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9.0 Keyboard Care & Maintenance
The Advantage2 is hand-assembled in the USA by trained technicians using premium components. It is
designed to last for many years with proper care and maintenance.
9.1 Keyboard stops working suddenly
If a layout or settings file has unreadable information or becomes corrupt, the keyboard may become
unresponsive. If this happens, there are several user actions that can get is typing again.
Hard reset
In many cases, a hard reset will fix the problem. This will erase any changes in both QWERTY and dvorak
layout files as well as change the settings in state.txt back to defaults. Hold progm + F9 briefly while plugging
in the keyboard (early firmware versions, this requires Ctrl + F9 while plugging in).
Rescue command
If a hard reset doesn't work or you want to try to salvage one or both of the layout files, a rescue command
(progm + F12 while plugging in) doesn't erase the layout and settings files, but skips reading them during
startup. If the rescue command is required, normally you will want to format the drive immediately thereafter.
9.2 Reformatting and Conditioning the V-drive
There are various things that users can do that may cause corruption of the v-drive and which would therefore
require reformatting of the v-drive by the user. If you have an older Advantage2, you will want to update the
firmware before doing any direct editing of layout files. First determine what firmware version is installed, and
which size v-drive you have by running a "Status report."
With a text editing screen open, press the Program key (progm) plus Esc to generate a report like this, which
indicates the firmware version and the v-drive size in line 2:
Model> Advantage2
Firmware> 1.0.431.us (4MB), 11/14/2017
Active layout file> qwerty.txt
Thumb keys mode> pc
Macro play speed> off=0, slow=1, normal=3, fast=9> 3
Status report play speed> off=0, slow=1, normal=3, fast=4> 3
Keyclick status> on
Toggle tone status> on
Stored macros> 0
Keys remapped> 2
Power user mode> on
Conditioning the v-drive
If you have deleted or pasted in new file, or formatted your v-drive, you should to "condition" your layout files
prior to doing direct editing or using the Advantage2 SmartSet App. Otherwise the files and/or v-drive could
become corrupt and require re-formatting. If you have not updated the firmware recently, be sure to install the
latest version before doing direct editing or using the SmartSet App.
Because the Advantage2 keyboard was designed to operate in a multi-platform environment, users may
occasionally experience a drive error or corrupt configuration file that necessitates reformatting the v-drive.
Please be assured that if this becomes necessary, the default configuration files will be regenerated
automatically when the keyboard is replugged or the system is rebooted after a v-drive reformat. However, it
is wise to always backup the contents of your v-drive on your computer's hard drive.
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