Soon after I bought my Kinesis Freestyle 2 Keyboard, I noticed that the media keys (next/previous song) did not work with Spotify on OSX. The strange part is that they work just fine on iTunes. I decided to email the Kinesis tech support to see if they had a solution.

Kinesis support was extremely quick to respond and informed me that this was a known problem and was fixed in the latest batch of keyboards. They offered to update the firmware on mine for free, but that required me sending them my keyboard (which is awesome!). I didn’t want to do that, so I figured, If they can update the firmware on this thing, so can I!

I had no knowledge of usb keyboards before I started, so the first thing I did was take the thing apart. (Well, one side of it, where all the controls are.) As usual, there was one extra hidden screw under a “Do Not Remove” tag.

• While the Kinesis Freestyle may be missing some familiar keys on the right, it compensates by adding some new ones on the left. It has dedicated keys for copy, paste, and other commonly used functions – plus an extra Delete key.
• The Freestyle PC keyboard has an embedded numeric 10-key on the right side of the keyboard. When the keypad key is on, as well as Num Lock, the keys on the right side will produce numbers. Simply press and release the “Fn” key (bottom left of the keyboard) to toggle on and off.

Do Not Remove 'O.K.'

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The keyboard itself has a few IC’s. The larger one is a Genesys Logic GL850G, which is a USB Hub. this makes sense, since there are two extra USB ports on the keyboard. The second one is an Alcor Micro AU9410 USB Keyboard Controller. Great, now I know what to look for!

After finding the data sheet for the controller, I started reading. The Alcor Micro guys were nice enough to include an example schematic, which included the pinout for the part. After reading some more, I realized there is an optional external EEPROM that can be used to change the controller’s configuration. This seemed like the perfect place to start probing.

AU9410 Reference Schematic

Unfortunately, the EEPROM is not labeled. On the other hand, the controller schematic states that it must be ‘a 24C08 or compatible’ part. Microchip makes one, so I found that data sheet. Time to start probing!

Kinesis Freestyle Program Keys For Sale

The keyboard designers left a nice 5 pin header unpopulated on the board. After some looking around, here’s the pinout I came up with:

1 - VCC2 - EEPROM Write Protect3 - I2C SCL4 - I2C SDA5 - GND

I used my Saleae Logic to take a look at what the keyboard does when it’s connected. The first it does after starting is read a whole lot of data from the EEPROM. After looking at the addresses, I noticed it was all the USB descriptor information. Including the device name, manufacturer, etc…

The next thing I tried was pressing on a key to see what happened. Turns out that whenever a key is pressed, the controller reads from the EEPROM every ~9ms or so. The address it reads from corresponds to the row and column on the keyboard. The value it reads is a four byte number. For example, when I press the letter ‘A’, it reads 00 00 04 04. The letter ‘G’ results in 00 00 0A 0A. The ‘next song’ and ‘previous song’ keys had slightly different codes 03 B5 00 40 and 03 B6 00 3E respectively.

Kinesis Freestyle Program Keys Windows 10

'A' Press Capture (Single)

Tmnt mutant melee game. I wasn’t sure exactly what these numbers meant, so I started googling around. I ended up looking at the USB HID Usage Tables. In chapter 10, they have the Keyboard/Keypade codes. The letter ‘A’ is mapped to 0x04 and ‘G’ is mapped to 0x0A. Great, now I know what the numbers mean! Or not. Turns out the keyboard codes only go up to 0xE7. The rest (up to 0xFFFF) are reserved…

Initial Setup with Salae Logic

After some struggling, I ended up on the same document, this time in chapter 15 (Consumer Page). Looks like the ‘Usage ID’ 0xB5 is set for “Scan Next Track”. Perfect! I still don’t know what the rest of the bytes mean, but the 0xB5 means scan next track…

Now that I know what I need to change, I have to figure out how to do it. I took out my BusPirate and connected it to the I2C bus. Once it’s in I2C mode, you can dump the entire EEPROM using “[0xa0 0x00][0xa1 r:1025]”. I had to read an extra byte because the last one kept getting NACKed. Always make sure to backup your EEPROM data before modifying! For the curious, here are my EEPROMs contents:

Now that I have a backup of the data, time to start modifying they keys! But no, it didn’t work. I forgot to pull the write protect line low before attempting to write to the EEPROM. Now it works! As a first experiment, I reprogrammed the next song key with “[0xa6 0xA8 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x04]”. Immediately after, pressing the next song key produced ‘a’ characters. Perfect, now I can modify what any key does. (This could be the source of some nasty pranks… but I won’t go there today.)

Full Setup

So the current media key codes are broken… what should I change them to? I have no idea. I spend a good hour or two searching around, trying to figure out what the ‘correct’ code would be, with no luck. I started thinking about how I could brute force all codes until one worked. Fortunately, I didn’t have to. I went back to the USB HID Usage Tables and noticed the ‘Fast Forward’ and ‘Rewind’ keys, which had codes 0xB3 and 0xB4. Could it be that easy? Nah, there’s other bytes which are different in the current configuration. Lets try it anyway… So I programmed these values on the EEPROM: “[0xa6 0xA8 0x03 0xB3 0x00 0x40][0xa6 0xE0 0x03 0xB4 0x00 0x3E]”

Turns out it was that easy! The media keys work now. :) I have no idea what the last byte does, but changing it didn’t seem to affect the key function. So there you have it. Instead of sending my keyboard back for a firmware update, I spent the morning probing around and fixed it. Much more fun, not to mention educational! If there’s anyone else with this problem, I hope this helps!

