Customizing DZ60 Keyboard Firmware
This post is about how I customize DZ60 firmware on my keyboard. I know I will need this note in the future if I have to update or customize the firmware again.
Update: watch this video below. It seems to be an easier method.
Update 2: I wrote another post: Customize DZ60 Firmware with QMK Configurator which is the one in the video below.
I recently built a new 60% mechanical keyboard using DZ60 as a PCB instead of a GH60 Satan I chose for my previous ones.
They are using the different firmware and the tools I used to customize my GH60 keyboards doesn’t work with DZ60. To keep the same layout and functionality as my previous keyboards, I have to use other tools to customize DZ60’s firmware.
“Customizing keyboard firmware” is a term for making the keyboard keys work the way you want, anyway you want, by installing a custom version of the keyboard’s software onto the keyboard itself.
A post: Building a 60% keyboard: a DZ60 build guide by Chris Lewis helped me to figure out what to do. Be sure to check his build log too.
Steps
2. In Upload JSON file section, upload JSON file from this Gist to load the current layout. https://gist.github.com/armno/5034d99b0e6092047f1c4c7e99e67970
3. Change keys’ functionality: click on the key on the virtual keyboard on qmkeyboard.cn, scroll down a bit and go to KEYMAP tab, click on the box — it will open all available keycode to select. Then select a new keycode for that key.
4. When finish, go to COMPILE tab and download the .hex file. It can take a while to generate .hex file on the server.
5. Open QMK.Toolbox app (can be downloaded from https://github.com/qmk/qmk_toolbox/releases) and click on “Open” button and select the downloaded .hex file.
6. Press MO(1) (next to the right CTRL) and \ (backslash) keys on the new keyboard to enter bootloader mode. QMK.Toolbox will show the message DFU device connected. At this point, the keyboard will be in a different mode and all the keys will stop working (don’t panic).
7. Finally, Click on “Flash” button in QMK.Toolkit app and wait for a few seconds for it to install a new firmware onto the keyboard. When it is done, QMK.Toolkit app will show the message DFU device disconnected. The keyboard is now with the new firmware installed.
