u/andreyugolnik

About a month ago, I made my first post about this keyboard. Now, after spending quite some time searching for the ideal layout and configuration, I feel ready to share my (somewhat humble) opinion.

I really like this keyboard. Over the past month, I’ve swapped keycaps multiple times, but eventually went back to my old, familiar set. I’m currently using two types of switches - lighter ones for the main keys and slightly heavier ones for the modifiers.

Firmware-wise, I’m running a heavily modified ZMK based on Townk repo.

Some of the key improvements:

- Built against upstream ZMK on Zephyr 4.1
- Standalone &molock behavior module
- Vendored shields
- Vista508 widgets ported to LVGL 9
- Reshuffled base-layer thumb cluster, and more

A couple of downsides I’m currently dealing with:

- The keyboard occasionally freezes at random moments. It seems like the central part hangs. I’ve experimented with power settings, disabled experimental features, added a watchdog, implemented counters and displayed them on the screen for debugging - with mixed results so far. Still investigating.
- The central unit’s battery drains noticeably faster, which is quite odd. I might eventually try replacing the controller to rule that out.

Despite these issues, I’m very happy with the keyboard. Even though I own some great boards - Corne42, Piantor Pro, ZSA Voyager + Trackball - I keep coming back to the Rolio46.

If anyone’s interested in my ZMK config (supports both Rolio46 and Corne42), here’s the repo.

Link to the previous post.

Question for those who use home row mods (keyboard type doesn’t matter).

Do you use a different type of switches for the home row, or the same switches across the entire keyboard? If you go with different ones, what’s your setup?

Also curious about thumb clusters - do you prefer different switches there as well?

P.S. A photo of my updated layout on the Rolio46 for attention.

This is a continuation of the story about this keyboard. While I was traveling in Italy, the missing sockets finally arrived. To their credit, they also sent an extra microcontroller and a socket for it as compensation. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet - time will tell.

Today I finished soldering the keyboard and flashed the default firmware. The layout feels very unusual to me so far, but I’m liking the keyboard itself. I still haven’t figured out how I want to use the four extra keys and the two rotary encoders, but I’m sure I’ll find a good setup over time.

To be continued.

Brought my trusty Rolex with me… but ended up buying and wearing a Panerai in Rome anyway - because when in Italy, right? :)

Figured I’d blend in with the locals… or at least with the tourists who think they blend in.

Smart move or did I just fall for the most expensive “souvenir” possible?

Why isn’t the Rolio46 more popular? There’s very little information available online - mostly just the store page and a GitHub repo with firmware and documentation. The only Reddit post I could find is a two-year-old post from the creator.

I finally received my keyboard kit today. I went with a CNC-machined aluminum case, and it looks absolutely fantastic - really impressed with the build quality.

The carrying cases are 3D-printed, and the quality is surprisingly good.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to test it yet because my microcontroller sockets haven’t arrived, and I couldn’t find any suitable replacements in my spare parts.

If there are any owners of this keyboard here, I’d love to hear about your experience. Any tips or recommendations would also be greatly appreciated!

For starters, here’s an image from the official website.