Right side - corne premium case 2 rows stopped working while it was charging

Ok... now the right side had two rows stop working on it the 1st row and 3rd row. I always discharge any static I have against a nearby object before using they keyboard, and it happened while it was charging.

TyperAI•12/12/24, 5:22 PM

It sounds like you're experiencing a common issue that often relates to hardware, specifically a soldering issue. Since the first and third rows on the right side of your Corne keyboard have stopped working, here are some steps to troubleshoot:

Check the Solder Joints: Each row is controlled by a pin on the nice!nano. It's possible that the pins for the affected rows are not soldered properly. Inspect the solder joints on both the nice!nano and the PCB side to ensure they are solid. You can refer to the Adafruit Soldering Guide for tips on making good solder joints.
Look for Shorts: A short circuit can occur if there is a solder bridge between two pins or if a pin is touching a nearby trace. Use a multimeter in continuity mode to check for shorts between the pins of the affected rows. Make sure the keyboard is powered off when doing this.
Inspect the Diodes: Each switch has a diode that could be causing the issue. Check to ensure that the diodes for the affected switches are oriented correctly, soldered properly, and not cracked.
Firmware Reset: If the hardware checks out, consider resetting the firmware on the nice!nano. Sometimes, a firmware issue can cause rows to stop responding.

If you've gone through these steps and the issue persists, it may be best to consult the troubleshooting guide for more detailed solutions or further assistance.

Adafruit Guide To Excellent Soldering

Solder at peak performance!

Row(s) or Column(s) Not Working | Typeractive.xyz Documentation

Fix row(s) or column(s) not working on your keyboard.

Nicell•12/13/24, 5:40 PM

I’m banging my head against a wall at this point. @codafoo if I design a simple ring to add to your case to avoid any metal on metal while charging, can you give it a shot?

codafooOP•12/14/24, 5:52 PM

yep I can try it, i have a 3d printer i also have some TPU filament although i never tried printing anything with it yet was going to use it for wheels but it could print some nice bumpers to separate the metals i bet

codafooOP•12/14/24, 5:55 PM

never tried printing the tpu filament, 3d printer i printed a ton just for clarification

codafooOP•12/14/24, 6:05 PM

it’s most likely environmental static though we have 5 evaporative humidifiers in the house including in my office where the keyboard is but SoCal has santa ana winds in my area that make everything extremely dry i think even with the humidifiers running at full blast humidity dropped to mid 30s

Nicell•12/16/24, 1:34 AM

when I’m back at the office in a week I’ll send you a new nano and this ring design

Nicell•12/16/24, 1:34 AM

I’ve also got two possible leads on what the culprit of this is

Nicell•12/16/24, 7:08 AM

So after speaking with an electrical engineer, here's what I've got:

The nice!nano does not have a connection from Shield to Ground, this is likely most of the issue. Because we don't have this, ESD through the USB shield is finding the path of least resistance, which can sometimes be some poor GPIO
The metal case acts as a capacitor and builds up a charge that seems to be let out on the USB shield path while plugging in, this is why the plastic case didn't have any issues.
The reason only some people are having issues is likely due to both poor environmental conditions and also poor host devices/USB cables. If someone were using a shorter cable with a high quality device that has shield properly grounded the chances would be much lower

The course of action here is to upgrade the nice!nano to have a connection from shield to ground. This will likely fix the issue in the vast majority of cases. We may still have some issues and would have to visit grounding the case somehow if that were the case.

Nicell•12/16/24, 7:09 AM

The plastic ring may also help, but the nice!nano fix seems paramount.

NNicell So after speaking with an electrical engineer, here's what I've got: - The nice...

codafooOP•12/16/24, 8:37 AM

maybe it’s time for the nice nano pro with updated battery monitoring

codafooOP•12/30/24, 9:52 AM

@Nicell fyi on vacay for 2 weeks

NNicell So after speaking with an electrical engineer, here's what I've got: - The nice...

Maba_Kalox•12/30/24, 10:33 AM

Can you please suggest manual fix, to prevent frying controller? I ordered corne recently and would like to future proof from such problem. Will connecting USB-C shielding to GND and aluminium case(how to do it?) to GND help?

MMaba_Kalox Can you please suggest manual fix, to prevent frying controller? I ordered corne...

Nicell•12/30/24, 11:52 AM

Yes it should help, but we haven’t tested it yet, samples are in progress. If you’d like to try it out you can but it’s uncharted territory. Basically you’d connect the outer part of the USB C port ( the shield ) to ground.

Sevaeron•1/5/25, 12:44 PM

and now i know what just happened to my Corne

identical issue & what happened before row 1/3 stopped, just on the left side instead of the right. Guess i'll wait to order new N!N until we have a confirmed kill on the issue.(Didn't order through you originally </3)

SSevaeron and now i know what just happened to my Corne 😦 identical issue & what happened...

Nicell•1/5/25, 6:30 PM

We're working on a fix

likely a short term fix is adding a plastic ring to cover the metal so shorts done occur while charging. The grounding fixes are in progress though and we'll be testing it out

NNicell We're working on a fix 🙏 likely a short term fix is adding a plastic ring to co...

Maba_Kalox•1/5/25, 11:23 PM

Con you elaborate on plastic ring solution please? Ideally with some printable files

MMaba_Kalox Con you elaborate on plastic ring solution please? Ideally with some printable f...

Nicell•1/6/25, 4:56 PM

plastic-cover_v4.stl52.04KB

Nicell•1/6/25, 4:56 PM

you may need to play with your printer's tolerances

Nicell•1/6/25, 4:56 PM

but this should be able to cover up all the metal around the USB hole preventing shorts when plugging in

Barnacleez•1/9/25, 2:13 PM

After reviewing the troubleshooting steps and verifying my solder points are good I believe I'm experiencing this same issue. The second row on my left side has stopped working. Ordered originally through you in May 2024.

