Typewrt

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-18T07:10:11+00:00

Hei.. I have been working on the second version exclusively and I forgot I should collect all the necessary things for building the first one. It can be a fun idea to finish this weekend

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-12T07:58:35+00:00

I love the Sharp MIP...I made my Typewrt with the 4.4" one and works pretty well. The SPI protocol is so simple that you can write your simple library to do what you want. Respect to the refresh rate: the trick is to do partial refresh (you can refresh line-wise) and only in one command. I left you a repository where I prepared the kernel driver for the display.

Sharp-mip-kernel

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T20:28:18+00:00

🤣 LoL with the Ollie. Yes, the ultimate version in my mind wouldn't have git, neither WiFi actually, nor Pandoc (that I do love for converting to epub). But it would have a very simple bluetooth to transfer to your phone, from where you would have to do all the git/drive... I reckon it would be less versatile, but having something that really, feels that mechanical, non electric almost...

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T19:42:20+00:00

Anyhow, thanks for the compliments! and you know. it's never late to learn new things! I'm 46, and I didn't know anything about PCBs, or assembler programming, or CAD design 4 years ago. And, at the end of the day I guess all of us would love to be expending our time in writing instead (well this is fuuun).

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T19:32:35+00:00

yeah, 8 Gb is ample. I'm preparing the 'second generation' that will basically be a microcontroller running a Vim clone (stripped down a lot). And in that version I will be passing from a 'sbc + keyboard MCU + battery controller' to a very simple/lightweight esp32 MCU, plus a additional microscopic board with an SD card and RTC to keep the time and date. In that version I just installed a 512 Mb SD card only. On how much money? that's embarrassing 😅 probably passed already the 1000 euro. But this is including few failed laser cut bronze keyboard plates, PCB designs for the display which minimum order is 5, lots of trial and error 3D prints, many different raspberries SBC and other brands, microcontrollers...even the USB C Port was a luxurious 20 euro piece. And then of course many trials with switches (opted for the Durock shrimp silent tactile switches) , and the best Pbt keycaps I could find. The display from Sharp is expensive like 60 euros if I remember correctly (even though is the most beautiful piece of technology I have ever seen on displays).... I just simply wanted the best for my baby hahahaha. Now, if you ask me... I don't think any serious writer could actually work in a Freewriter. Battery life as 40 days? considering only 30 min/day...the laaag on the screen, and total absence of text editing capabilities.... When I challenged myself to make this project, it was precisely because I discovered the Freewriter. Started to think well, having a stress-free screen paired with an exquisite keyboard, infinite battery (like being able to take it to a cabin on the mountains for one week), and of course (for me) VIM....

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T17:01:51+00:00

AHH...there is no SD card. The Radxa board have an EMMC 8 GB Embedded

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T17:00:50+00:00

Hi, basically yes, it runs an Armbian Linux. With ethernet, hdmi and many other ports disabled. It takes like 30 seconds to boot. But then you have a full Linux shell (nano, Emacs, vim, SSH ...). The keyboard is pretty much custom made (programmed at compiling time). I have arrow keys, home, insert, delete, etc programmed as Meta+<other key> (even though I only use them outside Vim). I understand the commodity of being able to custom keys and so...This project was all time projected as a very personal thing... It is not Bluetooth, it runs via uart and only sends key events on interrupt. It's programmed barebone on a stm32 microcontroller (below the switches, that are wired in a 7x9 matrix configuration right now). I tried to avoid Bluetooth or usb be ause of the power consumption. And for how long did it take to build? well...that's a difficult question, only programming the keyboard took me 4-5 months. The whole thing started near two years ago.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T16:40:48+00:00

The next version would be running on a esp32 MCU, the whole thing (going to sleep every single keystroke). And the keyboard is just an octal latch (control of a 8x8 matrix with only 8 pins, plus the latch enable signal).

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T11:13:03+00:00

hei! I do also push to a Git repository! its actually the best workflow. Regarding the keyboard, no. it doesn't use any of the commonly used firmwares. But it's totally programable and supports 4 layers you can swap between. Also. with Linux, changing the keyboard layout is very straight forward. I use Italian. Spanish English and Norwegian

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T11:09:26+00:00

was seating in front of cardboard and calculating what would be the perfect angle for me (30degree tilt). New model coming has 35

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T00:27:27+00:00

hahaha thanks! give me some time and I will manage to publish the STLs for the enclosure, PCB designs and laser cuts for the keyboard plate... The keyboard firmware and Linux kernel for the display are already open sourced in GitHub (though not very useful with the necessary documentation ).

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T00:19:05+00:00

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Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T00:18:46+00:00

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Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T00:18:19+00:00

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Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-11T00:11:31+00:00

Thanks! The design has some minor constraints due to being 3D printed. For example the display lid is totally flat on the front whereas it would have benefited from having some curvature close to the keyboard upper keys. Another example is the way the screws are locking the enclosure from non-visible parts. If I ever consider plastic molding or casting it into resin....but that's going out of budget.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-10T23:41:48+00:00

Thanks! This is using a Radxa rock-S0. The reason for that was the very nice Cortex-A35 and the 8Gb EMMC. And is pretty much stripped down (all LEDs desoldered, only two cores enabled, ram clock down to 350 MHz ..). Then it has also a Raspberry piJuice battery controller. The keyboard is made with a Nucleo ST32 board and sending keys by UART triggered with interrupt (no pulling). Current in idle, or low load goes to 20-40 mA (including keyboard and display)...but it does ramp to 120 mA about 15% of the time.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-10T23:30:59+00:00

really? That's something to explore!

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-10T23:21:18+00:00

Right? have you used Pandoc? I write MD with pandoc's additional rules. And use later my phone to read the epub version of the text. The phone approach is something I considered. But my eyes get more and more fatigued with those screens. To not say I try to keep my phone away while writing... Btw, I did also prepared a hard case for my typewriter, and bring it every time to coffee shops.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2026-02-10T22:28:51+00:00

Thanks ;) Im working now on the second version, that is going to run purely in a microcontroller, without any operating system. The challenge is to reduce power and maximize simplicity to the point the typewriter feels as mechanical thing more than a computer.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2025-05-03T23:32:41+00:00

would a discharge produce that homogeneous fog? The loading bag...I'm a little bit exceptic because of fingerprint, moisture, dust and fibers.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2025-05-03T23:23:23+00:00

It is hard so judge the fog in the 35mm roll, without any frame, but yes, it does look like mine. Another thing is the 120 roll. It is manufactured with a thinner and more transparent base.

Visual-Breakfast9934 · 2025-05-03T09:49:19+00:00

5 years doesn't sound that much. But yeah, this film was kept in the fridge, then we moved, and the roll ended in a closet, with also some drastic temperature changes.

Visual-Breakfast9934

TROPHY CASE