Editing Talk:HHKB Professional (section)

==== Alternative controller modification ====
HHKB boasts DIP switches for customisability in terms of specific keyboard mappings are found to be potentially restrictive, even worse are notable topics of restricted functionality coupled with closed source firmware. However the same could be said for most of the keyboards manufactured these days lacking customisability forcing owners to seek methods such as a software level keyboard remaps. At the same time software level keyboard remaps are restricted to machine specific such as the fact that if one were to set the keyboard map up with a computer, the same would not apply to any other computer(s) one would use the same keyboard on without for instance copying across the configurations from the computer that was setup with.

hasu (the author of TMK firmware) has designed an alternative controller mainly for HHKB Professional. TMK firmware is an open firmware designed to give owners the flexibility of writing their own specific keyboard maps along with unlocking potentially other features that the keyboard manufacturers may have enforced. In addition to an open firmware, this thereby prevents the need to set the keyboard up again on another machine as it is written directly into the controller.

Alternative controller for HHKB Professional was designed to be a drop-in replacement to the controller provided by PFU. At the time of writing the alternative controller (Rev.A) lacks USB hub which usually the HHKB Professional 2 has by default.

Here are some links for TMK firmware as well as alternative controller (currently Rev.A, a newer version is underway):
* https://github.com/tmk/tmk_keyboard
* http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41989.0
* http://grumpylemming.com/blog/2012/12/24/hacking-a-happy-hacking-keyboard/
* http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/

* http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=12047.0
* http://nathankot.com/blog/2013/09/05/modding-the-happy-hacking-keyboard/

More information may also be found in: [[Converter|Deskthority wiki - Converter]]

For those opting to make do with Teensy instead, there is a guide on Geekhack forums for that matter:

Geekhack forums: Teensy HHKB Controller (Write up) - http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57008.msg1293238