Bond Reset Instructions (nvsclear)

The dongle (central) will bond with the keyboard halves (peripherals) upon discovering them for the first time (see split dongle page for terminology). This is necessary to prevent unknown dongles from receiving data from your keyboard halves or unknown keyboard halves from sending data to your dongle. The same applies in a dongleless setup where the left central half bonds with the right peripheral half.

In certain cases, the bonds may need to be reset. You will need to undergo the non-volatile storage (NVS) clearing process if:

  • You are switching from one dongle to another.
  • You received a replacement keyboard PCB.
  • One or both keyboard halves is not working after initial setup.
  • You are switching from a dongleless setup to a dongle setup (follow "Reset Instructions with Dongle").
  • You are switching from a dongle setup to a dongleless setup (follow "Reset Instructions without Dongle").

Download nvsclear.uf2

Reset Instructions with Dongle

  1. If you have any devices connected wirelessly (either to the dongle or to a keyboard half), delete the "SliceMK" keyboard from each device's Bluetooth menu. This is important to ensure that your devices do not attempt to reconnect in the middle of the NVS clearing process.
  2. Start by clearing the dongle.
    1. Put dongle into bootloader mode. LED should pulse slowly.
    2. Copy nvsclear.uf2 to dongle. LED will flash very quickly while it's flashing. When it's done, it will automatically reenter bootloader mode and LED will pulse slowly.
    3. Unplug dongle.
  3. Continue by clearing and flashing the left half.
    1. Plug in left half and put it into bootloader mode (by pressing reset twice in 500ms). LED should pulse slowly.
    2. Copy nvsclear.uf2 to left half. LED will flash very quickly while it's flashing. When it's done, it will automatically reenter bootloader mode and LED will pulse slowly.
    3. Copy peripheral-left.uf2 to left half. LED will flash very quickly while it's flashing. When it's done, LED will turn off.
    4. Unplug left half.
    5. Press reset once to reboot (LED should blink twice).
  4. Continue by clearing and flashing the right half (repeat previous section accordingly).
  5. Finish by reestablishing the bonds.
    1. Plug in dongle. It should automatically be in bootloader mode.
    2. Make sure it's been at least 15 seconds since you pressed reset on the right half.
    3. Copy zmk-dongle.uf2 to dongle from keymap configurator (be sure to select the appropriate dongle). When it's done, LED will turn off.
    4. Unplug and plug dongle.
    5. Press a few keys on both halves. Give it around 10 seconds for dongle to discover them and connect.

Reset Instructions without Dongle

  1. If you have any devices connected wirelessly (either to the dongle or to a keyboard half), delete the "SliceMK" keyboard from each device's Bluetooth menu. This is important to ensure that your devices do not attempt to reconnect in the middle of the NVS clearing process.
  2. Start by clearing the left half.
    1. Plug in left half and put it into bootloader mode (by pressing reset twice in 500ms). LED should pulse slowly.
    2. Copy nvsclear.uf2 to left half. LED will flash very quickly while it's flashing. When it's done, it will automatically reenter bootloader mode and LED will pulse slowly.
    3. Unplug left half.
  3. Continue by clearing and flashing the right half.
    1. Plug in right half and put it into bootloader mode (by pressing reset twice in 500ms). LED should pulse slowly.
    2. Copy nvsclear.uf2 to right half. LED will flash very quickly while it's flashing. When it's done, it will automatically reenter bootloader mode and LED will pulse slowly.
    3. Copy peripheral-right.uf2 to right half. LED will flash very quickly while it's flashing. When it's done, LED will turn off.
    4. Press reset once on right half to reboot (LED should blink twice).
    5. Unplug right half.
  4. Continue by flashing the left half.
    1. Plug in left half. It should automatically be in bootloader mode.
    2. Make sure it's been at least 15 seconds since you pressed reset on the right half.
    3. Copy zmk-left.uf2 to left half from keymap configurator (be sure to select the appropriate PCB version). When it's done, LED will turn off.
    4. Press reset once on left half to reboot (LED should blink twice).
    5. Press a few keys on left half. Keys should output via USB.
    6. Press a few keys on right half. Give it around 10 seconds for left half to discover the right half and connect. Keys should output via USB.
  5. Finish by configuring Bluetooth profiles to use the keyboard wirelessly.