Has anyone had an issue where after plugging in the solenoid driver to the controller it’s not responding to the keystrokes? I was wondering if by default you had to toggle it on somehow in the firmware but I haven’t seen any explicit instruction to do so. I was also very careful in connecting the 6 pin connections so they match up to the square pins/VCC.
Hello, you are describing software that was out of use years ago. Please use the latest software as described in the manual on the project web site. Please read the manual completely before starting to work with your new model F.
Thanks, but this comment was not particularly helpful. Before I began working on my keyboard or even considered posting here for help, I read everything linked on this website concerning the installation of the solenoid, including watching the linked videos and reading manuals. Honestly, I’d read most everything on this website in advance of receiving my keyboard and then again upon receiving it.
#4 of the “Solenoid, buzzer/beeper specifications and installation” – “Warning – you may destroy your controller, solenoid driver, and/or solenoid by not following xwhatsit’s solenoid driver instructions as well as the below instructions” contains a hyperlink to:
https://static.wongcornall.com/ibm-capsense-usb/
The software utility I was referring to and the manuals on that linked site are from 2014.
I have also read everything related to the installation of the solenoid in the bucklingspring.com site, and attempted to install the utility I download there (which I mentioned in my original post, without success).
If you could, please provide me with a link to the latest software, as well as to the manual describing the software you mention from the project website.
Please note that the new Model F – specific manual is found on the Manual page on this project web site, not on a third party web site. There is a section on firmware which links to all the needed files.
The third party web site manual is far more comprehensive and includes how to use deprecated software and firmware which is not used for this project.
If this manual is not sufficient please do post on the Deskthority forum thread for the project.
Thanks, I appreciate your attempts to help. I have been advised that the solenoid was supposed to work out of the box and did not require that I employ any utility or make any adjustments to firmware. It didn’t, which is why I initially began looking at the software and utility linked to from the manual in this website, in the solenoid installation section, not some third party website.
I Have attempted to toggle the solenoid on/off via RtCtrl – Space – T without success, so it appears that there is either an issue with the controller (though insofar as the keyboard works just fine that seems unlikely) the driver is defective or the solenoid is defective.
I suppose I can’t discount the possibility that I damaged the driver, but I am 99.99% certain that the harness was installed as indicated, red wire to the square pin on both the controller and driver. I have verified the installation three times.
I will continue to post at Deskthority and unless someone offers a solution other than a general referral to a manual or firmware, or if I find a solution, I will not post anything further here. Thanks again.
My solenoid isn’t working either, and like you I was careful to connect the red wire to the square pin. My new model “F” Keyboard works great, but I can’t get the solenoid to work because I can’t get the software utility to work.
I’ve tried every version on the utility, including the newest version off The Buckle Spring, on either two different Macs (both Intel based), as well as a native Windows machine.
Depending on which version of the utility I attempt to run, I either get:
“Multiple beamspring controllers found, please choose one”. Two appear on a drop down list, no matter which I select, the utility locks up and I have to force it to quit. This happens on the 6.x and 7.x versions of the utility.
On every other version I immediately get “ibm_capsense_usb_util quit unexpectedly.” I even tried to run it in compatibility mode. No luck.
On Windows I immediately get “error: couldn’t open device.” when I try to run any version of the utility.
There are great tutorials and instructions on how to physically install the driver and solenoid, but it’s a little lacking on the software side.
I am working on the assumption that one needs to have the utility running, at least initially for the solenoid to work. In other words, the solenoid doesn’t work out of the box as soon as it is properly connected. I assume this simply because mine didn’t immediately work once physically installed and it makes sense that there would have to be some utility to turn on/off the solenoid and make other adjustments.
At this point I think my driver is defective or incompatible with the xwhatsit utility. I will probably buy another driver and see if the former is the problem.
It’s a great keyboard and I plan on ordering another next month. You don’t need the solenoid to use and enjoy the keyboard, but it would be nice for it to work.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!