The Freestyle separated keyboard is the most versatile keyboard on the market today and represents a breakthrough in ergonomic design. The Freestyle adapts to the specific needs of every user with infinitely adjustable separation and splay and a design that will permit as much reduction in pronation as is required for most users. The layout incorporates unique features for performance and comfort, with almost no adaptation time. Featuring an undeniably modern contemporary look, this keyboard provides a stylish accent to any workstation.

The Freestyle Solo is intuitive to configure and use with simple, sturdy adjustment mechanisms (no more need for awkward or unwieldy adjustment levers, wheels or clamps) . Several interchangeable modular accessories provide features never before available from a single keyboard design.

Two optional accessory packages, the Freestyle Incline and Freestyle VIP can be purchased to provide additional capabilities. These three configurations allow the user to choose features that offer complete separation and/or adjustable front splay, adjustable or fixed tenting, plus integrated and removable, padded palm supports.

Features Found in All Configurations:

• Sleek Low Profile - the keyboard has minimal height, effectively creating negative slope and reducing extension.
• Compact Design - narrower than 'natural' style keyboards while maintaining full-size key spacing, minimizing adaptation time. In addition, the reduced footprint means your mouse is closer than with conventional keyboards.
• Quiet, Tactile Full Travel Keyswitches - keyswitches provide a soft touch, reducing strain on your fingers while providing positive feedback required for touch typists and hunt-and-peck typists alike.
• Embedded Numeric Keypad - simply toggle the keypad on with the left-front 'Fn' key, or get an optional numeric keypad (pictured below).
• Innovative Yet Familiar Layout - Familiar key layout provides for minimal adaptation time while adding driverless hot keys for commonly used mouse and keyboard actions to improve productivity and comfort (Cut, Copy, Paste, Page Fwd, Page Bk, Home, and Search).
• Instant, reproducible setup - of both split and tenting features
• Flexibility in Configuration - User 1 needs a conventional keyboard without a palm support, no problem. User 2 wants a 'natural' style left handed keyboard, add the AC210USB numeric keypad, put it on the left, tent the keyboard to 10° degrees and adjust the splay, and you have a left handed 'natural' style keyboard. User 3 wants to tent it higher and remove the palm supports..all options are available with the Freestyle and its versatile accessories
• Optional Pivot Tether - Allows you to connect the two keying modules together, when desired
• French Canadian Legended Version - A version with French Canadian legends is also available. On this version, the standard letters are legended in white, the embedded numeric keypad and keys for activating the embedded numeric keypad are legended in blue, and the Alt Car characters (i.e. the unique characters which you get when you hold down the right ALT key in the French Canadian layout) are legended in red. Click here to see a picture of the French Canadian Legended version of the Freestyle.. 800 pixels wide or 3200 pixels wide.
  Not sure how to use the French Canadian model to generate French Characters? Refer to this this helpful document, and if you still have questions, give us a call at 1 (866) 335-3746 (ERGO).

Configuration Breakdown:

Freestyle Solo - Perfect for individuals requiring greater separation than what is provided by other ergonomic keyboards.

• Up to 8' of complete separation of both left and right keyboard modules
  • An alternate version of the Solo is available which features a 20' connecting cable providing far more separation if required - click here to see a picture.
• Infinite adjustment of splay (split) angle
• Adjusts for both shoulder width, arm and wrist to ensure complete alignment of the fingers, hands, wrists and forearms in a neutral relaxed position
• Left and right keyboard modules can be attached with the included Pivot/Tether Pin while still allowing up to 90° of splay.
• Should I buy this keyboard? Click here for a visual summary and video of all the ergonomic benefits of the Solo, showing you what it can (and cannot) do.

Freestyle with VIP (V-Lifter and Integrated Palm Supports) Accessory

The Freestyle VIP includes all of the features of the Solo and add the following features:

• Left and Right V-Lifters are easily attached to the bottom of the Solo allowing the user to quickly alternate the slope of the keyboard from 10° to 15° whenever desired
• Left and Right Integrated Padded Palm Supports simply attach to the front of the Solo, and are included to keep wrists in a neutral position while typing at either tenting slope
• Use with or without the pivot/tether. The pivot tether connects the two keying modules of the Solo keyboard together. Disconnect the pivot tether if greater separation is required.
• Provides a highly stable typing platform with no 'bounce'.
• Should I buy this keyboard? Click here for a visual summary and video of all the ergonomic benefits of the Solo with the VIP Accessory, showing you what it can (and cannot) do.

Freestyle with Incline Accessory

The Freestyle Incline is the ideal replacement for fixed split and tented keyboards such as the Microsoft Natural. The Incline accessory offers:

• 10° fixed tenting of both keyboard modules
• Adjustable splay (up to 30°) of both keyboard modules
• Padded palm supports
• Keyboard modules may be unmounted from the base without tools for individuals that require greater separation but no tenting
• Should I buy this keyboard? Click here for a visual summary and video of all the ergonomic benefits of the Solo with the Incline accessory, showing you what it can (and cannot) do.

Kinesis Freestyle Program Keys

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Kinesis Freestyle Program Keys For Sale

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