Author Topic: Dell AT101 Space Saver (Read 82434 times)

Rotlaus · « **Reply #50 on:** Thu, 27 May 2010, 12:54:39 »

Long time Geekhack Lurker here. Inspired by all this i tried this, too. I had this lying in my cupboard:

I thought it would be a nice Idea to have PgUp/PgDown, Ins/Del and Home/end on the right side available. Opened the keyboard up and cut off the board:

I had to solder only three wires in:

The Final Layout:

The keyboard layout will be done in software. My only problem now is, where exactly to cut the case.

Thanks to all of you for your great ideas.

itlnstln · « **Reply #51 on:** Thu, 27 May 2010, 13:00:45 »

Well done. I'm actually typing on my G80-1863HUMUS-2 right now. I have all my stuff at the office (including my HHKB) boxed up and ready to move. I'll be excited to see what it looks like when you get it finished. It's not going to be much wider than an HHKB when you're done.

elbowglue · « **Reply #52 on:** Thu, 27 May 2010, 13:38:14 »

Awesome cut. I like it!

For what it's worth, if you wanted to cut the MX11800 in the same fashion (leaving one row of the numpad still on) I theorize you would have to do zero soldering and it would work just fine.

Welcome to geekhack!

Hey ripster - if you cut you ricercar spos, you can also remove the upper rim of the keyboard to reveal extra macro keys as noted in ricercar's post.. I was going to do that myself but I decided to sell it instead..

ZeNmAc · « **Reply #53 on:** Fri, 28 May 2010, 00:57:10 »

So no one exactly answered... how do you figure out where to connect the wires? You just find all the traces that were cut and solder them back together?

I've been thinking about doing something similar, but my at101w looks extremely complicated no matter where you cut it.

lmnop · « **Reply #54 on:** Fri, 28 May 2010, 21:14:52 »

can you do this with a SGI?

Rotlaus · « **Reply #55 on:** Thu, 03 June 2010, 08:38:17 »

So, i'm done:

It was a lot more difficult than i thought. The bottom part of the case is totally messed up, but i've learned much. The next will get better.

Thanks again for all the inspiration.

André

didjamatic · « **Reply #56 on:** Thu, 03 June 2010, 08:55:26 »

NIIIICE!!! That looks fantastic

aegrotatio · « **Reply #57 on:** Wed, 23 June 2010, 14:23:25 »

How do you know which wires to jumper?

elbowglue · « **Reply #58 on:** Wed, 23 June 2010, 14:25:35 »

Wow- i can't believe I missed that post above. ThAtS hOt!@!

That picture above required no soldering if i am correct?

ricercar · « **Reply #59 on:** Wed, 23 June 2010, 14:31:30 »

Yeah baby! Proof of concept. You rock.

elbowglue · « **Reply #60 on:** Wed, 23 June 2010, 14:47:25 »

Aegrotatio: If you are starting with a g80-1800 like rotlaus, make the same cut as him and the same solder points pointed out by him, then it should work.

If you are starting with a MX11800, follow my pictures and it should work. I put a picture above in the thread called "ricercar cut here" - if you cut it at where I suggested, zero soldering will be required.

How do you determine where to solder on a brand new mod? You have to trace out the traces on the PCB and reconnect anything that you have cut with a hacksaw. You sort of need to look at the board, mark a hypothetical cut point with a marker, then start labelling connections with stickers as what should connect to what..

Make sure you take some high res visible pictures of the PCB before you cut it up, in case you need to look back at the original tracings.

It is a nice coincidence that the MX11800 and the G80-1800 have a tracing pattern such that it is actually very simple to re-connect if you cut off the tenkey section. Some other boards that have the controller on the right side of the board are very tricky and complicated to re-connect.

Rotlaus · « **Reply #61 on:** Thu, 24 June 2010, 00:52:11 »

Mine needed definitely soldering, 3 wire bridges to be exactly. If someone else want to mod this specific model, i can make some pics showing where to connect the wires.

elbowglue · « **Reply #62 on:** Sat, 26 June 2010, 22:59:10 »

So I cut another one of my mx 11800 boards here:

It works great required no soldering, except for the fact that I cracked the PCB and had to repair it.

If you make the cut here, you have 4 extra keys (numpad 1, numpad 4, numpad 7, numlock) to work with, and you need to solder nothing at all.

It works! If you guys need pictures I'll post some... haven't cut the case yet.

ironman31 · « **Reply #63 on:** Sun, 25 July 2010, 13:37:07 »

A work in progress. I got the keyboard working fine, just need to make the case look halfway decent.

microsoft windows · « **Reply #64 on:** Sun, 25 July 2010, 14:23:26 »

Quote from: ricercar;195794

Show Image

Yeah baby! Proof of concept. You rock.

