ckb is an open-source driver for Corsair keyboards. It aims to bring the features of their proprietary software to the Linux and Mac operating systems. This project is currently a work in progress but already supports much of the same functionality, including full RGB animations. More features are coming soon. Testing and bug reports are appreciated!
Disclaimer: ckb is not an official Corsair product. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License (version 2) in the hope that it will be useful, but with NO warranty of any kind.
If you use and enjoy this project, I'd appreciate if you could spare a few dollars for a donation. This is completely voluntary - the project will remain free and open source regardless. :)
I accept donations through PayPal: Click here
Or through Bitcoin: 1LDHCfyDqAziUPtp3a4BdUaKmwphG1yroQ (click for QR code)
ckb currently supports the following Corsair keyboards:
- K65 RGB
- K70
- K70 RGB
- K95*
- K95 RGB
* = hardware playback not yet supported. Settings will be saved to software only.
When downloading a new version of ckb, please delete your old download first. This helps ensure there are no problems lingering from an old build. See the Troubleshooting section if you have any problems.
Requires Qt5, libudev, zlib, gcc, g++, and glibc (Ubuntu: qt5-default, libudev-dev, build-essential, zlib1g-dev. In other distros, Qt5 may be known as qt5-base or libqt5*-devel). Check with your package manager to make sure you have the correct libraries/headers installed.
The quickest way to install ckb is to double-click the quickinstall script and run it in a Terminal. It will compile the application and then ask you if you'd like to install it (default answer is "yes"; press Enter to continue). Once installed, it will launch the driver and open the user interface. You do not need to follow any of the other instructions unless the automatic build fails.
You can build the project by running ./qmake-auto && make in a Terminal in the directory you downloaded it to. The binaries will be placed in a new bin directory assuming they compile successfully.
First copy the binary and the service files to their system directories:
- Upstart (Ubuntu, prior to 15.04):
sudo cp -R bin/* /usr/bin && sudo cp service/upstart/ckb-daemon.conf /etc/init - Systemd (Ubuntu 15.04 and later):
sudo cp -R bin/* /usr/bin && sudo cp service/systemd/ckb-daemon.service /usr/lib/systemd/system
To launch the driver and enable it at start-up:
- Upstart:
sudo service ckb-daemon start - Systemd:
sudo systemctl start ckb-daemon && sudo systemctl enable ckb-daemon
Open the bin directory and double-click on ckb to launch the user interface. If you want to run it at login, add ckb --background to your Startup Applications.
Open the bin directory in a Terminal and run sudo ./ckb-daemon to start the driver. To start the user interface, run ./ckb. This should be unnecessary except for debugging/testing purposes; the recommended method is to run it as a service.
Pre-compiled binaries for OSX are provided by Xiy. They may be updated less frequently.
Click here to download the latest version (alpha-v0.0.52).
Install the latest version of Xcode from the App Store. Open Xcode, accept the license agreement, and wait for it to install any additional components (if necessary). When you see the "Welcome to Xcode" screen, the setup is finished and you can close the app. Then install Qt5 from here: http://www.qt.io/download-open-source/
The quickest way to install ckb is to open quickinstall. It will compile the application and then ask you if you'd like to install it (default answer is "yes"; press Enter to continue). Once installed, it will launch the driver and open the user interface. You do not need to follow any of the other instructions unless the automatic build fails.
You can also use quickinstall with the pre-compiled version: Download the ckb binary and then download the source zip. Copy quickinstall and service from the source directory into the binary directory and then run quickinstall.
Open ckb.pro in Qt Creator. You should be prompted to configure the project (make sure the "Desktop" configuration is selected and not iOS). Once it's finished loading the project, press Cmd+B or select Build > Build Project "ckb" from the menu bar. When it'd done, you should see a newly-created ckb.app application in the project directory. Exit Qt Creator.
Alternatively, open a Terminal in the ckb directory and run ./qmake-auto && make. It will detect your Qt path automatically if you installed it to one of the standard locations. You should see a newly created ckb.app if it builds successfully.
Copy ckb.app to your Applications folder. Copy the file service/launchd/com.ckb.daemon.plist to your computer's /Library/LaunchDaemons folder (you can get to it by pressing Cmd+Shift+G in Finder and typing the location). Then open a Terminal and run the following command to launch the driver:
sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ckb.daemon.plist && sudo chmod 0700 /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ckb.daemon.plist && sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ckb.daemon.plist
After you're done, open ckb.app to launch the user interface.
Open a Terminal in the ckb directory and run sudo ckb.app/Contents/Resources/ckb-daemon to start the driver. Open ckb.app to start the user interface.
