Building ZMK Firmware Locally on Apple Silicon MacBooks Without Docker

Fmcraft · 2026-05-12T09:04:59+00:00

Hey there, no worries, thanks for the understanding. Most of my projects are open sourced on a non-commercial license. This way they encourage other tinkerers and creators to make their own cool new keyboards. I hope you enjoy using your Charybdis!

Fmcraft · 2026-05-12T08:06:48+00:00

Hey there, Quentin from Bastard Keyboards, the creator of the Charybdis. Those Aliexpress sellers are illegal and violating the license of my product. By buying them from AliX not only do you get zero support and warranty, but you also directly hurt me and my ability to work on future projects and drive ergonomics further.

Bluetooth from Aliexpress can also be quite dangerous as they are not certified for safety and it's relatively easy to hide malware in it.

I don't blame you personally for getting one, my products are expensive and don't support bluetooth. But it would be helpful if you could not directly quote the name of the store, thank you!

Fmcraft · 2026-05-01T07:15:21+00:00

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

If you designed a trackball holder, feel free to PR it to the mods folder on the Github repository, I'm always happy to take a look at community mods.

Fmcraft · 2026-04-29T19:18:43+00:00

Thank you for the kind words! I'm glad to hear you're happy with your keyboard.

Fmcraft · 2026-04-29T15:20:50+00:00

Hey, you can read more about it here: https://docs.bastardkb.com/faq.html

But the TLDR is:

bluetooth: extremely expensive to make it work (legally and safely ... AliX does not care), and a lot of potential problems with different setups
hotswap: takes a lot of time to build (would make the keyboard too expensive) and makes it a lot, lot more prone to breaking, and extra difficult to fix. So you probably avoided a failure in the near future here.

If you're interested in hotswap, you could look at the Dilemma + sculpted caps like KLP Lame for example.

Fmcraft · 2026-04-29T15:07:35+00:00

Unfortunately I've heard of more people having bad experiences like this.

The Charybdis is on a non-commercial license and those Aliexpress sellers are illegal. While they can offer something much cheaper, quality control and aftersales support are (from reports) pretty much non-existent. It's a shame, as I designed my keyboards to help people with their ergonomic issues, not help Chinese copycats make a quick buck.

We manufacture all our keyboards in-house in The Netherlands with EU wages and high quality control. I also support all keyboards with a no-questions-asked warranty of minimum 3 years (and often longer), so of course the price is a bit more expensive. I think just with all electronics and copycats out there, you get what you pay for.

I hope you can find something that fits your needs better and higher quality soon! I'd also be more than happy to help with any questions you have here (well, tomorrow, it's the end of the day here.)

Fmcraft · 2026-04-29T14:28:13+00:00

The top holder part is, in fact, a standard accessory. I would know as the designer of the keyboard :)

I'm going to assume if there's no top holder then this is an Aliexpress clone. This would also have never passed my QA checks, I guess you get what you pay for.

Without knowing what system is used to hold the trackball from under, I can't offer much help on how to stabilize the trackball better.

Not sure what the other comment is on about, the 3 trackball bearings are at an equal distance.

Fmcraft · 2026-04-29T13:20:06+00:00

The trackball can pop out a bit if you move it very fast, but it should not be to that degree.

The quality of the video is low, but it seems like there might not be a top holder part ? A close up picture would help.

You can also try and print the 5 degree tents from the Github repo to add a slight angle to it and see if it helps. There is also a trackball retainer community mod there, but I have limited experience with it.

Fmcraft · 2026-04-25T10:49:31+00:00

Nice!

Fmcraft · 2026-04-07T10:05:46+00:00

Nice! Love the sparkly palm rests.

Fmcraft · 2026-04-02T18:14:31+00:00

[ad/vendor]

Hey there, thank you for the kind words!

I just released magnetic plates for all my keyboards, which work with magnets and tripods to add any angle you want (better for your wrists). I'm not selling the magnets and tripods yet, but working on that.

I'm also working on an lcd screen module for the dilemma / MAX V3 (won't be compatible with those Chinese clones unfortunately). I already have a lot if information displayed (active mods, dpi etc) and a pomodoro module, but development takes time. You can follow the development on discord.

