5 col vs 6 col
I'm new to Corne keyboards and to zmk. I've just built a 5 col Corne from Typeractive, and now looking to do the fun part, programming it. I see different methods in play. Joe Scotto says clone the repo, build it, and use the artifacts. Typeractive website provides compiled firmware, which I needed to use to get ZMK Studio to work wirelessly. The repo gives a keymap for a 6 col Corne. Any guidance would be appreciated.
2 Replies
Hello! Great to hear you've built your 5-column Corne!
You're right, there are different approaches for firmware.
1. 5-Column vs 6-Column: Firmware and keymaps are specific to the column count. For your 5-column Corne, use the dedicated 5-column files.
* The 5-column default keymap has autoshift enabled due to limited space.
2. Pre-compiled Firmware (Typeractive Website): These are ready-to-use
.uf2 files.
* Find them here: https://docs.typeractive.xyz/build-guides/corne-wireless/firmware (scroll down for 5-column options).
* These are compatible with ZMK Studio for wireless keymap customization.
3. Building Your Own Firmware (Joe Scotto/Repo Method): This is for full customization.
* Use our 5-column ZMK config repositories as a template:
* No nice!view: https://github.com/typeractivexyz/corne-wireless-5-col-zmk-config
* With nice!view: https://github.com/typeractivexyz/corne-wireless-5-col-view-zmk-config
* Edit the corne.keymap file in the config folder.
* New firmware will be built by GitHub Actions (find in Actions tab -> firmware artifact).
* For keymap customization: https://zmk.dev/docs/features/keymaps or the visual editor: https://github.com/nickcoutsos/keymap-editor
4. ZMK Studio: This allows runtime keymap changes without re-flashing.
* Access it at https://zmk.studio/.
* It works wirelessly with the pre-compiled firmware you've already used.
Installing Firmware:
1. Plug in nice!nano.
2. Double-tap reset button to enter bootloader.
3. Drag .uf2 file to NICENANO drive.
4. Turn power switch ON.
Hope this clarifies things! Let me know if you have more questions.Firmware | Typeractive.xyz Documentation
If you're not familiar, ZMK is a wireless-focused firmware, and it powers our Corne Wireless.
GitHub
GitHub - typeractivexyz/corne-wireless-5-col-zmk-config
Contribute to typeractivexyz/corne-wireless-5-col-zmk-config development by creating an account on GitHub.
GitHub
GitHub - typeractivexyz/corne-wireless-5-col-view-zmk-config
Contribute to typeractivexyz/corne-wireless-5-col-view-zmk-config development by creating an account on GitHub.
Keymaps & Behaviors | ZMK Firmware
ZMK uses a declarative approach to keymaps, using devicetree syntax to configure them in a .keymap file.
GitHub
GitHub - nickcoutsos/keymap-editor: A web based graphical editor of...
A web based graphical editor of ZMK keymaps. Contribute to nickcoutsos/keymap-editor development by creating an account on GitHub.
Thanks TyperAI. Just to be clear I arrived at my zmk repo by following the instructions for bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://zmk.dev/setup.sh)", given on the website, so didn't explicitly choose the 5 or 6 col zmk repo. Are you saying those instructions are for the 6 col version, and I shoukld create my own repo by hand based on the 5 col repo?