Problems with a CMStorm Trigger keyboard

[lakhesis]

So, I picked up a CMStorm Trigger keyboard recently. Lovely keyboard, great feel, solid functionality & really nice build quality.

But I'm encountering a massive, dealbreaking flaw currently.

Using a macro cancels any other keys currently being pressed & prevents all other input for the duration of the macro.

I can't see how this could be intended functionality. Macros can be up to 30 seconds long. And a gaming keyboard where you can't hold down forwards/strafe & use the special keys at the same time just strikes me as nuts, whereas everything else about this keyboard is really nicely & sensibly designed. There's even a backlighting setting which lights up nothing but WASD and the special keys

What am I missing? What's going wrong? Has anyone else had similar experiences?

It's doing it on both Mac OS & Win7, on multiple computers, so it's got to be the keyboard imo.

I've put in a support ticket to Cooler Master, but who knows what their response time/quality'll be like so I'm hoping someone here might have some insight.

TY in advance.

[Deleted]

From the CM FAQ
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/faq....wer&faq_id=218


"Macros can be played back in two ways, via the Trigger App, or via Triggers integrated Microprocessor.
Right click on the Trigger App Tray Icon to switch between these two modes.

Executing Macros via the Trigger App allows you to still interact with the game while Macros are being executed. Be aware though that mixing keyboard input and executing Macros at the same time can have weird and unpredicted results. For example: If your Macro contains ALT, and you press TAB while the macro is being executed, you might unintentionally trigger ALT+TAB and switch applications.
Unfortunately some applications block or don't support keyboard input originating or being manipulated by software.

Executing Macros via the integrated Microprocessor in your Trigger Keyboard allows you to execute Macros in any Application. Macros might still be blocked partially or entirely if the delay between actions is too low for human input, or is identical between all actions. In this case adjust the delay between actions to make Macros work. The downside of this Macro execution mode is that you lose keyboard input as long as the Macro is being executed. In most cases this isnt an issue, as Macros tend to be very short. If you execute a Macro and then have to interact with the game again and change your strategy, you can hit the Escape key to abort the currently running Macro and regain keyboard input instantly."

So it seems you need to keep the Trigger App running and let it execute the macros and not the keyboard itself.

[lakhesis]

So... It's actually a 1KRO device unless you're using the off-by-default windows-only software macro handling.

That's a massive gaping deal-breaking flaw in an otherwise wonderful keyboard.

Somehow I don't think the FAQ they receive is "What are the macro execution modes?" either... I suspect it's more like "Why can't I press any other button while I'm using a macro?"

[Deleted]

Not sure if and how other keyboards handle that case - this might be harder to do than one would think.

The K90 for instance seems to suffer from the same problem when using the hardware playback (i.e. without drivers)
http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=110614

-Hardware mode does not support "ghosting" of keypresses.

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When I press a macro button in hardware mode, it interrupts my action in the game such as running forward.
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I tried to work with Corsair support, but the latest firmware does not resolve this problem. They were polite and helpful, but the final answer I received was that they are not going to fix this "problem".

Edit: Have you gotten a reply from tech support yet? If so what did they say?

[lakhesis]

Not sure if and how other keyboards handle that case - this might be harder to do than one would think.

The K90 for instance seems to suffer from the same problem when using the hardware playback (i.e. without drivers)
http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=110614


Edit: Have you gotten a reply from tech support yet? If so what did they say?

Interesting, the K90 was definitely one of the other options I'd been considering. Also on the list were the Razer Blackwidow & AZIO Mech 5 - anything mechanical with macro buttons basically. Wanting a board that works properly in both OS X & Windows definitely complicates matters ><

I can see that there could well be good reasons behind their repeating of a KeyDown->(keys in the macro)->KeyUp rather than using the standard KeyDown->KeyRepeat->KeyUp approach for the macro, and I can also see that there might be potential issues if the macro contains one of the same keys that you're trying to press while the macro is running, but forcing a KeyUp & then not acknowledging that the key is still pressed after the macro strikes me as odd.

You'd think they could at least send a new KeyDown after the macro is finished if you've still got another key pressed, rather than just abandoning it completely. A stutter would be better than non-responsiveness.

I suspect my support message has been filed over the weekend, it would've arrived friday afternoon I suspect. I'm curious to see if I can get the reasoning out of them at the very least.

I've been using a G11 & G15 previously, and they got around it via software (available for both Windows & Mac OS). I believe Razer takes the same approach, tho I've never used their keyboards & would prefer Cherry Black or Browns. You've just knocked Corsair off my list with that info.

Very curious to know if the Azio Mech 5 has the same issues, it reads like they use custom windows-only software but provided I can get clean keypresses of some form out of the board I have Mac OS software that can handle that (Controllermate - great program).

[Deleted]

Very curious to know if the Azio Mech 5 has the same issues, it reads like they use custom windows-only software but provided I can get clean keypresses of some form out of the board I have Mac OS software that can handle that (Controllermate - great program).

Well if you have software like that on the mac you could try mapping the macro keys to some rarely used key combos and let the software handle the rest.

As for the Mech 5: It doesn't have back lit keys so I ruled it out for me pretty quickly, but it seems profiles and macros are not stored on the keyboard, so I'm not sure if the macro keys work at all without a driver.

[lakhesis]

lloewe: customer service simply explained that the macro keys were controlled by software, that there are no options available to change it, and that they'd forwarded my message to the product development team.

So, at present, you need to be using a version of Windows that can run the Trigger App to use the macro keys at anything other than 1KRO.

Hopefully they'll do something to the firmware to sort it. It's a crying shame to have such an otherwise wonderful keyboard sitting uselessly in its box at the back of my cupboard.

[evulmunk33]

So, at present, you need to be using a version of Windows that can run the Trigger App to use the macro keys at anything other than 1KRO.
Hopefully they'll do something to the firmware to sort it. It's a crying shame to have such an otherwise wonderful keyboard sitting uselessly in its box at the back of my cupboard.

hey lakhesis, i work for coolermaster and just noticed this topic.
1. glad you like the kb!
2. about the macro thing... well the reason we added the software option is because there is apparently no way to change the macro execution when using the keyboard controller... :/ we tried to fine tune the firmware of the kb, but its tricky... theres a high risk of corrupting the firmware which essentially bricks the keyboard when trying something funky, and since the code was written for office use and not gaming... we are already leaning out the window in some regards
we are aware of this limitation, and we got a couple of ideas on how to work around this, but itll take a while im affraid, and will come in a future keyboard... if you got any ideas or suggestions, let me know!
3. you know that you CAN interrupt macros by pressing ESC, right? its far from perfect, but you CAN interrupt macros...
what i did is map one of the keys close to my macro keys to escape, and whenever i run a macro i have my finger resting on that key, ready to interrupt the macro and get full input back...

oh and trigger is NOT 1KRO, even in macro execution mode...
you can record macros with 6 standard keys being pressed at the same time, plus shift, ctrl, and other special keys, all active at the same time...
during macro execution the input is interrupted, so if you want to express that in KRO, i guess the closest way to describe it would be 0KRO during hardware macro execution ^^