Universal Symbols

Universal Symbols let you assign punctuation that produces the same character in English and Russian operating-system layouts

A regular key sends the same HID code regardless of language, so its result depends on the active layout, while a Universal action selects the correct combination inside compatible RMK firmware

Universal Symbols are available only on Vial-RMK devices whose firmware advertises this capability to Entropy

Once assigned, Universal Symbols work autonomously in firmware and do not require Entropy to stay open

Entropy is used for configuration and automatic operating-system layout synchronization

Available symbols

The Universal picker tab contains 32 ASCII punctuation characters:

. , ; : ! ? / ` ~ ' " ( ) [ ] { } < >
- + * = # @ $ % ^ & | \ _

Compatible firmware also exposes the Russian letters х, б, ю, and ъ under Special → International, hold Shift for an uppercase letter

The picker does not include Unicode typography, arrows, mathematical signs, or extra currency symbols

Assignment

Connect a compatible RMK device
Open the required layer
Click a key on the layout
Open the Universal tab
Select a punctuation character or control action

Entropy displays these assignments with a two-line Universal legend and the selected character or action name

Combos and Tap Dance

On compatible RMK firmware, Universal Symbols and Russian letters are available beyond regular key assignments:

In Combos — as the output action
In Tap Dance — for Tap, Hold, Double Tap, and Tap + Hold actions

Entropy preserves these actions without loss when exporting and importing .entlayout files

Control actions

Action	Behavior	When to use it
`Toggle`	Toggles the English/Russian layout and firmware state	Primary manual language-switch key
`Sync`	Toggles only the firmware’s internal layout state without changing the OS layout	When the OS and firmware states no longer match
`EN`	Explicitly switches the layout and firmware state to English	Dedicated switch-to-English key
`RU`	Explicitly switches the layout and firmware state to Russian	Dedicated switch-to-Russian key
`macOS`	Toggles Russian-layout mappings between PC and macOS	Correct punctuation on macOS

Toggle, EN, and RU support autonomous use without Entropy

Sync does not send a system language switch, so it corrects firmware state without changing the layout already selected in the operating system

The macOS action changes the mapping table in firmware: leave PC mode enabled on Windows/Linux and use macOS mode on Apple computers

Layout Indicator highlights the active key, while the system language indicator makes the result of Toggle, EN, and RU visible

Layout Sync

Layout Sync reports the current operating-system layout to firmware and automatically corrects its internal state after a system language switch

Open Config → Live Features
Find Layout Sync
Make sure the row displays ready
Enable the switch
Allow Entropy to keep running in the background

With Layout Sync enabled, you can change language through the operating system and Entropy keeps firmware state synchronized

System	Data source
Windows	Foreground-window layout
KDE Plasma	Active layout over D-Bus on Wayland or X11
GNOME	Active layout over IBus D-Bus on Wayland or X11
Other Linux X11 environments	Active XKB group
macOS	Current input source

Other Linux Wayland environments may display needs setup, in which case use the firmware control actions or a supported KDE/GNOME/X11 session

Universal Symbols use IBus only as a source of GNOME layout state, while the characters themselves are produced by firmware. The separate Entropy IBus backend is installed only for Text Expander

Choosing a workflow

Entropy always runs in the background

Enable Layout Sync and switch language through the operating system as usual

Keep Sync on an accessible layer as a manual recovery action

Entropy does not run in the background

Assign Toggle or dedicated EN and RU actions so firmware can manage the language autonomously

If the language was changed by another method and punctuation becomes incorrect, press Sync once and test the output

Testing

Open a text editor
Select the English layout
Press an assigned Universal Symbol
Switch to the Russian layout
Press the same key

The same character should appear both times

If the character differs, check Layout Sync, press Sync, and verify the PC/macOS mode

If the tab is missing

Update the device’s RMK firmware to a version with Universal Symbols
Reconnect the device
Wait for Entropy to load firmware capabilities automatically after reconnecting
Make sure the device is connected through Vial-RMK rather than firmware without this capability

Settings and features Troubleshooting