by Xavi Esteve
on April 26, 2024
(6 minute read)
I’ve been using a Griffin Powermate for many years and I find it’s an extremely useful little device. It’s just a knob that you can also click it, nothing more, but the fact that it is so ergonomic and you can have it anywhere on your desk makes it super useful.
Wandering around AliExpress I found these macropads or macro keyboards which you could buy for super cheap (7€ each) so I decided to get a couple for home and work. The model I bought is a 3×1 keys + 1 knob keyboard, it has no brand but through some Linux commands I found the HID is 1189:8890 (vendorId:productId), sometimes detected as an Acer keyboard (I believe due to this HID being officially used by Acer). It is also sometimes identified as vendor 0x1189 and product 0x8890 (Trisat Industrial Co., Ltd.).
The product page only showed drivers for Windows (which some people are mentioning it contains malware), but myself running Linux I was pretty sure I could set it up as a keyboard and intercept the device signals to then run scripts with it, after all, with Linux you have full control of your computer and anything you connect to it. Thank you Linux!
So I got the package delivered and after connecting it to the USB-C, I saw that whenever you typed any key, scroll the knob or even click the knob, it always typed a lowercase C. After some searching and troubleshooting, trying a few different workarounds and being a bit daunted that this device would end up in a drawer collecting dust since key capturing tools couldn’t differentiate the Cs, I saw the light thanks to a french guy’s blog and other folks that had built libraries and tinkered with it. The idea was to reprogram the ROM of the macro keyboard to do whatever you wanted.
It’s actually really easy, I’ve created this article so you only need to copy and paste the following commands to get you set up. Please read the instructions and understand what each command is doing, this guide will get you up to running a custom script with each key/roll/click.
Reprogramming the keyboard
First thing we need to do is to reprogram the ROM of the device so that it doesn’t output C letters all the time but some key combinations we can later remap.
Download the ch57x tool which will allow you to reprogram several models of macro keyboards. We will be using version 1.2.4 since it worked for me, as of writing this the latest version is the 1.4.x but I couldn’t make it work and the 1.2.4 works great:
cd ~/Downloads mkdir ch57x-keyboard-tool cd ch57x-keyboard-tool wget https://github.com/kriomant/ch57x-keyboard-tool/releases/download/v1.2.4/ch57x-keyboard-tool-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz tar zxvf ch57x-keyboard-tool-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz nano mapping.yaml
Now, type this into your YAML file (if you have the 3×1 + 1 knob macro keyboard):
orientation: normal
rows: 1
columns: 3
knobs: 1
layers:
- buttons:
- ["alt-ctrl-shift-q", "alt-ctrl-shift-w", "alt-ctrl-shift-e"]
knobs:
- ccw: "alt-ctrl-shift-r"
press: "alt-ctrl-shift-t"
cw: "alt-ctrl-shift-y"
The configuration above will set the events like this:
| Action | Hotkey |
|---|---|
| Key 1 | Control+Alt+Shift + Q |
| Key 2 | Control+Alt+Shift + W |
| Key 3 | Control+Alt+Shift + E |
| Knob counter-clockwise | Control+Alt+Shift + R |
| Knob click | Control+Alt+Shift + T |
| Knob clockwise | Control+Alt+Shift + Y |
Validate it:
sudo ./ch57x-keyboard-tool validate < mapping.yaml -- config is valid 👌
If all works, then upload it (note that the keyboard has a guaranteed 200 write limit so try and minimize writes as much as possible to extend your device’s EEPROM life):
sudo ./ch57x-keyboard-tool upload < mapping.yaml
You may also turn on the LEDs (change from 1 to 3 for different modes, 0 to disable):
sudo ./ch57x-keyboard-tool led 1
Mapping keys to commands
We can now use xBindKeys to map key presses to console commands:
sudo apt install xbindkeys xbindkeys --defaults > ~/.xbindkeysrc
Now you can set any terminal command you want, edit the file nano ~/.xbindkeysrc and type something like:
"gnome-terminal" control + alt + shift + q "gnome-calculator" control + alt + shift + w "gnome-system-monitor" control + alt + shift + e "amixer -D pulse sset Master 10%-" control + alt + shift + r "~/audio-output-switch.sh" control + alt + shift + t "amixer -D pulse sset Master 10%+" control + alt + shift + y
FYI the audio output script can be found here.
You will need to run xbindkeys if you haven’t already:
xbindkeys
That’s it, everything should be working now.
If xBindKeys is not reloading the changes, type this:
killall -HUP xbindkeys; xbindkeys
Customizing your actions
That’s all! You now just need to think what to use those keys for, a few ideas:
- Keys:
- Empty recycling bin
- Clear RAM
- Suspend / Power off / Log out
- Switch to full screen terminal
- Set window full screen
- Play video or move one frame
- Run a webhook to toggle a home light switch
- Change screen brightness
xrandr --output DisplayPort-1 --brightness 0.5
- Knob:
- Volume up/down
amixer -D pulse sset Master 10%- - Screen brightness up/down
- Switch to next/previous window/tab
- Volume up/down
- Knob click:
- Mute/Unmute volume
- Switch sound output source
- Switch screens arrangement
- Toggle notifications/DND
Other useful commands
Here’s some useful commands regarding key presses and their terminal output:
xbindkeys --key
"(Scheme function)"
m:0x9 + c:50
Shift+Alt + Shift_L
xev
KeyRelease event, serial 39, synthetic NO, window 0x3000001,
root 0x6c0, subw 0x0, time 2547135, (162,-22), root:(572,46),
state 0x8, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 0 bytes:
XFilterEvent returns: False
KeyRelease event, serial 39, synthetic NO, window 0x3000001,
root 0x6c0, subw 0x0, time 2547135, (162,-22), root:(572,46),
state 0x0, keycode 25 (keysym 0x77, w), same_screen YES,
XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (77) "w"
XFilterEvent returns: False
xinput
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ HID 1189:8890 Keyboard id=12 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ HID 1189:8890 id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SINOWEALTH Wired Gaming Mouse id=14 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ HOLTEK USB Keyboard id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ HOLTEK USB Keyboard System Control id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ HOLTEK USB Keyboard Consumer Control id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ HID 1189:8890 id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ SINOWEALTH Wired Gaming Mouse Keyboard id=15 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ HID 1189:8890 Keyboard id=16 [slave keyboard (3)]
showkey -a
^[E 27 0033 0x1b 69 0105 0x45 ^[W 27 0033 0x1b 87 0127 0x57 ^[Q 27 0033 0x1b 81 0121 0x51
References:
- Configuration d’un «clavier» 3 boutons sous Linux
- RGB macropad custom firmware
- ch57x-keyboard-tool
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