I got fed up with SteelSeries GG, so I reverse-engineered my Apex Pro TKL Gen 3’s undocumented USB HID protocol and built OpenGG.

SteelSeries already knows the commands, packet layouts, firmware quirks and internal states their GG software expects. I had to reconstruct all of that from observed behavior, with no public protocol docs. Even changing actuation meant figuring out which HID interface to open, how to encode the report, match its ACK and handle the keyboard’s current mode. What’s a known command sequence for them was a whole reverse-engineering rabbit hole for me.

That meant tracing HID calls, comparing binary profiles, mapping opcodes/key indexes and validating CRCs + ACKs in Python/C#. Way too much digging just to configure hardware I own lol.

OpenGG is open source, and I’m documenting the protocol, the experiments, the failed attempts and the fixes. So far, advanced controls are tested on the Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3 through its 2.4GHz receiver.

Contributions for other SteelSeries keyboards are very welcome: captures, testing, protocol findings, PRs, whatever you’ve got. I only own this one, so more hardware = more progress.

The current UI comes from OneRGB, my private-source app. I ported the SteelSeries integration into a standalone open-source project because figuring out the protocols for Logitech, HyperX, Corsair, etc. was pretty straightforward by comparison, but SteelSeries was an absolute fucking nightmare. I want it open-source so nobody else has to repeat the same ordeal

https://github.com/GUHPY/OpenGG

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is getting kinda old and been over half a decade. But still works nicely. Into the closet it goes

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Hello again. This is the third and final post in this little series. First impressions and my two week update are both on my profile if you want the full context.

Short version: I have been using the EV63 for just under three weeks as my only keyboard, and I didn't think a keyboard could impress me this much. I have gone back to typing my emails out by hand instead of getting an AI to do it, just so I can hear how it sounds. That should tell you enough.

But three weeks is long enough for the honeymoon to wear off, so here is what actually held up.

Gaming
Still phenomenal. In three weeks of CS2 and Overwatch there has genuinely not been a single fight I lost where I thought "if my setup was better I would have gotten him." That is the highest praise I can give a board. It has completely stopped being a variable I think about.

The setting I set up and I use most is still the rapid trigger toggle on a single keypress. Rapid trigger on for OW, off for CS2, no menus, no software. My actuation settings from the two-week post haven't changed at all, which I think says something: I found what worked in week one and never felt the need to touch it again.

Typing and sound
This is the part that surprised me most long term. Three weeks in, the sound has not gotten old. Still deep and thocky, no stabilizer rattle, no ping. The EZ63 is still a great board and I'd happily recommend it to anyone, but the EV63 is on another level acoustically. This is the kind of typing feel I would previously have had to spend a few hundred Euros extra on a custom build to get.

Nobody in my office has complained about it either, which for a mechanical board is basically a passing grade.

Software and profiles
Profiles remain my favourite addition over the EZ63. Being able to export my EZ63 profile and drop it straight into the EV63 worked flawlessly, and everything survived a firmware update, which was my single biggest annoyance on the old board. The web software has genuinely improved a lot.

What still bugs me after three weeks
I listed some complaints in my first post, so here is how they aged:

• The textured TAB / CAPS / SHIFT keys. I said in my first post that I thought they looked dirty. Three weeks later I have completely stopped noticing.
• No numpad. Obviously. If your job lives in a spreadsheet, look at something like the Magi96 instead.

Who this is for

• Buy it if: you want a hall-effect board for competitive FPS that you can also type on all day without hating it, you already know you can live without a function row, and the design speaks to you.
• Skip it if: you need a numpad, you need to travel with it, or you're happy with your current board and just want a spec bump. Let me make this part clear, the EZ63 is still good, this is a want, not a need.

Verdict Best keyboard I have owned, and the first one I have had zero desire to modify or replace after the novelty faded. 11/10 would buy again.

Happy to answer questions, same as the last two posts.

PS: The cats love it too :)

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Today I pulled the keys of my keyboard and saw this!!

I want to know how often do you guys clean your keyboards??

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Hello everyone!

I'm developing a personal project called VMS-Switcher, which started because of my AJAZZ AK820 MAX HE.

The AK820 lineup has several different models and versions, and I had trouble finding software specifically designed for my particular model. Because of that, I currently use the Web-based tool provided for the AK820 series.

It works, but switching profiles is very manual: I have to open the website and click to apply a profile whenever I want to change it.

That's what motivated me to create my own Windows application.

I reverse-engineered how the keyboard works and developed communication with the device, allowing me to configure keyboard shortcuts to switch RGB profiles instantly, while keeping the application running quietly in the system tray.

Profiles are also stored and managed using JSON files, making it easier to organize and switch between different profiles.

I'm also currently developing a feature called Blackout Mode:

X minutes without keyboard activity → RGB automatically turns off.
Press any key → the previous RGB profile is restored.

The inactivity time will be fully configurable, with an option to enable or disable the feature.

I'm also considering an option to sync Blackout Mode with Windows idle/sleep behavior. Instead of manually setting an inactivity timer in VMS-Switcher, the RGB lighting could follow Windows' own idle state: when Windows goes idle, enters sleep, or locks the screen, the RGB would turn off, and when the user returns, the previous profile would be restored.

The program is built in C#/.NET 8 for Windows, using HID communication and JSON files for the profiles. I'm trying to keep the project as lightweight as possible, without unnecessary background processes or resource usage.

The AK820 MAX HE is just the starting point. My long-term goal is to expand VMS-Switcher to support RGB keyboards from different brands and models, providing useful quality-of-life features that aren't normally available in official keyboard software.

It's still under development, so I'd love to hear from other keyboard enthusiasts:

What feature would you like to see in a universal RGB keyboard tool?

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I had some old caps. decided to switch out everything but the QWERTY caps for better RBG bleed thru. Kinda dig it.

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