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Svalboard
Preview. The current manual is at svalboard.com/manual.

Step 7: Install PCBAs and test

Install the PCBAs

Section titled “Install the PCBAs”
  • Line each PCBA up squarely with the cluster before you press it in. Installing it at an angle can damage the optical sensors.
  • Finger clusters: use just the two screws shown. If one strips, use one of the other two holes.
  • Make sure the bottom-left corner of the PCBA is fully seated in the cluster. If it isn’t, the East or South key may not register.
  • Thumb clusters: use 3 to 5 screws, as you prefer.
  • You don’t need to remove the finger center key to replace a PCBA.

Use the M2 thread-cutting screws.

Thumb and finger cluster PCBAs screwed into their clusters. A red line marks one more thumb screw hidden under a key. Inset: a finger cluster PCBA with its two screws.

Insert the square nuts

Section titled “Insert the square nuts”

A square nut goes in the back underside of each cluster. It’s the fixing point for the tower.

  1. Place the cluster top side down.
  2. Line up the nut with small pliers or tweezers.
  3. Press it straight down into the slot.

A finger cluster from below with the square nut in its slot, and from the side.

Section titled “Test the clusters (recommended)”

Test each cluster before final assembly. A bad PCBA is much easier to swap now.

  1. Connect the cluster FFCs to the MCU: unlatch, insert contacts down, latch.
  2. Flash the MCU with the blank firmware file for its side: svalboard_left_blank_vLaunch2.uf2 or svalboard_right_blank_vLaunch2.uf2. The blank layout has no keys assigned, so pressing keys doesn’t type into your computer. For how to flash, see Step 15 and Flashing firmware.
  3. Open Keybard (https://keybard.svalboard.com), choose Connect Keyboard, then Matrix Tester.
  4. Press every key on the cluster. Check that each one lights up in the Matrix Tester.
  5. When you’re done, disconnect the FFCs: unlatch, pull the FFC out, latch.

Flash the normal sval firmware in Step 15.