qmk_firmware/keyboards/handwired/ms_sculpt_mobile

Microsoft Sculpt Mobile

This is a way to take a Microsoft ergonomic bluetooth keyboard, and make it into a hard-wired keyboard running QMK.

The keyboard is known under several different names: Mobile Bluetooth 5000, Mobile 6000, Sculpt mobile, and Asus rebranded.

I had a stack of them, since they're cheap on ebay, travel well, and are just ergo enough.

The ribbon cable is 1mm pitch, which is hard to hand solder. I bought a cheap set of "pitch adapter" boards https://www.amazon.com/Double-Sided-0-4mm-1-0-Adapter-60mmx38mm/dp/B00OK42118

Cut the original ribbon cable sockets off the bluetooth board using a razor, they're hard to desolder. They're also allow the cable to be inserted on top or bottom.

If I was going to do it again, I'd make the MCU connection come out the top of the keyboard and avoid the wires dangling out the bottom.

As I was debugging the matrix, I started to get random failures. In desparation I tried a second MCU, but had the same problems. It turns out that the ribbon cable connections can get worn. Shave a half millimeter off the end of the ribbon cable & the errors go away.

My method for discovering the matrix was to set up a LAYOUT macro that included all pins. See MATRIX_TESTING_LAYOUT if you need it. Then set up a keymap that has all printable symbols in the first 4 rows. test each key & record output. Then switch the printable symbols to the bottom 4 rows & repeat. This was enough to show the matrix.

The full original keymap for the Sculpt is

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
0	b	n	m	,	.	/				Caps								Fn
1	g	h	"								Vol+	Mute	RCtl		Vol-	PgDn	LCtl
2	7	8	9	0	Del		PgUp					RShift				LShift
3	p	[	]	\							RAlt				LAlt
4	y	u	i	o										LGUI
5	~	-	+=	j	k	l	;	5	6	Bksp	1	2	3	4	F4	F5	F6
6	a	s	d	q	w	e	Up	Left	Down	Right				Space	F1	F2	F3	Tab
7	F7	F8	F9	F10	F11	F12		f	r	t	z	x	c		v	Enter	Esc

This works with 18 cols + 8 rows on a Teensy++, or ARM-based Teensy.

The Astar mini has all pins exposed , so you can do 18x8 If you want a speaker, LEDs, etc., you'll need to free up a pin. I recommend joining columns R and L to the same pin.

Make example for this keyboard (after setting up your build environment):

make handwired/ms_sculpt_mobile:default

See the build environment setup and the make instructions for more information. Brand new to QMK? Start with our Complete Newbs Guide.