Editing Talk:HHKB Professional (section)

=== Miscellaneous notes ===
==== HHKB retailers ====
Whilst on the HHKB Professional wiki page itself the links were mostly pointing to kakaku.com for instance. There are other retailers available. kakaku.com is a website that aggregates price along with providing interesting insights (such as price vs time graph), think of amazon.com for instance. PFU Direct also offers HHKB straight from PFU itself. rakuten.co.jp also sales HHKB as well as other products along with providing some interesting information.

The Happy Hacking Keyboard Microsite at happyhackingkb.com has links to retailers shipping to Japan, China, Europe and USA that sell HHKB Professional Classic, HYBRID and HYBRID Type-S.  Some of those retailers also sell HHKB Professional 2 (PFU EMEA in Europe only sells the non-silenced charcoal grey variant with printed keycaps) and several models of Topre Realforce R2.

Smart Imports Japan at smartimports.net ''exports'' some products from Japan worldwide, including HHKB Professional 2, Classic, HYBRID and HYBRID Type-S, and accessories such as vibration absorption mats, wrist rests and carrying bags, mostly by Bird Electron.

Amazon.co.jp is basically the Japanese version of amazon.com. Whilst looking completely like amazon.com but more or less tailored to Japanese language and styles for instance. The users accounts remain separate. For instance, registering an account on amazon.co.jp does not have any impact on amazon.com. The login credentials will then only work with amazon.co.jp.

==== miniUSB connector issue ====
The issue maybe restricted to those who either frequently travel with their HHKB Professional and/or use their HHKB Professional as a testbed for testing USB cables. One of the inherent problems is the miniUSB connector which is only rated at around 600 cycles before it becomes loose thereby requiring reworking the controller board to make the connector (and therefore the keyboard) work again.<ref>Geekhack forums - [http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=52650.msg1170727 my HHKB Pro 2 stopped working]</ref>

It is possible to alleviate the issue in a couple of ways (though not condoned):
* Use a miniUSB angled "stub" adapter. For example: http://dx.com/p/cy-u2-064-ri-right-angled-mini-usb-female-to-mini-usb-male-adapter-black-205909
* Use a miniUSB angled adapter to male USB plug (then you just need USB extension cable if need be). For example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200984
* Solder the wire permanently onto the controller board (thereby mimicking HHKB Lite2 series).
* Solder a microUSB connector in place of where miniUSB connector was (thereby only requiring just a smartphone like charging/computer cable).

==== Rubber dome stiffening issue ====
Reports of rubber dome stiffening slightly on the HHKB professional series has been somewhat inconclusive however it is worth noting that if and when the rubber cup stiffens, one can use Ro-59 lube. However there is a catch with Ro-59 lube, it cannot be easily obtained in small amounts and they usually have a shelf life of 12-15 months.<ref>Tafco [http://www.tafco.co.jp/RO-59_faq.html Ro-59 FAQ (Japanese only)]</ref>

* Geekhack forums - http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=27474.0
* Geekhack forums (lubing Topre switches) - http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=52606.msg1168270
* Deskthority forums - http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/topre-rubber-dome-stiffening-t6975.html

Ro-59 links:
* Tafco (Japanese only) - http://www.tafco.co.jp/RO-59_260ml.html
* IO Mania (Korean only) - http://www.iomania.co.kr/frontstore/item/item_zoom.asp?item_num=566&mart_id=iomall
* Yahoo auctions Japan (Japanese only - to show examples that Ro-59 at times can be purchased in small quantities. Thanks OO2!) - http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/172726390
* Deskthority forums (another link showing Ro-59 being sold in small quantities)- http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ro-59-for-sale-t6860.html
* Deskthority forums - http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ro-59-lubricant-how-where-and-which-variant-to-buy-t1017.html
* Deskthority forums (groupbuy - possibly no longer active) - http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/keyboard-lube-t3613.html

==== HHKB Professional 2 USB hub issues ====
Some HHKB Professional 2 owners have mixed success with USB devices being plugged into the the HHKB Professional 2. There are no known fixes just workarounds.<ref>Geekhack forums - [http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49129.msg1170234#msg1170234 Re:HHKB Pro 2 Love]</ref> 

==== Mechlube and Mechlube 2 uses on keyboards ====
It has been noted according to dustinhxc of Geekhack forums <ref>Geekhack forums - [http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49129.msg1132449#msg1132449 Re:HHKB Pro 2 Love]</ref>that:
* Mechlube for squeaky spacebars.
* Mechlube 2 for Realforce and HHKB sliders, stabilisers, etc.

==== Sun mode on HHKB Professional 2 ====
hasu pointed out a mode that was marked as "forbidden mode" for use with Professional 2 as a "sun mode". Apparently setting '''both''' DIP switch 1 and 2 into '''ON''' position (For PC/windows and Mac mode respectively) enables a mode hasu calls it the "sun mode". Extra keys are available via the Fn layer.<ref>Geekhack forums - [http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=52559.msg1168383#msg1168383 HHKB Poll: How are your DIP switches set up?]</ref> (Refer to second paragraph by hasu).

