matosicv0.0.0.10
Build log.
Notes from making a small mechanical macropad solo. The good decisions, the expensive mistakes, and the moments where it finally worked.
-
2026-05-25
Castellation bridges, a dead reset button, and what v0.0.0.18 has to fix
Three days after the first board ran end-to-end I tried to bring up a second one. Two hours later: nine LEDs glowing, one switch out of nine working, and a XIAO whose reset button I'd cooked with a heat gun. Four rounds of solder wick later, the four design changes v0.0.0.18 needs so the next maker doesn't fight the same fight.
-
2026-05-22
Save to keyboard
From CircuitPython to QMK to a browser configurator that actually writes keymaps over WebHID. The toolchain dead-ends, the LTO bug that stripped the descriptor I needed, the macro encoding I got wrong twice, and the moment I pressed a key to send a message in my AI chat.
-
2026-05-21
The first key fired
Parts arrived in waves. I hadn't soldered in ten years. A friend taught me continuity. After days of nothing, a fresh-XIAO diagnostic proved the module was alive, I re-read my own schematic, and the macropad finally lit up.
-
2026-05-15
JLCPCB's auto-match almost shipped me 1206-footprint LEDs as 0603 parts
Five things I learned on my first PCBA order. The TL;DR: never trust a fab's auto-matched BOM. Always populate the LCSC field on every symbol before you export.
-
2026-05-02
Why I forked the ANAVI Macro Pad 10 instead of starting from scratch
I wanted a 9-key macropad with an encoder, and a battle-tested design already existed under a license that let me build on it. Why ego is a bad reason to redesign someone else's PCB.