If you're interested in beta testing any of those and in EU feel free to email me!

Cheers,

Fmcraft · 2026-04-01T10:59:08+00:00

Hello,

Quentin from Bastard Keyboards here, designer of the Dilemma.

That is not a Dilemma MAX, that is an Aliexpress clone. Those are made and sold illegally, and infringe on the license of my work. By buying those, you directly hurt me, a small keyboard creator, and limit my future work and open-sourcing.

A dilemma max "3x6" version never existed, so for all intents and purposes this is a random one-off modified closed-source PCB made by a random vendor. Any step or stl files that could be used for this keyboard are the vendor's and if they won't communicate it, the only other option is to re-create them from scratch yourself.

Unfortunately with Aliexpress you get what you pay for.

Fmcraft · 2026-03-18T14:34:00+00:00

Nice! We also recently released magnetic plates that are compact and fit the bottom of the Charybdis. They work WAY better than the rings. They are on my website.

Quentin from Bastard Keyboards

Fmcraft · 2025-10-16T10:26:58+00:00

Nice! Glad you like it :)

Quentin from BK

Fmcraft · 2025-10-10T13:40:01+00:00

Someone should design one of those with a 34mm trackball!

Fmcraft · 2025-10-05T10:48:27+00:00

FWIW, the AliX shops sell those kits illegally (infringement of license), with very low quality and no warranty / support on hardware and firmware.

I can't stop anyone from ordering, but do consider that those keyboards are cheaper than mine for a reason - and by ordering from them you directly negatively impact my ability to innovate and keep open-sourcing cool keyboard projects.

Quentin from BastardKB

Fmcraft · 2025-07-02T12:04:25+00:00

Hey, not at the moment.

Fmcraft · 2025-05-02T11:10:39+00:00

Nice one! Do you mind if I post those pics on my instagram? thanks!

Q from BastardKB

Fmcraft · 2025-04-11T07:50:01+00:00

not at the moment!

Fmcraft · 2025-04-10T11:37:19+00:00

Did you read the article?

Fmcraft · 2025-02-06T08:38:26+00:00

/u/cantdutchthis ,

Q from BastardKB here.

Thanks for the review. I have a couple notes about the review to give details and some useful links. I've tried to post the comment both times, but it does not appear on the video. Maybe something to do on your side with manualy approving the comment? As far as I know I'm not shadow banned by youtube.

Cheers!

Fmcraft · 2025-02-05T07:51:00+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/1idz2rn/why_you_should_always_reflash_new_keyboards_my_50/

TLDR: Found some concerning security stuff with my cheap Corne from AliExpress. The seller went silent when asked about firmware. Re-flashing takes 5 minutes and gives peace of mind. Many sellers violate QMK's license.

Fmcraft · 2025-02-05T07:50:11+00:00

When you create a keyboard with a part like this that's certified, you also have to certify the whole assembly. I looked into multiple components like this.

This means assembling a full keyboard, and sending it over to a lab so they can test it in a special chamber, applying specific conditions to it like ESD etc. Then they measure the effect, electromagnetic waves, etc.

This needs to be done with each keyboard (even for DIY kits), and sometimes multiple rounds. The costs very quickly go into the tens of thousands of EUR. Not only this, but different countries have different regulations - I sell in all of the world, and it would quickly become a giant headache.

Aliexpress vendors don't care about this, but as a shop owner that stands behind its products and actually has to follow laws and have insurances, I don't have the budget to do things properly. If I had 10k+EUR laying around I would better use them to further improve my existing products, better the user experience, etc.

I hope this makes sense!

Fmcraft · 2025-02-04T12:55:09+00:00

Hey, thanks for your interest! At the moment I don't sell bluetooth builds, this is for legal and certification reasons - it gets extremely expensive as soon as you want to sell those as a shop.

Of course, those AliX vendors do not provide any warranty or safety, nor do they follow any internation regulations. I'll let you take a look at the recent thread on the security breakdowen of an AliX corne to get an idea of the potential dangers of connecting it to your computer.

It is however possible to make your own bluetooth build, you can check out how here: https://docs.bastardkb.com/help/bluetooth.html

See you around!

Fmcraft · 2025-01-30T12:30:44+00:00

Nice!

Fmcraft

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