BBarnacleez After reviewing the troubleshooting steps and verifying my solder points are goo...

Nicell•1/9/25, 4:16 PM

please send a DM with your order number

codafooOP•1/14/25, 5:48 PM

FYI I'm back at home so ready to test any updated nanos when they are ready

Barnacleez•1/15/25, 2:00 PM

Thanks, Nick, for getting me back up and running. Everything is functional again after I put the replacement nice!nano in and followed the steps to reset and pair the two halves.

Barnacleez•1/15/25, 2:00 PM

https://zmk.dev/docs/troubleshooting/connection-issues#split-keyboard-halves-unable-to-pair

Connection Issues | ZMK Firmware

Troubleshooting wireless connection issues of ZMK devices.

Barnacleez•1/15/25, 2:00 PM

Also I'd be more than happy to help test any updated nanos if needed as well.

Barnacleez•1/28/25, 3:18 PM

Hey @Micky or @Nicell I do believe this same issue has occurred on my left side again. Middle row as well as 5th column from the left no longer work. I've tried to carefully protect it from ESD as much as possible, but apparently not enough. At this point how long would you speculate it will be until there is a long term solution developed and available?

BBarnacleez Hey @Micky or @Nicell I do believe this same issue has occurred on my left side ...

Micky•1/30/25, 4:16 PM

We are actively working to reduce the issue. I don't have a specific timeline but hoping soon.

Maba_Kalox•2/4/25, 12:02 PM

I am using SuperMini instead of nice!nano, which has usb-c shielding connected to ground, and today middle row stopped working on left half, even without disconnecting usb cable, but just from movment of cable in the socket...
Will try to connect gnd to aluminium, if wont comment after this, count this as - worked.
(upd: 24 days passed, works fine)

codafooOP•3/2/25, 6:09 PM

@Maba_Kalox have you had anymore issues how did you connect the case to ground?

Ccodafoo @Maba_Kalox have you had anymore issues how did you connect the case to ground?

Maba_Kalox•3/2/25, 9:09 PM

Did not have issues since posting comment.
Don’t want to disassemble keyboard to make photos, but what I did:
1) took very thin washer (mine was part of variable resistor)
2) removed some of anodising from flat part screw stand using tiny file

3) soldered wire to edge of the washer, removing excess lead using file, so that washer can fully rest on screw stand of the case
4) soldered another end of wire to GND pin of nice!nano
5) while assembling, placed washer with wire onto stand with removed anodising, so that side with soldered wire faces pcb.
6) after assembling, checked connectivity between usb ground and aluminium case(will need to poke thought anodising), using multimeter.
Feel free to ask if some aspects unclear.

Maba_Kalox•3/2/25, 9:13 PM

Maba_Kalox•3/2/25, 9:17 PM

Please note, I am using nrf micro, which has type c shield wired to ground, not sure if nice!nano do. If no, probably you will also need to wire type-c shielding to GND pin.

MMaba_Kalox Please note, I am using nrf micro, which has type c shield wired to ground, not ...

codafooOP•3/2/25, 9:50 PM

Thanks! I was thinking of doing the same using a ring terminal but not sure if a have one that is small enough.

NNicell So after speaking with an electrical engineer, here's what I've got: - The nice...

codafooOP•3/5/25, 5:53 PM

Hey @Nicell, just checking are there any updates with grounding the nice!nano's usb connector? i took apart the keyboard only to realize I don't have any nano's or headers to replace it with to go for Maba_Kalox's temporary fix

codafooOP•3/5/25, 5:57 PM

i guess it wouldn't be temporary maybe alternative would be a better way of saying it as my only issue is the ESD.. i also sprayed my floor with anti-static spray too so I think my office is relatively safer now

Calagius•4/5/25, 2:57 AM

Bumping this. Looks like I have had the same issue with 2 controllers seeing issues the same way: 🛟-helpThumb row Issues
Any update on when the fix will be available or a good workaround?

codafooOP•4/5/25, 3:23 AM

@Calagius They have a nice!nano in testing that has grounding to the usb shield but I’m not sure when the timeline for release is.

Ccodafoo @Calagius They have a nice!nano in testing that has grounding to the usb shield ...

Maba_Kalox•4/6/25, 9:44 PM

Just info: I had same problem with nrf-micro, which has usb shielding connected to GND.
But only attaching alluminun case to the GND helped (tested only for 2 months).

Maybe nrf-micro has other flaw, and for nice!nano just grounding USB would help.

NNicell So after speaking with an electrical engineer, here's what I've got: - The nice...

Calagius•6/16/25, 3:35 AM

Not to resurrect a dead thread but is there any update on a new version of the nice!nano? I've fried 2 of them so far with this issue I think (plastic case, but very dry mountain air and keeping it connected via usb c to work station). I was waiting to order another until this improvement was released.

CCalagius Not to resurrect a dead thread but is there any update on a new version of the n...

Nicell•6/20/25, 9:36 AM

they’re here! if you send an email to hello@ asking for the new grounded shield nanos we can hook you up

Calagius•6/20/25, 1:04 PM

Emailed! Hype!

cb•7/4/25, 8:13 PM

I think I'm having this same issue. I've tried reflashing multiple times and it doesn't work. I've also tried wiping the nice!nanos and then reflashing and they connect but completely mess up my laptop. I have to restart it to be able to use the laptop keyboard. I believe I purchased from you last year. I'll send an email