1/29/2026 - The tough part

Building this hackpad was a relentless series of challenges, starting with a horrible soldering iron from Amazon that died on the second day. I had to wait three more days for a replacement from a local shop just to get started. As a first-timer, soldering the keys was nerve-wracking because I was constantly terrified of messing up the entire board. Just when I thought I was making progress, I realized the PCB was missing a GND trace connecting the XIAO to the switches. I felt like the whole project was a disaster, but I was suggested to use a copper wire as a bypass. This caused another delay because I didn't have any wire on hand, and once I finally bought some, the process became a mess. The 1mm copper wire was far too thick for the tiny pins, resulting in some very messy solder joints.

Once I finally soldered the XIAO, I was hit with more frustration when SW3 and SW4 failed to work.

1/31/2026 - Firmware Fixes, and Final Assembly Issues

I spent the next day debugging the hardware, only to realize the issue was actually in the firmware; the pin naming was wrong. Fixing the code and finally seeing all the switches work was a huge relief, but that happiness vanished the moment I tried to fit the PCB into the case. It was way too tight because I hadn't added enough clearance in the design. I ended up having to use my soldering iron to melt the 3D-printed plastic just to force it in. Now, the PCB is stuck at an angle because of that thick copper wire underneath, which means I can't even attach the top plate. Overall, I’m pretty disappointed with this build. That missing GND trace caused so much unnecessary pain, and I honestly don’t know how the reviewers managed to leave such a major flaw unnoticed.