my own Raspberry Elite-Pi RP2040 microcontroller running QMK. But once they are programmed (in any OS), they can work across platforms without ongoing need of software support or a cloud connection. Of course these devices still have software to program them. In contrast, I have had great experience with Logitech G502 and Wooting 60HE, both of which have onboard memories, allowing the devices to operate without system extensions. The software is generally buggy, they do not update the software for older products, and they have essentially abandoned macOS, making the device useless except for PC. The second (and maybe more serious) problem is that Razer does not reliably support their products. This is particularly challenging when working across multiple platforms (PC, mac, linux), all of which need their own system extensions, and a connection to Razer cloud for keyboard profiles. So you are dependent on Razer's software to operate the device. The first is that the Orbweaver (as well as other Razer products) lack on-board memory.
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