general-discussion

@here 
We’re working on adding an additional international retailer, specifically in the EU! Reply to this thread with your favorites in the region (or <:plusone:769610946900656159> an existing suggestion) so we don’t miss any potential options that we should be considering.

International retailers

Y'all should think about enabling discord's new threads feature. Would clean up the chats in the support channels.

neat

help

Hello all! Love the discord and the cool projects yall have. I'm building tidbit specifically to learn basic solder skills and keep moving forward. 

Looking at the solder guide and reading all the way through the guide helped me understand that I had too much solder on the led pads. I removed enough from the top and bottom led outside edges that the acrylic spacer sits flush on the board. So that was very educational both in heat control and using desoldrr wick for the first time. 

Is it strongly recommended that I reduce the solder amoint on the rest of the joints as well? 

Thank you for your time 🙏

ZeroThePrototype - Hello all! Love the discord ...

I am needing some help with flashing my Pro Micro for the first time. I am feeling overwhelmed and not really sure what file/files to download from github. 

I'm at the point where i need to download QMK toolbox but there are 4 different files. I want to eventually use the firmware files here. https://github.com/nullbitsco/firmware/releases/tag/latest

But for now i just want to see if my thing will power up and if I soldered correctly. I'm assuming I'll need to flash some base firmware to do that 😢

lethoce - I am needing some help with flashing ...

Sorry for the question folks, but how do I swap layout on a Tidbit? My Tidbit is by default a numpad and I use it that way - but occasionally it would switch to a layout that I did not configure (and do not have it in VIA). I think 8 = Page Up, 2 = Down, etc.
I usually can just unplug it and plug it back in and it should work as a numpad again, but this time that trick doesn't help. How do I get it to the numpad layout again? Thanks in advance!

dipeppo - Sorry for the question folks, but how...

Good evening everyone. First of all let me say I am a big fan of the discord server. You guys are rockstars. With that being said, I'm reaching out because I've been having an issue with my tidbit build. The first time I tried building it, after flashing my Bit-C PRO (RP2040) it would only register 9 and * (no backlights). Then after many reflashes it started registering 9, * and 7 (no backlights) Okay, no problem, I prolly damaged the PCB and the BIT-C Pro, (because I'm a noob) so I decided to buy a new tidbit kit and 2 Bit C Pros. That way when I solder, I only do whats necessary and less margin for error. Got the RP2040s first in the mail and was able to replicate the errors of my first Bit-C Pro with a brand new chip. I then got the new PCB kit and went to town, carefully soldering only what was necessary, so no backlights and no jack. I went to flash the second newest chip and... nothing... okay, maybe I fried the second chip when I tested it on the first tidbit build. So I opened the brand new chip, flashed it with nullbitsco_snap_rp2040_via.uf2, and even though my mac didn't recognize ANY of the keys being pressed, at least the via website was able to show me I had a tidbit present. 
I tried all the tidbit firmwares, to include: the default one, oled and via and anything that said tidbit. I tested the numpad on both linux and mac (arm m2, my main). I seriously dont know what could be. I attached some pictures for ya'll. Thanks in advanced.

.red_overlord - Good evening everyone. First of...

Hello, I am having some trouble changing the colour of the RGB backlights. I have no clue how to do it 😦 , btw im using a tidbit with the bit c

.jacobreesmogg - Hello, I am having some troubl...

Hey, I am having problems wiring up and flashing my sick 68 keyboard. This is my first project with a microcontroller so I dont know a whole lot. I am wondering which pins I am able to use on the Bit-C that I have. Also, how will these pins correlate to the examples that are on other forms and videos.

Bshiv - Hey, I am having problems wiring up and...

Hey all, I'm working on a tidbit w/ 3pin switches. Will it be *okay* without the FR4 plate or is that a necessity?  I'm using this to learn on rather than build something perfect so would prefer to save the $10

rigthar - Hey all, I'm working on a tidbit w/ 3...

I'm replacing an Elite-C with a Bit-C, but when I go to flash it, it says the chip is already blank - is there something I should be doing first that I'm forgetting? I set the bootloader to dfu, like the amazon page had mentioned (and like the elite-c had before it)

56 - I'm replacing an Elite-C with a Bit-C, but...

It's a actually a bit worse since now additionally to the F6,6,T,G,B,Space Column additionally F5, 4, 5 and V stopped working so parts of the column next to it and even further(4) .

Timo - It's a actually a bit worse since now ad...

