Firmware

Flashing firmware

Both firmwares install the same way: copy a .uf2 file onto the board.

Flashing resets your layout and settings to the firmware’s default layout. Back up first and restore afterward.

Back up your layout. In Keybard, choose Export Layout and save a .svil file. On Vial, save a .vil.
Download the right file for each half: the side (left or right) and, on the current firmware, the pointing module on that half (see Firmware files, or Vial firmware files for Vial).
Plug one half into your computer by its U port.
Press its RESET button twice quickly, within half a second. A drive named RPI-RP2 appears.
Copy that half’s .uf2 onto the drive. The half restarts by itself and the drive disappears. This is normal.
Move the USB cable to the other half and repeat with its file.
Plug in normally. In Keybard, choose Import Layout and pick your .svil.

Both halves must run the same release. Don’t press keys, especially thumb keys, while the board starts.

New microcontrollers, in a kit or as spares, ship with no firmware and are not set to a side. Flash each one with the file for the half it goes in.

What’s new compared with Vial

Svalboard QMK is the current firmware, svalboard/qmk. Get the latest release, and configure it with Keybard in Chrome or Edge.

Already in Svalboard’s Vial firmware, now edited in Keybard:

tap dances, combos, key overrides, alternate-repeat keys, macros and QMK settings
DPI, scrolling and Sniper keys
automouse toggle and timeout
TrackPoint recalibration

New in Svalboard QMK:

256 entries each for tap dances, combos, key overrides, macros, alternate-repeat keys and leader sequences.
Leader sequences: a Leader key, then up to five keys, triggers an action.
Layer colors and LED brightness set from Keybard (see Layer lights and brightness).
Board identity: each board keeps its identity and can have a name.
Sniper toggle: slow movement without holding a key.
Boost: 2x, 3x or 5x faster movement, held or toggled.
Per-pointer automouse, with an activation threshold and decay.
Natural scrolling.
Idle power settings.
Protocol additions: host apps can read and control layer state.

Settings are stored in two checked copies, so a bad read doesn’t wipe your layout.

Changed: Chordal Hold replaces Achordion and is on by default. It is similar but not identical; check your mod-taps after moving.

Keybard also adds automatic backups, layer reordering, a saved default layer, a layouts library, printable layers and the Keybard Overlay app.

To move your board over, see Moving from Vial.

Firmware files

Download from the latest release. Pick one file per half, by the module on that half. The names below are from vLaunch2; each release puts its own tag at the end.

Module on that half	Left	Right
None	`svalboard_left_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`	`svalboard_right_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`
None, blank keymap	`svalboard_left_blank_vLaunch2.uf2`	`svalboard_right_blank_vLaunch2.uf2`
Trackball	`svalboard_trackball_pmw3389_left_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`	`svalboard_trackball_pmw3389_right_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`
TrackPoint	`svalboard_trackpoint_left_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`	`svalboard_trackpoint_right_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`
Touchpad	`svalboard_azoteq_left_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`	`svalboard_azoteq_right_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`
Trackball, early 2024 units only (deprecated)	`svalboard_trackball_pmw3360_left_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`	`svalboard_trackball_pmw3360_right_sval_vLaunch2.uf2`

The blank files have no keys assigned. Builders use them to test keys without typing anything.

Flash as in Flashing firmware. Flashing resets your layout to the default, so export a .svil first and import it afterward.

Recovery

“Your keyboard’s settings were reset”: the board couldn’t read its settings and started from defaults. Import your .svil, or restore a backup from before the reset in Settings → Backups.
“Your keyboard can’t save changes”: export your current work, unplug the board, plug it back in, reconnect and make the change again.
After any reset: restart the board before making new edits.
Keybard won’t connect: use Chrome or Edge, a USB data cable, and close other configuration apps. On Linux, add the udev rule (see Linux: the udev rule).
Board won’t start or a half is stuck: reflash both halves with files from the same release (see Flashing firmware), then import your .svil.

For hardware problems, see Troubleshooting.

Known limitations

Alternate-repeat keys: modifier matching and “default to alternate” have known defects. Test custom mappings.
Release a tap-dance key before changing its action.
Auto Shift isn’t in the standard firmware.
Automatic backups live in one browser. Keep an exported .svil too.

Linux: the udev rule

Linux lets only root open the keyboard until you add a udev rule. Without it, Keybard and Keybard Overlay can see the board but can’t open it. Older Svalboard rules matched a Vial serial number that current firmware no longer reports, so many people hit this after a firmware update.

This rule covers every Svalboard QMK firmware file:

KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="303a", ATTRS{idProduct}=="404[4-9a-d]", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"

To install it, run these commands in a terminal:

sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/60-svalboard.rules > /dev/null <<'EOF'
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="303a", ATTRS{idProduct}=="404[4-9a-d]", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
EOF
sudo udevadm control --reload
sudo udevadm trigger --subsystem-match=hidraw

Then unplug the board, plug it back in, and connect again. If you have an old Svalboard rule in another file under /etc/udev/rules.d/, delete it.

When Keybard hits this problem, it shows these same commands, with the rule above, ready to copy. If you installed an older Keybard command that names a single product ID, replace it with this rule.

USB IDs

The product ID for each firmware file is in USB IDs.

Moving from Vial

The firmware does not bring your Vial settings across. Flashing resets the board to the default layout. Keybard can import your Vial .vil to restore it.

In Vial, save your layout as a .vil. Keep it unchanged.
Write down anything you rely on that a .vil doesn’t hold: DPI, scrolling, automouse and layer colors (see What a .vil doesn’t hold).
Flash both halves with the latest Svalboard QMK files (see Firmware files and Flashing firmware).
Open https://keybard.svalboard.com in Chrome or Edge and choose Connect Keyboard.
Choose Import Layout and pick your .vil. Read the review, then apply it. This restores your layout, macros, tap dances, combos, key overrides and QMK settings.
Set DPI, scrolling, automouse and layer colors again in Keybard.
Check every layer, your macros, your modifier swaps and your mod-tap feel (Chordal Hold replaces Achordion).
Export a .svil backup once it all works.

The first start after flashing takes a few seconds longer while the board sets up its settings storage.

If you’d rather start fresh, skip the import and use Keybard’s Layouts panel for letter and NavNAS layers (see Start from a layout Svalboard provides).

Going back to Vial

In Keybard, export your setup twice with Export Layout: once as Svalboard (.svil) - Native Format, and once as Vial (.vil) - Legacy Compatibility for Vial.
Flash both halves with the Vial v2025-11-01 files (see Vial firmware files and Flashing firmware). This resets the board to Vial’s default layout.
Open Vial and load your .vil.

Settings that only exist in Svalboard QMK (leaders, Boost, entries above Vial’s limits) don’t carry back. See also What a .vil doesn’t hold.

What a .vil doesn’t hold

A .vil file doesn’t hold DPI, scrolling, automouse, layer colors, names or cluster selections. Set those again after moving in either direction.

See Moving from Vial and Going back to Vial.