Please note that these extra keys may not be detectable under specific platforms without the right software. On *nix, '''xev''' captures keycodes being sent to the machine from the keyboard and disregards whatever the key's original functionality was (and ultimately leaving the end user to map the keycode to a specific function of their desire). There has been reports for instance that if a windows user was to use HHKB in mac mode, they are unable to access the extra multimedia keys under windows whereas for mac users they needed an extra software to make use of the keycodes being sent to their mac. On *nix, regardless of whatever the mode the keyboard is in, all keycodes sent to the machine are basically captured and can be (re)mapped at end user's disposal. Thereby the effects of restricting to either windows or mac mode does nothing to change the circumstance under *nix.

Inevitably HHKB Pro JP owners cannot enjoy this because there is no separate DIP switch for PC/windows mode. In other words it is either on for mac mode or off for PC/windows mode.  HHKB Pro Classic and HYBRID don't support Sun mode; setting both DIP switches on results in HHKB mode.

More information along with a virtual keyboard layout with all the keys identified may be found on the talk page of HHKB_Professional2:
* Deskthority wiki (Talk page) - http://deskthority.net/wiki/Talk:HHKB_Professional2

==== Topre Realforce keycaps on PFU Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional ====
This link alone should somehow describe that Topre Realforce keycaps are somewhat compatible with PFU Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional series.
* Geekhack forums - http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37487.msg715325#msg715325

==== "Good feelings of oneness with cup rubber" ====
It appears that only the ANSI variant of the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional and Professional 2 along with Realforce keyboards that also bears non JIS layout to have the words "Good feelings of oneness with cup rubber" printed.  Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional JP series, Classic and HYBRID don't have it printed.  (Professional BT?)

It is also interesting to note that on the same topic that the "Good feeling of oneness with cup rubber" is also written in Japanese as well. Realforce owners may not get the same Japanese inscription on their keyboard boxes let alone those using the JIS layout.

==== (older) Happy Hacking Keyboard series in English ====
It is believed that PFU Limited's website was PFU Systems before being changed to pfu.fujitsu.com. PFU America was formerly known as Cell Computing Inc.<ref>Wayback machine - [http://web.archive.org/web/20020330162331/http://www.pfusystems.com/ Home Page of PFU systems in 2002]</ref>. Whilst both Japanese and English websites were all part of pfu.fujitsu.com as one but different sort of directory hierarchy. PFU America (which had a domain name registered as pfuca.com) later migrated to pfusystems.com which was potentially PFU Limited's original website.

Since then, PFU Systems (of PFU America) historically sold their items on yahoo page. The lack of HHKB Professional sales in US may have seen the demise of HHKB Professional 2 being sold in US by PFU directly. As a result the HHKB Professional (in US) was discontinued with no further successor and subsequently information about older models (apart from HHKB Lite 2) were deleted.Meanwhile, it was noted that prior to PFU America taking over pfusystems.com. A vast majority of old information about HHKB were written in English and were hosted on the English part of the pfu.fujitsu.com website. These contained information about HHKB, HHKB Lite 2 and HHKB Pro.The layout used on the English part of the pfu.fujitsu.com were remarkably of a similar design that the PFU website mainly uses. 

What remains to be strange is the old information about HHKB in English were removed. In any case, the wayback machine comes to the rescue:
http://web.archive.org/web/20061114054946/http://www.pfu.fujitsu.com/en/hhkeyboard/whatsnew.html

==== Certain machines are unable to detect HHKB Pro 2 due to keyboard featuring USB hub and differences between HHKB Pro and HHKB Pro 2 for collectors ====
It is noted by a few HHKB Professional 2 owners that due to the keyboard boasting USB hub for easier connectivity with other USB related devices. This also may inhibit their compatibility with certain machines as a result. The culprit maybe to do with the USB ID being sent to the host machine which may render the keyboard unusable. HHKB Pro JP as well as HHKB Pro owners may not suffer this issue as their keyboards does not have USB hub.

On the following Geekhack forum thread, hasu has kindly pointed out the issue noted above along with a change in the sensor chip used on HHKB Professional versus HHKB Professional 2. This may become handy for collectors for instance:

* Geekhack forums - http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=54993.msg1234202#msg1234202

==== HHKB Professional series keyboards using PBT keycaps except for the spacebar apart from HHKB Pro JP, Classic and HYBRID ====
The same reason that [[Topre| Topre]] offers their range of [[Realforce| Topre Realforce]] non-[[JIS| JIS]] variant keyboards with ABS spacebar is the same reason for PFU HHKB Pro series to offer the same thing apart from HHKB Pro JP.  HHKB Professional Classic and HYBRID series feature all-PBT keycaps including the spacebar.

Information in regards to this matter can be found here:

* Deskthority wiki - http://deskthority.net/wiki/Realforce#Keycaps