That keyboard looks pretty good. Just clean up that edge and it'll look like it came that way!

elbowglue · « **Reply #65 on:** Mon, 26 July 2010, 16:24:05 »

Quote from: ironman31;206272

A work in progress. I got the keyboard working fine, just need to make the case look halfway decent.

Well done ironman. Much sexier than my compaq.

ironman31 · « **Reply #66 on:** Tue, 27 July 2010, 14:03:24 »

Where is the best place I can get ABS plastic? Ebay and amazon seem kind of expensive on the shipping side...

ZeNmAc · « **Reply #67 on:** Fri, 06 August 2010, 03:24:09 »

Might as well post this here.

Maybe it needs a new thread, but I did figure out how to do it from this thread.

OP: This is what your mod inspired me to do...

...because I so love wires sticking out of my keyboard
(My apologies for the stenciling on the desk, not my choice, I don't own the desk :redface:.)

wait a sec...

Muahahaha, this is how I ended up using it normally :evil:.

And yes, I know the "b" is on the wrong side, that was intentional. It's how I learned to type.

It doesn't look nice yet because it's not finished. When first attempted this mod I had all the wires in black heatshrink and sleeved in the techflex you see there. The wires were from an old ide cable I sacrificed for this mod, that's why they're beige. I missed a few traces though so it ghosted like crazy, and I ended up forgetting about it for a month or so. Just got around to fixing it recently and had to cut out the black heatshrink and add the black wires. At least I was able to save the sleeving :ohwell:. A total of about 33 wires are needed to connect the two halves (which is luckily almost exactly the same number as in an old ide cable). I could take a pic of the pcb if anyone is interested. It was kind of tedious, but not impossible like you might think. It just takes a little patience like any keyboard mod does :tongue1:. I did have to desolder some of the switches for the keys in the middle in order to cut the metal plate.

You can see the mdf blocks I cut for a temporary stand. They work ok, but they do slide around a little when I type certain keys. TBH I don't really think I like it enough to take the time to make a permanent case for it; I don't think I like the black alps enough, but I HAD to do it :biggrin1:. I would make a case, but it would be ideal if it were adjustable and that would be somewhat complicated.

I usually use the one I modded for gaming anyway (dyed/painted keys and case with linear modded switches).

On a side note, The WASD keys are what RIT scarlet dyed at101w keys look like after about a month. That's why they ended up on my second keyboard. LCtrl and LShift are sprayed with plastidip. Too rubbery for me.

sealcouch · « **Reply #68 on:** Sat, 07 August 2010, 00:02:56 »

I'm going to be lazy and not read the rest of the thread, is this possible with a model m?

JBert · « **Reply #69 on:** Sat, 07 August 2010, 18:35:58 »

Quote from: sealcouch;210060

I'm going to be lazy and not read the rest of the thread, is this possible with a model m?

Hardly. Either you have to manage attaching wires to a plastic membrane sheet with solder printed on it or you have to remake that whole membrane.

I wouldn't recommend it - get a model M space saver instead.

WhiteRice · « **Reply #70 on:** Sun, 08 August 2010, 00:07:43 »

Can this be done with a AT101W?

ZeNmAc · « **Reply #71 on:** Sun, 08 August 2010, 01:01:36 »

Quote from: JBert;210233

Hardly. Either you have to manage attaching wires to a plastic membrane sheet with solder printed on it or you have to remake that whole membrane.

I wouldn't recommend it - get a model M space saver instead.

Maybe. Depends though. I've heard of people rolling up the membrane sheet, but not sure if that's possible with the model m. If so it'd be even easier, just saw off the keys, buckling springs, and domes, then roll up the membrane and fix the case. No soldering involved.

I'd give it a try. It's worth attempting for 15 bucks vs. 200.

Quote from: WhiteRice;210316

Can this be done with a AT101W?

Probably, you'd have to check the pcb though, I noticed some resistors around the tenkey that I'm not sure if matter.

Findecanor · « **Reply #72 on:** Sun, 08 August 2010, 04:06:54 »

Can a few circuits on a membrane be rubbed off, and new traces be drawn using some kind circuit pen, conductive glue or paint?

ironman31 · « **Reply #73 on:** Sun, 22 August 2010, 01:53:27 »

So I found pretty much an unlimited supply of abs plastic. Some of the washer manufacturers use a large piece of abs plastic to hold the drum in place when they ship. And since I work at an appliance store... will be getting plenty of them.

So I applied it to that cherry keyboard I was working on. Didn't spend the time to make it look nice though.

elbowglue · « **Reply #74 on:** Sun, 22 August 2010, 22:37:16 »

Hey ironman, where did you get that g80-11900 HRMUS from? that's hot too. It uses cherry blacks right? Board does not have NKRO correct?

ironman31 · « **Reply #75 on:** Mon, 23 August 2010, 10:21:17 »

I bought a lot of two on ebay a little while ago. My cousin is using this one atm, and the other one is a key slave. and yeah, they both use blacks. have not tested nkro yet, for i never really used the boards.

