Troubleshooting

Most issues with the Dinkey series fall into a small number of categories. Work through the relevant section below before reaching out — chances are the answer is here.

ZMK Studio

Keyboard not detected in ZMK Studio

  • Use Chrome or Edge — Firefox does not support WebSerial and ZMK Studio will not detect your keyboard

  • Connect via USB — Bluetooth is not supported for ZMK Studio

  • Try a different USB cable — some cables are charge-only and do not carry data

  • On Windows, open Device Manager and check if the keyboard appears as a COM port. If it shows as an unknown device or has a warning icon, you need to install the correct driver via Zadig:

    1. Open Zadig

    2. Select your keyboard from the dropdown

    3. Select WinUSB as the driver

    4. Click Install Driver

    5. Reconnect your keyboard and try ZMK Studio again

Left and right halves not connecting

  • Make sure both halves are charged — a depleted battery on either half will prevent pairing

  • Turn both halves off and back on — the halves negotiate a connection on startup

  • If the halves have never connected before, place them within 30cm of each other and power on the right half first, then the left

  • If they still won't connect, reset the Bluetooth bonds on both halves by pressing the profile clear button in your keymap (&bt BT_CLR) or reflashing the firmware

Keymap changes not saving after disconnect

  • Make sure you click Save in ZMK Studio before disconnecting — changes are not automatically persisted

  • If saves consistently fail, try a different USB port or cable

Vial

Keyboard not detected in Vial

  • Make sure you have flashed Vial firmware — standard QMK or ZMK firmware will not be detected by the Vial app. See Flashing Firmware

  • Connect via USB — Vial does not work over Bluetooth

  • Try a different USB cable

  • On Windows, make sure QMK drivers are installed via QMK Toolbox — open QMK Toolbox once and it will install the necessary drivers automatically

Only one half detected

  • Connect the left half directly to your computer — the left half is the master and must be the one plugged in

  • Check your TRRS cable — a loose or damaged TRRS connection will prevent the right half from communicating

  • Try a different TRRS cable

  • Make sure both halves are flashed with the same firmware version

Thumb keys don't highlight in the Matrix Tester

This is expected behavior, not a bug. The Dinkey thumb cluster uses rotated key positions in the layout definition. The Vial matrix tester does not highlight rotated keys visually, but they register and function correctly. Test by pressing the thumb keys while the Matrix Tester is open — you will see the keycode fire even though the key doesn't light up on screen.

Dinkey 32|30 — all pinky positions showing in the keymap

This is expected. The Vial keymap editor always shows all programmable positions regardless of which switches are physically installed. Set unused pinky positions to Transparent (▽) and assign keys only to the positions that match your physical build. The firmware handles both 30 and 32-key configurations identically.