Dang. That’s a precious tip. Thanks. With that info, I’m going to use the only reusable part of NovelKey stabs I got: wires. F**K.
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Some random budget keyboard with ZDZ branded switches. They don’t seem similar to any of the other switches in my collection so i will try and pester the manufacturer if they can tell me who the factory is that made these switches, just for peace of mind.
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Got my aftermarket FC660C controller from Evelien@anykeys.eu
Thanks again to @Dave for pointing to Evelien in this thread.
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I’m having trouble with this one.
Using the QMK configurator, I flashed QMK as well as TMK. The flashing procedure is successful and for a brief moment, macOS recognizes the keyboard and shows a dialog of a newly connected keyboard. But no key presses are sent. Even in Karabiner event viewer no key presses are recognized.
In the log of QMK configurator I can see the TMK startup process output saying Keyboard start.
So my guess is that the controller is running the firmware but the connection from the PCB to the controller board has an issue.
Any help is much appreciated.
Thank you.
Evelien is awesome glad she had an extra or made one for you!
Not sure off the top of my head but recommend trying one of these firmwares which are known to be working (they are for vial but doesn’t matter for debugging)
Other than that usually steps change usb port and cable just to be on the safe side.
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Oh man, that’s been on my want list so long. Nice score!
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She is indeed awesome — very helpful and responsive on her discord server. The non-functioning turned out to be a solder connection problem to the microcontroller.
I meditated with intense breathing exercise for an hour in order to gain enough confidence to get out the soldering iron. Packed with enough mojo, I swiped some solder over the pins in question… success 
This reply was typed with the upgraded FC660C.
Thank you, @Dave, for the quick response and link.
You all have a great weekend.
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Soldering the mcu can be intimidating! So glad it worked out
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NK_ Dreams
AKA the lazy person’s Cream - and I sure can appreciate when somebody else does the tedious part(s).
These are bleached-white Creams broken-in from the factory at around 600,000 actuations.
I’ve never been patient enough to wear mine in, and haven’t tried ones put through a machine before, so this is my first experience with a batch of broken-in POM switches. (I managed to break-in a single Cream by using it as a fidget toy for a few weeks, but yeah.)
I’m not in a position to compare these to traditionally broken-in Creams, either pre or post re-tool, but I can definitely tell a difference between these Dreams and all the other Creams I have laying around.
So far it seems like what you’d expect;
- Very low to no grain feel in the travel
- A bit more wobble than otherwise stock Creams
- They smell funny, as is tradition
- Creamiest stock Creams yet!
If classic Creams have the color of canvas or maybe a sweet drink with coffee, Dreams look like straight non-dairy creamer.
Retracted*
They do feel dry - because they are - but it’s an exceptionally clean dry. They are essentially dry-lubricated and polished by the tiny particles that rub-off with friction, so it makes sense these leave behind the scratchy texture their fresh-from-the-mold siblings are known for.
*Edit: lol, nope I was wrong, these are not dry at all and are lightly lubed with grease.
That said, I’m really looking forward to lubing these *with something better once I’ve reviewed them in stock form.
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I got some today too, but I’m not home to test them. I own a batch from the first release, a batch of OG Nolives, and some blue launch edition. I’ll be interested to see how they compare to launch edition because that switch is remarkably smoother than the previous batches I have.
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Interesting. Those black residues are also there after polishing switches with diamond paste. Guess they injected light lube without cleaning the stem.
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So something interesting I found today; Dreams do not use the same stem that Launch Creams, Cream Arcs, and ostensibly new Creams use, but instead the same as Kaihl linears; more info here.
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I can say with confidence that I cannot tell the difference in smoothness between stock creams (launch edition) and these new broken in “dream” switches. Rather disappointing but not surprised.
If you put these up to your ear and press you can tell there is less friction. However, once you put them in a board and type like a normal human being, the difference in not really noticeable.
The new dreams seem to have more north/south wobble than previous creams.
Sound profile is pretty much the same. Perhaps deeper, but that could just be the lube.
It seems the tops are tighter, which is always good. So there’s one plus.
I would not recommend spending the extra money for these if you were hoping for something vastly superior to creams.
I need to get a full board of these to check for consistency. It could be the case that they are, as a whole, more consistently smooth than previous creams. I say that because I have noticed that some of my boards with creams have a handful of switches that are noticeably scratchier.
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But you like to do experiments so you should investigate. 
A much-needed reminder — Thank you
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