Disassembly

Unlike a few other optical switch keyboards, the switches can't be pulled out easily from the front, which means the keyboard has to be disassembled as a first step here. This begins with the removal of eleven Phillips head screws from the back and four hex head screws on the top side where the cable comes out of. Note that one of the Phillips head screws is underneath the sticker marking the indicator LEDs, and you will have to pry it out slightly to access it. Once done, the metal plate piece can be removed from the rest of the keyboard as seen above.


This plate is also where the switches are located, with no soldering needed for contact with the PCB as with other optical keyboards. There is a thin metal sheet for grounding the plate and preventing the PCB from shorting out, and here is where we can see that the switches are held in place via extending edges in the housing such that they will remain in place when you push them in from the front. In order to remove a switch, you will have to press inward on both sides by enough to where the housing is now flush with the hole in the plate, which allows the switch to pass through completely. One such switch has been removed now, and taking that apart will provide more information about the lighting and tactile/clicky feedback mechanism.


Taking the switch apart is no different than with most others, with a two-piece housing, a stem/slider, and spring. Given this is an optical switch, we also see a prism through which the IR light goes, and the slider, when traveling past the actuation point, will interrupt its travel. The larger acrylic piece acts as a diffuser for light to pass through from the underside, so the LEDs must be located on the PCB. The bottom housing has a click bar on the same side as the acrylic pieces, with a tactile bump incorporated during the travel of the slider providing both the tactile and clicky feedback here. Willing customers will have an easier time than with most other mechanical switches when it comes to changing out the switches or even components inside the switch (say, the spring).


There are two PCBs used on the GAMDIAS Hermes P2 keyboard, a primary PCB on the bottom and a smaller, secondary PCB for the volume scroll wheel. As such, there are two internal cables to dislodge off the respective connectors here—one for the power from the keyboard cable to the primary PCB on the underside and the other that connects the two PCBs. Once done, the primary PCB can simply be lifted off the plastic case. There are two screws holding the secondary PCB in place inside the case, one of which is easily accessible and seen above, and another will become visible once the volume scroll wheel is slid off the stem it resides on. With nothing obstructing its path now, it is very easy to do so, and we see that there is also a button for the volume mute ON/OFF functionality in addition to the volume change option through the wheel's rotation.


The primary PCB, as with the secondary one, is black in color and has a semi glossy finish. Since the switches do not need to be soldered, there are very few components needing the job, and overall, the build quality and assembly is well done here. We can see the LEDs present as part of each switch spacing, with a few capacitors around the power delivery section on the back. The microcontroller can not be identified since any markings have been removed permanently; however, I did receive a data sheet from GAMDIAS that tells us that it has up to 64 KB of onboard flash ROM, 2 KB EEPROM, and an integrated RGB LED controller. There are no dedicated LED hardware drivers here, which makes that MCU all the more mission critical, and we will see on the subsequent pages how it fares.

Before we move on, be advised that disassembly will void the warranty and that TechPowerUp is not liable for any damages incurred if you decided to go ahead and do so anyway.