No subject


Sun Feb 20 16:52:19 PST 2005


pins just go to ground.

> 
> On Sat, Aug 30, 2003 at 11:25:36PM -0700, Kyle Rankin wrote:
> > I came across a kinda cool keyboard this weekend, and I'm wondering what
> > kind of Linux support (well really PS/2 motherboard support) I might be
> > able to expect, or at least maybe some tips.
> > 
> > The keyboard is an IBM 1394100 122 key terminal keyboard and looks
> > identical to this:
> > 
> > http://store.yahoo.com/pckeyboards/122keyterkey.html
> 
> I have something which looks very similar, except it lacks the LEDs, and uses
> an internal connector instead.  According to the sticker on the back it's a
> "Part No 1386887" and a "Model M" (AFAIK, the "Model M" bit encompasses a
> whole set of IBM keyboards, since I have at least 2 other different ones
> which are labelled "Model M" - Gotta love that mechanical key-spring action)
> Unfortunately, the date on the back of mine reads "1984", and it may not
> even totally be AT-compatible.
> 
> I tried doing a bunch of searches to at least find out info like a pinout
> for the keyboard, but to no avail.  
> 
> The internal connector on mine is a set of bare pins + a ground on the circuit
> board.  The pins look like:
> 
> 
>   *   *
>   * * *
> 
> From head on.
> 
> Unfortunately, the other end of the cable did not match any standard PC
> keyboard connector.  It most resembled the AT keyboard connector, but the
> pins were spread around a slightly greater arc of the circle than is
> normal, something like:
> 
> 
>       *               *
>                    *      *
>   *       *                 
>                   *        *
>    *     *                
> 
>     _____           _____
>       |               |
>  Terminal Kbd       PC Kbd
> 

That sounds like the XT layout to me, which preceded (and is incompatible
with) the AT connector which followed.  I believe there might be some sort
of adapter for that online though.

> 
> I have an old 10-function-key model M IBM keyboard with an almost identical-
> looking internal connector, so I tried swapping its AT keyboard cable into
> the terminal keybaord, and hooking the terminal keyboard up to an old 486.
> 
> It _sorta_ worked.  I just booted up to MS-DOS and tried typing junk and
> running programs.  Some of the keys did not generate anything visible, but
> that was to be expected.  The alphanumeric keys seemed to work ok, but 
> sometimes they would "stick", and repeat until some other key got filled,
> causing the computer to beep continuously when its buffer got filled up.
> 
> Obviously it wasn't working quite perfectly.  I then tried connecting it
> to my main system with an AT->PS/2 adapter.  My system wouldn't boot with it
> connected, no matter what I tried.  It's possible this was a weakness of
> my motherboard.  Apparently some Abit keyboards from this era are very
> finicky about which keyboards they'll handle.

Not only that, but I've had some problems getting my wife's Model M to work
with her new P4 motherboard.  Apparently there are a lot of problems
since the Model M doesn't apparently send enough voltage back through or
something along those lines.  There is a site that even goes over how to
mod the keyboard with some resistors so that you can get it to work.
Luckily my wife's motherboard was one that you could simply plug the
keyboard into the mouse PS/2 port and have it work.

> 
> At this point I gave up.  I'd still like to get the keyboard working, so
> I recently bought a PS/2 extension cable and an internal connector that'll
> fit the keyboard, and intend to try hooking it up again.  All those
> extra function keys would be great for near-mouse-free use under fvwm.
> 
> Let me know if you have any thoughts.
> 
> 
> Justin Thiessen
> thiessen at sonic.net
> _______________________________________________
> talk mailing list
> talk at nblug.org
> http://nblug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
> 

I'll probably try to hack something together this weekend if I get a
chance, and if I get something to work, I'll definitely update this thread
with the results.

-- 
Kyle Rankin (greenfly)
http://greenfly.org



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