If you just want the OLED firmware, we have precompiled firmwares for all of the defaults available! Bit-C PRO support included 👍 
https://github.com/nullbitsco/firmware/releases/tag/nightly-rp2040

jay | nullbits - If you just want the OLED firm...

It’ll be something like: flash a new firmware to one side, see if the LED blinks, and vice-versa.

It’ll be something like flash a new

Totally fixable. You’re in the right place 👍 Mind starting a thread and adding a picture?

Diode solder pad

This is when it's plugged directly into USB right, not into TRRS? I haven't seen that before. You could try clearing the EEPROM and flashing the default firmware.

reinstalled, reflashed, but it still does the same thing - what could the rapidly flashing LED on the bit-c signify?

This is when it s plugged directly into

Probably doesn’t help you now, but I would have checked in and asked for help before you desoldered the MCU. It’s hard to desolder the MCU and it’s possible you damaged a pad or trace. 

What MCU did you build with? When you plug in the board, does the MCU get warm near the USB connector?

I built my nibble keyboard and the usb-c light was working and telling me I flashed the firmware but the none of the keys were working. So I went down the troubleshooting list and none of those things helped. So I de-soldered the usb-c and re-soldered it and now the keyboard doesn't light up at all

Debugging

Feel free to start a thread and send pictures of the top and bottom soldering as well, and I can take a look 👍

Keyboard help

Hey! It might be an oddity of only having one OLED, but I’m not positive. Do you mind snapping a quick video so we can see what it’s doing? I haven’t tested with only one OLED but I can do that later today and see if it matches how your board is acting.

wondering if anyone has had anything similar.  let me know if there's some docs i should scan through.  i saw that another user (goongin) was having similar (but distinct) issues, and tried following along with that (except for the multimeter debugging)

intermittent bongo on snap 75 with 1 oled

Which firmware do you have on the tidbit? I would look and see if you can figure out why your LEDs are going dim. That seems like a clue. The boards should behave and look exactly the same when connected over TRRS as they do when connected with USB. If one/both are going dim, something might not be right.

TRRS troubleshooting

I gotcha! This is viewed from the bottom of the board. You want to connect to the bottom side of the resistors as shown.

hey! Looks like my LED is still only using the green channel- I must've burned out the pads. Does anyone know where the traces are?

Big LED troubleshooting

Correct! I can show you which traces should be connect to which IC pins if that’s helpful as well.

I'll have to go buy a multi meter. Are all the traces from column pins to the ICs on the top of the pcb? That's how it looks when I checked

Scratched Traces

nibble

bit-c

tidbit

accessories

build-chat

We should still be able to fix it, I think! I’ll start a thread. Good debugging so far, I actually think you’re hot on the trail.

I think I might have borked this PCB though. I’ve wicked away the most amount of solder I can without breaking the connection and it doesn’t glow. Just the flickering I mentioned earlier.

tidbit-led-debugging

hacks-n-mods

firmware

I think there’s a `tap_code_16()` or similar for extended keycodes

Adjusting RGB Backlight with Encoder

This is great! I’m gonna add it to #community-content. Thanks for taking the time to share it 🙂

Lemme know if anything is confusing so I can edit the gist.

RGBLIGHT_TIMEOUT

show-and-tell

scramble

diagrams-etc

snap

Please excuse the ms-paint style screenshot, but this should hopefully help. View from the top of the board, the red and blue lines should all be connected as shown. My guess is that the left connections will be there, but the final one on the right is broken for each row. No sweat, as this can happen sometimes during soldering or through wear and tear. The good news is: they're totally repairable and can be made manually with a thin wire 🙂

Please excuse the ms paint style

Somehow, some of the acrylic for the first batch came in undersized. We caught most in QA but some still slipped through. I’m happy to send you a replacement if you’d like.

@jay | nullbits I had issues with my acrylic plates. The left one wouldn't fit the magnets. It matched poorly with the PCB due to not lining up properly with the stabilizer screws. And it wouldn't allow the left and right halves to come together. I spent a while filing it down and I managed to get the magnets to fit and the halves to mate, but it still looks weird. The left half is clearly not flush along the top edge.

Somehow some of the acrylic for the

A community for talking about nullbits keyboards, showcasing builds, getting help, discussion and chatting!

nullbits

A community for talking about nullbits keyboards, showcasing builds, getting help, discussion and chatting!

nullbits

A community for talking about nullbits keyboards, showcasing builds, getting help, discussion and chatting!

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