0.01 Keyboard Issues

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JustAGuy10064

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Hello all, I recently switched to Mint 19 after buying my first computer. I liked it so when my dad gave me one of his old laptops I put it on that as well. I do a lot of typing so I bought a 60 percent keyboard to bust out short stories on.
The keyboard is a 0.01 Z62 and is recognized and works
The computer is a Lenovo Z50-70 running mint 19.2 xfce
The software is KBTools_Win32_Beta_V2.1.1

The actual issue I run into is when running KBTool through wine it fails to recognize the keyboard. I'm really hoping I didn't spend 200 dollars on a keyboard to not be able to use the backlighting and configurations. Thanks in advance for the help.
 


JustAGuy10064 said:
The actual issue I run into is when running KBTool through wine it fails to recognize the keyboard. I'm really hoping I didn't spend 200 dollars on a keyboard to not be able to use the backlighting and configurations.
Click to expand...
A Google search for "0.01 Z62 keyboard Linux" only shows 2 pages of responses, with no help. This is not a good sign for you. There may be a couple of sad lessons to learn here.

1) Wine does not turn a Linux system into a Windows system. Wine is far from perfect, even for applications... and it is made more for applications than it is for drivers.

2) When shopping for any new hardware, it is wise to look for those that claim to be Linux compatible. Most hardware will need drivers (sound, video, wireless, printers, and also modern gaming mouse and keyboards). If the manufacturer does not provide a Linux driver, you may or may not be able to make the device work with Linux. Many things will work, and much effort is always going on to provide drivers for users when the manufacturers don't.... but this can be a slow and unpredictable process. Those who do this work likely concentrate on more common devices than specialized items, like your keyboard.

Really, my opinion is that most hardware will work with Linux these days... but I'm afraid you just hit a bump in the road right out of the gate. I hope it doesn't slow you down on your Linux journey!

Cheers
 
atanere said:
Really, my opinion is that most hardware will work with Linux these days... but I'm afraid you just hit a bump in the road right out of the gate. I hope it doesn't slow you down on your Linux journey!

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thankfully I am more stubborn than common sense would normally allow. After making a few posts digging for information and scouring the web I was left mostly empty handed. I used an old thinkpad with windows 7 on it and managed to update my firmware...

which then broke my new keyboard because the company never developed drivers for the Z62, only Z70 which has extra rows of keys. After a few hours of trial and error I managed to reconfigure my Keyboard to good as new and put in a few extra functionalities and get my lights working. All's well that ends well and I'm not going to let poor CS support dampen my love of challenge and learning.

Thanks for the leads and support everyone, Sent from my now backlit Z62!
 
Wow...well done !!

What are your short stories about ?
 
Care to share one ?
 
When I finish the first one on my new keyboard I'll find a way to share it. I've never actually shown any of my work. I normally write them and then delete them a few weeks later.
 
Thank you....I will look forward to that. :)
 
While I've got you here, I noticed in your signature you cling to mint 18.3. I have hear several people talk poorly about mint 19 compared to 18. From what little looking I've done it seems like mint 19 is fairly new and not as refined and compatible with everything as 18 was. Is there a reason you haven't gone to the new version or anything I should be aware of?
 
I have stuck to 18.3 like glue.
Over the course of time I have updated from 17.1 or 17.3....i forget which it was......the update was as simple as could be.

From 18.3 i did update to 19, 19.1....and I was not impressed. After all the work in the world of setting up 19, it did not have the "oomph" nor the simplicity of 18.3

(So I used Timeshift to take me back to 18.3)

I found it slow and cumbersome. It worked....but has none of the simple refinement of 18.3

18.3 simply works. It does not stutter and hesitate...it simply does what it is asked to do. 19 feels substandard by comparison

I also gave mxlinx and manjaro xfce a run....and found both of them better than lm19.

LM19 has been in play for quite a while ...more than enough time to get its act together. Yet there are still rumblings about its shortcomings.

I will never go back to Windows. ....but nor will I put up with some piece of substandard rubbish, even if it is free. (if substandard rubbish is needed there is no need to move on from win 10)

So....here I sit patiently awaiting LM20.

Another "source" of peoples dissatisfaction...is the google....I note that there is an abundance of info re 18.3.....but not so much about 19 etc......This would obviously be explained by the difference in their ages.....but not totally.

Just for the record, on this pc I run 2 hard drives, 1 SSD, two monitors, 16GB RAM.

I have had issues with 18.3........am not sure which was the greater 'culprit'....the pc or me !!
 
Condobloke said:
From 18.3 i did update to 19, 19.1....and I was not impressed. After all the work in the world of setting up 19, it did not have the "oomph" nor the simplicity of 18.3
Click to expand...
I have noticed that myself at times it is slow to respond to some applied action but I am not overly concerned in that respect as the Win 7 I run even when it was the so called genuine copy of it baulks and says the program is not responding a bloody lot including Acrobat reader.
But for what I require to do it suits my needs mayhap later I may try another distro
But as they say horse for courses
 
JustAGuy10064 said:
Thankfully I am more stubborn than common sense would normally allow. After making a few posts digging for information and scouring the web I was left mostly empty handed. I used an old thinkpad with windows 7 on it and managed to update my firmware...

which then broke my new keyboard because the company never developed drivers for the Z62, only Z70 which has extra rows of keys. After a few hours of trial and error I managed to reconfigure my Keyboard to good as new and put in a few extra functionalities and get my lights working. All's well that ends well and I'm not going to let poor CS support dampen my love of challenge and learning.

Thanks for the leads and support everyone, Sent from my now backlit Z62!
Click to expand...
I just bought the Z62 on Black Friday for a little over $30 plus free shipping. I couldn't find the old KBtools that recognizes it, I am on the latest Win OS and I've tried all the versions after Beta v2.1.5
 
jiezhusd said:
I just bought the Z62 on Black Friday for a little over $30 plus free shipping. I couldn't find the old KBtools that recognizes it, I am on the latest Win OS and I've tried all the versions after Beta v2.1.5
Click to expand...
The OP of this topic uses Linux Mint and used Windows to update the firmware of the Z62 from what I read. You do realize you are on a Linux forum and not on a Windows forum?
 
@jiezhusd ....this topic is now 3 years old.......and as @f33dm3bits said above, this is a LINUX forum, not windows
 
The $200 keyboard is now under $40 because no one can figure out how to update the firmware using the later KBTools. The creator of the Z70 and Z62 is nonresponsive and the only post I can find online was this 3 yr old Linux thread. How do I PM the OP so I didn't waste $75 on some custom keyboards that I can't customize. (yes, I bought two since they were on sale)
 
jiezhusd said:
How do I PM the OP so I didn't waste $75 on some custom keyboards that I can't customize. (yes, I bought two since they were on sale)
Click to expand...
OP hasn't logged in for about two years so there is not a very high chance that they will respond if you PM them.
 
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