feat: flashing terms/bootloader guide

Author: kdb424

guides/flashing_terms.md

@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+---
+title: Flashing keyboards and you
+description: Everything you could want to know about flashing terms.
+author: Boardsource
+subcategory: easy
+draft: false
+tags: 
+- learning
+---
+
+ # Welcome to the ultimate flashing terms guide
+
+ By the end of this you should know everything you could ever want to know about
+ the basics of flashing keyboards.
+
+ Table of contents:
+ * [What is flashing](#what-is-flashing)
+ * [What is a microcontroller](#what-is-a-microcontroller)
+ * [What is a firmware](#what-is-a-firmware)
+ * [What is a bootloader](#what-is-a-bootloader)
+
+## What is flashing
+
+"Flashing" is a term that is used to refer to putting code onto a
+microcontroller (read what this is below). Because these are fully programmable,
+it's up to us to choose what we want them to do! Depending on your firmware
+(also defined below), there will be a few different steps on how to get this
+code, but over all, the process of flashing is just to let the keyboard know
+it's actually a keyboard, and that's how you want it to act.
+
+## What is a microcontroller
+
+A microcontroller is basically "the brains" of the operation. There are many out
+there, but they all serve the same purpose in the end. To turn our thing that
+looks like a keyboard, into something that knows it's a keyboard! Sometimes the
+microcontroller is built into the keyboard itself, and sometimes you have to
+solder a "generic" microcontroller onto the keyboard itself. The microcontroller
+choice is important to you as it is what decides what all features the keyboard
+could have in terms of being bluetooth, or how much storage you have for things
+like screen images. It can also change what kind of firmware is supported if you
+have a preference between them. We'll cover that in a bit.
+
+### Common generic microcontrollers
+
+Most commom microcontrollers for keyboards are based on the Pro Micro pinout.
+That means that any keyboard that can take a Pro Micro controller can also have
+these installed instead. While the pro micro is the historical choice for
+keyboards, it's quite limited these days, so we have many more options. 
+
+| Features    | Boardsource Blok | Other RP2040 Controllers | Pro Micro/ Elite-c | Nice!Nano |
+|-------------|------------------|--------------------------|--------------------|-----------|
+| CPU Cores   | 2                | 2                        | 1                  | 2         |
+| CPU Speed   | 133MHz           | 133MHz                   | 16MHz              | 64MHz     |
+| RAM         | 264KB            | 264KB                    | 32kb               | 265Kb     |
+| ROM         | 16MB             | 8MB                      | 1KB                | 1MB       |
+| KMK Support | Yes              | Yes                      | No                 | No        |
+| QMK Support | Yes              | Yes                      | Yes                | No        |
+| ZMK Support | Yes*             | Yes*                     | No                 | Yes       |
+
+* ZMK does not at the moment support split keyboards with a wire. You must use
+  bluetooth for split keyboards, and anything with Yes* marked, will not work
+  for split keyboards on ZMK specifically. This may change at a later date.
+
+### Firmware overviews
+
+You can read a bit more about firmwares at these links. Hopefully they can
+provide some information to you on which firmware you should choose, or which
+controller may be suited if you have a choice on controllers. Integrated boards
+will tell you which they have on the sales page usually. Anything sold at
+Boardsource integrates a Blok for keyboards with a wire, or a Nice!Nano for
+anything sold as wireless.
+
+- [QMK firmware](https://www.boardsource.xyz/docs/guides-what_is_qmk) 
+- [KMK firmware](https://www.boardsource.xyz/docs/guides-what_is_kmk) 
+- [ZMK Firmware](https://www.boardsource.xyz/docs/guides-what_is_zmk) 
+
+There are graphical front ends to make it easier to configure keyboards as well.
+These are built on top of the firmware's listed above, so compatibility should be
+checked for those, but just to be sure to include them, I'll list them below.
+
+- [Peg](https://getpeg.xyz/) Built on top of KMK firmware
+- [VIA](https://www.caniusevia.com/) Built on top of QMK
+- [Vial](https://get.vial.today/) Built on top of QMK
+
+## What is a bootloader
+
+Now that we know what firmware there is, and we have the file we want, we need
+to actually flash the keyboard! This is where bootloader comes in. There's 2
+real modes for a your keyboard to be in. Acting like a keyboard, and waiting for
+the new code to run your keyboard on. It can't do both at the same time
+(usually, expections are listed later). In order to get your keyboard ready to
+get into bootloader, there's a few ways depending on your controller. Most
+keyboards you can quickly double tap the reset button on the keyboard's PCB.
+This will take you into the bootloader. If you have a blok, integrated
+controller keyboard, or nice!nano, you will probably see a new "flash drive"
+appear on your system. It's usually called RPI-RP2, or NiceNano or something
+similar. If you have an older board, or Pro Micro or Elite C, you will not see
+this drive, and a new serial device will appear. If you have a serial device,
+you are using QMK and the tools should find it automatically. Blok can also boot
+into bootloader by holding the BOOT button on the edge of the board. Don't get
+it mixed up with the other reset button back there or it won't work.
+
+### KMK and bootloader
+
+KMK/Peg break the rule of needing to be in bootloader to flash, most of the
+time. If you want to switch from another firmware to KMK/Peg, you'll need to
+flash it's "hypervisor" in the bootloader, but it's no more difficult than
+dropping a file on just like any other firmware. You also may want to get
+updates for it every once in a while. Further instructions for that process can
+be found [here](https://getpeg.xyz/docs/board-update) and are only needed for KMK/Peg.
+
+
+## Wrap up
+
+That should be almost everything you need to know about the basics of flashing
+basically any controller, and how to get into the bootloader. Feel free to reach
+out on our discord if you have any further questions or issues! We'll be glad to
+help you out.