Controllers
For information on aftermarket controllers, see Controllers under the Modding section.
At the heart of every keyboard is the controller.
Controllers specify which keypresses send specific keycodes to your computer.
For example, when you press the 'a' key on your keyboard, the controller converts the electrical signal into the keycode your computer associates with the letter 'a'.
Most Happy Hacking Keyboard models include DIP switches that allow for limited changes to the keycodes sent by the controller, but are otherwise non-programmable.
Some recent models (the Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional Hybrid series) can be reprogrammed using an official utility provided by PFU, or by using happy-hacking-gnu (a free, open-source alternative available here).
HHKB Pro 1/2/BT
These controllers are all nearly identical. DIP switches located on the back of the keyboard allow for limited changes. Switches 1 and 2 are used together to set the general layout, and switches 3 through 6 are used to make additional modifications.
DIP Switch settings
| SW1 | SW2 | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Off | HHK |
| On | Off | Lite Ext. |
| Off | On | Macintosh |
| On | On | - |
| Switch | On | Off |
|---|---|---|
| SW3 | Delete = 'BS' | Delete = 'DEL' |
| SW4 | Left Super = 'Fn' | Left Super = Left Super |
| SW5 | Super = Alt, Alt = Super | Super = Super, Alt = Alt |
| SW6 | Wake Up Enable | Wake Up Disable |
HHKB Pro Classic
From a user perspective, the HHKB Pro Classic controller is essentially the same as the HHKB Professional/2/BT controller as detailed above, including the DIP switch settings.
Reprogrammability
While not supported by PFU, it is reportedly possible to reprogram the HHKB Pro Classic using the HHKB Pro Hybrid remap tool.
Doing so will likely void your warranty, and requires modification of the keyboardDataList.json file.
This is a fairly simple modification but if any part of that sounds daunting, I'd personally not recommend you attempt this.
See this thread on Reddit for more information.
The 'Happy Hacking Keyboard Keymap Tool' allows a user to apply factory firmware updates, but without modifying keyboardDataList.json, a user will not be able to remap keys on this model.
HHKB Pro Hybrid
The HHKB Pro Hybrid series contains the first stock reprogrammable controller.
PFU supplies a utility called 'Happy Hacking Keyboard Keymap Tool' that allows a user to remap keys as well as apply factory-supplied firmware updates. i This utility is limited to remapping keys that already exist in the stock layout.
For example, you can change the position of the volume keys, but there's no way to add extended media player functionality (play/pause, skip track) because the stock firmware doesn't include these keys.