Mechanical keyboard Keychron K2 (V2) works on FBSD 13.1

meine

meine

Today I got my Keychron K2 (V2) mechanical keyboard, and I'd like to report here that this peripheral works fine on FreeBSD 13.1 RELEASE amd64.

The keyboard is recognized at boot. The only setting is my default for keyboards in /etc/rc.conf
Code: 
keymap="us.acc"
to provide European accented characters. There is no further software setting for having just 84 keys.

On this Keychron, the switch on the side has to be set on 'Win/Android', I use a wired setup.

I post it here, because there is hardly any (if none) information on the net about the workings of mechanical keyboards on a *BSD system. The Linux FB-group on this brand- has a lot of complaints about the Function keys and some settings for kernel modules we don't have. On some smaller models, Keychron have top row number-keys with triple functions, which according to the shop causes problems (the OS doesn't understand the two 'fn' keys for Fx and Mac multimedia). That is why I bought a version with a proper Fx row of keys.

I bought this keyboard at a shop specialized in ergonomic office stuff, and was able to test it on my FBSD 13.1 netbook. The testing was something I wanted to do for such expensive equipment. I realized that most keyboards will be sold online without proper testing of the ergonomics and working on your OS -- an argument to buy at a phisical shop instead of online.

Hope this is of any use for others...
 
Good to know. I went through a mechanical keyboard phase, where I was going through a great many keyboards. The only one that had issues with FreeBSD was a Fnatic. Everything else I've tried has been problem free, though the Keychron I tried did have trouble with a cheap KVM I was using.
 
I'm looking at the K10, which is wireless like the K2. I am curious if you've tried to get it working wirelessly.
 
mjl said:
I'm looking at the K10, which is wireless like the K2. I am curious if you've tried to get it working wirelessly.
Click to expand...
I haven't tried a BlueTooth setup. Have to look for my BT-stick to try. I'll be back on that.
 
mjl working on that. First I had to dive into Bluetooth connections on FreeBSD as described in the Handbook on '33.5. Bluetooth'.

The Keychron K2 connects to my box and was recognized properly. That means that Bluetooth is working.
Pressing the keys however produces no result -- not in TTY and not in GUI. I'll have to find out if that is due to a setup missing things or that it means that the keyboard doesn't work as hoped for.

The Bluetooth connection reveals that the Keychron has a rather short time out that closes the connection whithout keyboard input. It should be set to a different value, but can become a PITA when you don't type all the time and want to pick up after getting some coffee. A cable connection might be more practical.
 
meine said:
mjl working on that. First I had to dive into Bluetooth connections on FreeBSD as described in the Handbook on '33.5. Bluetooth'.

The Keychron K2 connects to my box and was recognized properly. That means that Bluetooth is working.
Pressing the keys however produces no result -- not in TTY and not in GUI. I'll have to find out if that is due to a setup missing things or that it means that the keyboard doesn't work as hoped for.

The Bluetooth connection reveals that the Keychron has a rather short time out that closes the connection whithout keyboard input. It should be set to a different value, but can become a PITA when you don't type all the time and want to pick up after getting some coffee. A cable connection might be more practical.
Click to expand...
My Keychron K12 Bluetooth keyboard also can be recognized well but do not work, I'm wondering if there is any solution.

Code: 
doas hccontrol create_connection dc:2c:26:37:66:69              
BD_ADDR: dc:2c:26:37:66:69
Connection handle: 71
Encryption mode: Disabled [0]
 
Connect the keyboard with a cable?

I didn't look any further, because cable is always the better solution.
 
Yes, the Keychron I tried and had it work was connected with the cable. I never checked Bluetooth. Like meine
I didn't check any further once I saw that a cable worked.
 
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