Leeku PCBs

Learning and discussion Firmware, programming, and hardware compatability
1

So I got my LZ GH v2 ~2 weeks ago and my initial thought was to convert the PCB to TMK instead of using JigOn. That has it’s drawbacks and I haven’t seen any active development on this either.
Link: https://github.com/xauser/tmk_keyboard/tree/xauser/keyboard/l3

I have a MX1800 since before and I’m quite satisfied with it. Still running JigOn. I have however had issues when I want to reassign keys. Communication errors and such. A quick search only gives that you should change USB port when it happens. Also searching how to “fix” my problem has made me realize that I’m not the only one.
People are reporting issues with firmware, PCBs not responding and more.

So why not put together a more complete guide to the Leeku PCBs?
I started asking questions in the LZ GB thread but I think it deserves it’s own thread/discussion.
There are magnificent instructions on how to use JigOn but not how to deal with firmware issues.

I’ve had problems with automatic highlighting when using JigOn. This was solved when one user got me aware that when connected, the keyboard sends codes that JigOn uses to identify the key. I’m a swede so obviosly I use Swedish layout and that was the issue. When connected I get “åc+b¨åc+c¨åc+d¨åc+e¨åc+f¨åc+g” when I write QWERTY. Switching over to english keyboard writing QWERTY i get “[c-b][c-c][c-d][c-e][c-f][c-g]” and automatic highlighting works.

So far this is what I’ve learned

  1. English windows must be used. I have Windows 7 x64. No virtual environment.

  2. Keep firmware and JigOn at same version. This leaves us at version 170419.
    키매핑 프로그램 - [1830FW_0917] & [L3 FW v171209] & [JigOn v170419]

Question that I have that we can discuss.

  1. Is there a way to see what version the PCB has from factory?
  2. I’ve seen reports of people having issues when using leds. What’s up with that?

Share your experience. What problem/issue did you have and most important how did you solve it.

9 Likes
2

Thanks for putting this together. It’ll definitely be helpful for when I start building mine.

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During the weekend I’ve installed a fresh windows 7 x64 English US just to see if it get’s any easier.

Just so I do not forget. Shoutout to:
MajorKoos @ GH
OracleKev @GH
wholypantalones @ GH

They’ve all contributed to helping me (us) getting PCBs working.

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4

I used to have loads of issues with my MX 1800 PCB (basically a soft brick out of nowhere) that was more or less solved by getting an ISP writer and re-flashing the firmware to the chip.

I find Leeku PCBs to be fairly finicky in general and for my LZGHv2 I plan on procuring the h87 QMK PCB that’s currently on group buy precisely because I don’t really want to deal with any potential problems with Jigon and having to manually reflash the bootloader anymore

5

I’m also in for the h87.

I have a USBasp and it’s been useful with the MX1800. It’s like you say, suddenly it just locks and you need to reset it.

IMG_7296
IMG_7296.JPG3024×4032 1.76 MB

There must be a ton of these PCBs out there and how many are in use? Do people actually reassign keys or just use it as it comes?

6

Hmm, I haven’t been able to see what version a PCB is. The JigOn programs I’ve used have been a bit inconsistent. Usually I’ll try one of two versions. The most recent version, or a stable older version I have. 80% of the time, regardless of PCB, the older stable one works for me (At work so I can’t fetch the version number).

For the LEDs, it seems like a common issue I have is assigning them the colors I want (or brightness, or whatever other settings) and sometimes what I assign the LEDs doesn’t ‘stick’ and it reverts to the default after 1 unplug/replug of the USB. Sometimes I’ll have to program and assign it several times before the it ‘sticks’ and it’ll stay the way I want it to be (usually off).

But to be honest I haven’t had any issues with the most recent TX87 Leeku PCB that I used on my Acrylic Unicorn.

7

That’s the same one I use to program my PCB. I feel like with a board as big as the 1800 you don’t really need much in the way of programming (basically a full size board). I only have a couple of things programmed that isn’t standard and mainly for volume control and that kinda thing.

8

Have you ever done a reset or have it always worked with stock firmware?

9

Well, me neither. I have a few “nice to have” shortcuts. Nothing fancy. The thing is I would like to have them on all my keyboards. When I find a new one I’d like to add it since it’s a programmable keyboard. The software takes away some of the good experience of the keyboard.

10

Tried to reflash my PCB today to make a tutorial but it doesn’t work. Whatever I try I get communication error. And when using USBasp / eXtreme burner i get Power on failure?

It’s possible to type but PCB will not accept any of my changes. RGB on/off works. Any hints?

11

Seems like I partly bricked my PCB today. For some reason the port stopped responding and now it doesn’t install in windows. So unless someone would like to chime in this tread will be buried. Looking forward to that h87…

12

If you have an ISP flasher you can easily re-flash the original firmware. You will need to solder a header/pin-out on the board to connect to the ISP flasher and then you can use L3_bootloader.zip from KBDLab to flash it.
TMK and QMK work well on Leeku L3 boards, I use QMK.

13

Thanks. Do you have some sort of a guide on how to get QMK running? When I connect my USBasp I get “Power on” failure when trying to read. It works on my MX1800.

14

I haven’t seen that error before. Talking to kin or LZ will be quickest way to resolve it. Was that the full error message?
For QMK, you can either copy the configuration from rasmusx’s github (GitHub - rasmusx/qmk_firmware at dev) or I can send it to you. I haven’t uploaded my ports of Leeku’s PCBs to QMK but it’s all derived from rasmusx and the TMK port by xauser

15

Hmm, I can’t seem to get the JigOn software to work properly. The keyboard works fine in Windows and it supposedly connects in the JigOn software (I’m getting the “Connected” pop-up at least), yet no keys are functioning when I try to program it.

I also can’t update the firmware, so I’m guessing it’s not actually connected. I have tried four different USB ports (half of those directly on the motherboard) and three different cables. No luck.

Not really sure what to do next. I’m new to programming keyboards, so please bare with me. :relaxed:

16

Nevermind, I figured it out now. :relieved:

I had both the Danish and American input layouts added in Windows and thought it was enough to just switch to the en-US one. Turns out I needed to completely remove the Danish one to make it work, otherwise it just kept outputting foreign characters like previously mentioned in the thread here, which apparently threw off the JigOn software.

17

Glad that some information here has been of help. Only wish that we could see some active development on the software in order to get rid of all communication errors and such. Being an “international” user of this pcb and software seems to cause most of the troubles since it’s clearly developed to only work under en/US settings.

18

The thread here and the GH V2 thread on Geekhack were both very helpful. :relaxed: And I completely agree, I hope it improves in the future.

19

It seems i am in the same situation as you.

My PCB can’t update due to a connection error, and i can’t do anything else in JigOn than turning the RGB LED’s on and off. I’m stuck with the defaulted layout with spacebar being FN, which leaves me with a useless PCB.

Did you ever get the ISP flash to work? Or have you written off the PCB as dead?

20

I have desoldered the PCB and will replace it with h87a. So yes, I consider it dead. I am however still using my mx1800 and it works fine both with USBasp and reassigning keys from JigOn now that I know that English windows/setting must be used. So I’m a bit clueless on what happened to my TKL87 and I can’t point you in any direction really on how to solve it.

If you find out how to solve it, please post it here so others can take advantage of it also.