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Poker 3 for Mac

August 15, 2017 Observatory 7 Comments

Recently I got my first mechanical keyboard Poker 3 with the Cherry MX Brown switches. Here is how I configured the keyboard to match the familiar Mac layout:

Mac Layout for Poker 3 Mechanical Keyboard

  • Use FN, PN, Ctrl and Shift as arrow keys. You’ll have to learn to use the left Shift for capitalising letters which I’m still getting used to.
  • Map CapsLock to FN because FN is now the left arrow key.
  • Map left Alt to Command ⌘.
  • Map left Win to Option ⌥.

Keyboard Layers

The keyboard has three programmable layouts or layers. I’m using layer 3 (red LED) to store this configuration. Use FN + > to switch to layer 3. Note that the default layer 1 can’t be configured.

Enable the Arrow Keys

Next we want to turn CapsLock into FN because FN will become the left arrow key. Switch the 3rd dip switch on the back of the keyboard to enable this.

Press left Win, Space + right Alt to turn right FN (left), PN (down), Shift (up) and Ctrl (right) into permanent arrow keys. Please note that this setting isn’t preserved between keyboard reboots.

Swap Win/Cmd and Alt

Finally we need to switch the left Win and Alt keys to match the Mac layout where the Win or Command keys are right next to the spacebar. Enter the programming mode by pressing FN + right Ctrl:

  • Press Alt then Win then PN to set the Command key.
  • Press Win then Alt then PN to set the Option key.

I used this Pok3r layout guide for reference.

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7 Comments

  1. David says:
    September 22, 2017 at 12:57

    Hi mate, and thank your for this post very usefull.
    I’m using the exact same keyboard but I cannot use arrows with the same pattern as you.

    I tick the third tip, but I don’t know how to bind arrows on these keys.
    help appreciated plz :x !

    Reply
    • Kaspars says:
      September 24, 2017 at 15:10

      I actually forgot to describe this in the post — use Left Win + Space + Right Alt to enable the arrow keys. Note that this setting isn’t preserved between keyboard restarts.

      Reply
  2. David says:
    September 26, 2017 at 18:20

    Yep thanks,
    I did a remap myself,
    using PN to right left and FN to CAPSLOCK.

    So I can use the arrows with this pattern ^^.
    (tip 4 to switch PN key).

    Reply
  3. Andrew says:
    January 17, 2018 at 07:10

    this is great thanks! Do the alt and win change disappear with reboot too? The reboot part sucks, does does that include restarting the computer?

    Reply
    • Kaspars says:
      January 23, 2018 at 22:22

      All changes are persistent and stored in the keyboard memory so nothing disappears with a reboot or unplugging the keyboard. I really like how Poker does programming. My recent TADA68 requires flashing the firmware for any kind of changes.

      Reply
  4. thebennies says:
    April 13, 2018 at 00:15

    do you know how to send “Enter” key (fn+Return) from Poker 3? the only workaround i’ve made was using karabiner.

    btw, i’m using Mistel MD600 with same firmware as Poker 3. here’s my layout http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/f5017c046b37a4138c47aa86fa0926ae

    Reply

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