See DAEMON.md for info about the daemon program.
The user interface is still a work in progress.
Major features:
- Control multiple keyboards independently (note: not tested)
- United States and European keyboard layouts
- Customizable key bindings
- Per-key lighting and animation
- Reactive lighting
- Multiple profiles/modes with hardware save function
Roadmap (roughly in order)
- v0.1 release:
- Animation presets
- v0.2 release:
- More functions for the Win Lock key
- Key combos
- Key macros, other advanced keypress features like running a custom command
- (Daemon) Macros with timing info, delays, repeats
- (Daemon) Notification macros
- (Daemon) Ability to generate mouse events
- v0.3 release:
- Ability to store profiles separately from devices, import/export them
- Ability to tie profiles to which application has focus
- Timers
- v0.4 release:
- Ability to import CUE profiles
- v1.0 release:
- OSD? (Not sure if this can actually be done)
- Extra settings?
- ????
Closing ckb will actually minimize it to the system tray. Use the Quit option from the tray icon or the settings screen to exit the application.
If you have problems connecting the keyboard to your system (keyboard doesn't respond, ckb-daemon doesn't recognize it or can't connect the keyboard), try adding the following to your kernel's cmdline:
- K65 RGB:
usbhid.quirks=0x1B1C:0x1B17:0x400 - K70:
usbhid.quirks=0x1B1C:0x1B09:0x400 - K70 RGB:
usbhid.quirks=0x1B1C:0x1B13:0x400 - K95:
usbhid.quirks=0x1B1C:0x1B08:0x400 - K95 RGB:
usbhid.quirks=0x1B1C:0x1B11:0x408
For instructions on adding cmdline parameters in Ubuntu, see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/KernelBootParameters
If the keyboard still doesn't work, try replacing 0x400/0x408 with 0x4. Note that this will cause the kernel driver to ignore the keyboard completely, so you'll need to make sure ckb-daemon is running at boot or else you'll have no keyboard input.
Compile problems can usually be resolved by rebooting your computer and/or reinstalling Qt. Make sure that Xcode works on its own. If a compile fails, delete the ckb-master directory as well as any automatically generated build-ckb folders and try again from a new download.
If you've rebound your modifier keys in System Preferences, the changes will not be recognized anymore. You can rebind them again within the application.
Please note: the keyboards do have some hardware-related problems which Corsair is aware of and working to fix. These are out of my control. Before reporting an issue, connect your keyboard to a Windows computer first and see if your problem happens in Windows. If it does, contact Corsair. Additionally, please check the Corsair user forums to see if your issue has been reported by other users. If so, try their solutions first.
Connection issues can sometimes be solved by rebooting. Make sure that your system is up to date. If possible, update your computer's BIOS to the latest version as well.
Common problems:
- Problem: Keyboard doesn't work in BIOS, doesn't work at boot
- Solution: Some BIOSes have trouble communicating with the keyboard. They may prevent the keyboard from working correctly in the operating system as well. First, try booting the OS without the keyboard attached, and plug the keyboard in after logging in. If the keyboard works after the computer is running but does not work at boot, you may need to use the keyboard's BIOS mode option.
- BIOS mode can be activated using the poll rate switch at the back of the keyboard. Slide it all the way to the position marked "BIOS". You should see the scroll lock light blinking to indicate that it is on. (Note: Unfortunately, this has its own problems - see Known Issues. You may need to activate BIOS mode when booting the computer and deactivate it after logging in).
- Problem: Keyboard isn't detected when plugged in, even if driver is already running
- Solution: Try moving to a different USB port. Be sure to follow Corsair's USB connection requirements. If you have any USB hubs on hand, try those as well. You may also have success sliding the poll switch back and forth a few times.
- Using the keyboard in BIOS mode prevents the media keys (including mute and volume wheel) from working. This is a hardware limitation.
- In BIOS mode, keys sometimes get "stuck" or stop responding. It appears to be a firmware bug. Using the keyboard in BIOS mode while running ckb is not recommended.
- Animations sometimes cause the keyboard to freeze or cause keys to be dropped. These also seem to be firmware bugs; the best way to mitigate them is to decrease the frame rate in ckb or increase the polling interval on the keyboard.
- The tray icon doesn't always appear even when enabled. Apparently this is a known Qt bug. If you can't see the icon, reopen ckb to bring the window back.
- When starting the driver manually on OSX, the Terminal window sometimes gets spammed with enter keys. You can stop it by unplugging and replugging the keyboard or by moving the poll rate switch.
- When stopping the driver manually, the keyboard sometimes stops working completely. This seems to be a hardware/OS communication issue.