Author Topic: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB  (Read 15680 times)

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Offline elmo

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Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« on: Thu, 11 June 2020, 06:28:08 »
Hey everybody

I recently designed a new PCB for the Apple M0110a.
The project turned out really nice and the board worked perfectly.

After being asked by quite a few people if I could also create a new PCB for the M0116 I decided to go for it, got myself a really old and filthy board on eBay and went straight into it.

The PCB project is open source again and all the stuff can be found here: https://github.com/elmo-space/m0116_usb

I used the same principles that I had for the M0110a on this project. THT parts only, full size DIP ATmega32A in the same location as the original controller. That way the board keeps a kinda vintage and original looking feel.



Project images:
The board when I got it. Filthy and heavily yellowed.


Build process of the final PCB version:




The finished board:
The case and spacebar were retrobrited to remove the yellowing. The switches were thoroughly cleaned and paper modded.
Overall I am pretty happy with how the board and PCB turned out, even though the PCB has some very minor fitment issues with the top switch and the reset buttons.


Typing demo of the board:

The board also works with VIA now :D


Thanks for reading and happy clacking :D
« Last Edit: Thu, 11 June 2020, 14:34:25 by elmo »

Offline _rubik

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 13 December 2020, 14:17:19 »
Necro thread: I'm so happy this has been progressing. I bookmarked these PCBs (AEKII as well) a while ago, but I think I might print one myself and try it out  :thumb:
ai03 Meridian ¤ Mech 27 ¤ E8.5 ¤ Brutal60 ¤ SSK White Label ¤ HHKB Pro JP ¤ vAEK68 Alps Blues ¤ RF87u

Offline elmo

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 13 December 2020, 14:33:58 »
Necro thread: I'm so happy this has been progressing. I bookmarked these PCBs (AEKII as well) a while ago, but I think I might print one myself and try it out  :thumb:

The PCB works and I have successfully converted one board with that.

However the placement of the powerbutton is not ideal and I haven't found the time to go over it again to check the measurements and place it correctly.
It does fit but it sits a bit crooked on my board because of the placement.
You might want to go over that and check the positioning before ordering the PCB yourself :)

Offline _rubik

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 13 December 2020, 16:06:15 »
Necro thread: I'm so happy this has been progressing. I bookmarked these PCBs (AEKII as well) a while ago, but I think I might print one myself and try it out  :thumb:

The PCB works and I have successfully converted one board with that.

However the placement of the powerbutton is not ideal and I haven't found the time to go over it again to check the measurements and place it correctly.
It does fit but it sits a bit crooked on my board because of the placement.
You might want to go over that and check the positioning before ordering the PCB yourself :)

My kicad experience is limited to macropads, but I'll see what I can do. No promises though ;D
ai03 Meridian ¤ Mech 27 ¤ E8.5 ¤ Brutal60 ¤ SSK White Label ¤ HHKB Pro JP ¤ vAEK68 Alps Blues ¤ RF87u

Offline Applet

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 13 December 2020, 17:17:20 »
Yeah, these are great projects elmo, love the progress. I recommend yours when people ask for AEK or M0116 PCB's
« Last Edit: Sun, 13 December 2020, 17:27:35 by Applet »

Offline elmo

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 15 December 2020, 05:45:38 »
Yeah, these are great projects elmo, love the progress. I recommend yours when people ask for AEK or M0116 PCB's

thanks  :)

Offline Icemanrec

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 23 May 2021, 02:57:02 »
is there a link to the via firmware? im am trying the files in github but getting no where regarding getting via and qmk to work.

Offline elmo

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 23 May 2021, 17:18:59 »
is there a link to the via firmware? im am trying the files in github but getting no where regarding getting via and qmk to work.

the firmware for via is in the github repo. it just wasn't commited over to the qmk and via master because wilba is somewhat restrictive about personal projects being merged into via.

you just have to compile the firmware with the via keymap yourself and load the via json file in the configurator for the board to get detected.

Offline CherryMX_Rainbow

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 01 May 2022, 09:45:21 »
This is absolute amazing!  I bought a M0116 recently but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work, as the adp port seems to have failed.  How I wish you could have sold this as a kit.  :(

Offline wujack

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Re: Apple M0116 drop-in replacement PCB
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 20 July 2022, 04:01:15 »
Hi, I’m wondering if this PCB is compatible with the alps iigs keyboard? The pcbs looks really similar but I don’t have both boards to compare. Thanks!