Findecanor · « **Reply #76 on:** Sat, 11 September 2010, 08:47:21 »

I had bought a cheap German Compaq MX11801 on ebay.de. First I modded it like elbowglue and Ricercar have shown earlier in this thread. Then, I concidered adding Pg Up/Pd Down into the space above the right arrow, because I did not like their original position so far away.. but it turned out to become a full six-key cluster, made from a part of the numpad and epoxied to the side of the main circuit board.

Unfortunately, to make room, I had to cut and rewire a couple of leads leading to the arrow keys and the bottom row. I did manage to save one lead on the right side leading to the arrows, by instead cutting more off the num pad's board.
In retrospect, I think that it would have been a good idea to have used ribbon cables, so that I did not have to route so many individual cables half-way across the keyboard. I did take advantage of the holes that were in the circuit board, and I did take advantage of similarities in the num pad's matrix and the original nav-cluster's matrix.

About half of my rewired leads, though, are because I had managed to overheat and destroy a soldering pad that I had originally intended to use. I have to read up on how to desolder and solder correctly so that I won't make such a mess the next time.

I have sanded away the Compaq logo from the case. I have not decided whether I want to use model putty/paint or ABS sludge/Vinyl dye to hide my plastic surgery. After that, I think I'll make this my "daily driver" at work instead of the rubber dome that I use there now.

ironman31 · « **Reply #77 on:** Sat, 11 September 2010, 09:40:08 »

looking good. When I used ABS sludge it came out a little lighter than expected. I'm not sure if that'll be a problem with a white keyboard

WhiteRice · « **Reply #78 on:** Sat, 11 September 2010, 11:17:23 »

The trick to desoldering is after removing most of the solder, heating up the contact and using a tool simultaneously to move it while the solder is still hot. This works especially well for bent pins.

elbowglue · « **Reply #79 on:** Sat, 09 October 2010, 20:10:53 »

Quote from: Findecanor;221957

Show Image

CeeSA · « **Reply #80 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 04:10:49 »

i follow this thread and cut of the numpad from my G80-1800 (solder 5 cables).
i am very satisfied with the outcome.

but i would like to have a cherry blue mx to test and tenkyless.
so i ordered a Cherry G80-3000LSCDE-2 for cutting.

yesterday i open the parcel and a few moments later the keyboard.
bad fail - the keyboardcontroller is soldered direct above the numpad

thats to mutch for me to solder :/
so i have to order an expensive filco....

somebody know tenkyless kbd with cherry blue beside the ones listed in the wiki?

keyb_gr · « **Reply #81 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 04:47:43 »

The way to go would be swapping switch innards here, so you get a G80-1800 with blues.

CeeSA · « **Reply #82 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 05:06:02 »

swapping the switches from the plates...
that is also mass todo, hmm

keyb_gr · « **Reply #83 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 10:40:54 »

Quote from: CeeSA;236672

swapping the switches from the plates...
that is also mass todo, hmm

No, I meant opening each switch and swapping out the slider and spring. Some folks around here have done it, there may also be a writeup somewhere. It seems reasonably easy for PCB-mounted switches like your two boards have, even though you're probably well advised to do one at a time and take care that the springs don't jump away and get lost (they're like really small - a magnet could be handy).

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #84 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 10:40:57 »

Awesome thread. I like the idea of 'rolling up' the unused portion of the Model M membrane. Has anyone actually tried it?

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #85 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 13:18:56 »

Quote from: Shawn Stanford;236796

Awesome thread. I like the idea of 'rolling up' the unused portion of the Model M membrane. Has anyone actually tried it?

Yes :becky:

Shhh...

CeeSA · « **Reply #86 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 13:24:29 »

Quote from: keyb_gr;236795

No, I meant opening each switch and swapping out the slider and spring. Some folks around here have done it, there may also be a writeup somewhere. It seems reasonably easy for PCB-mounted switches like your two boards have, even though you're probably well advised to do one at a time and take care that the springs don't jump away and get lost (they're like really small - a magnet could be handy).

ahh, get it - i will try, thank you

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #87 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 15:47:01 »

Quote from: Daniel Beaver;236875

Yes :becky: Shhh...

Awesomesauce!

But...

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #88 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 17:32:48 »

Still a work in progress - I need to attach the far right end-piece, and make it look all pretty. Everything is functional, though. A layer of packing tape between the mylar sheets prevents phantom keystrokes from the numpad.

elbowglue · « **Reply #89 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 18:37:16 »

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #90 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 19:24:19 »

There we go, proof of concept. The seam is pretty awful, but it's good enough for my own use. I'll probably make that cut with a bandsaw next time, and use some MEK to weld the pieces together. I wanted to preserve the legs on the right side, but I can't think of a good way to do that which doesn't get in the way of the supports.

WhiteRice · « **Reply #91 on:** Thu, 21 October 2010, 20:00:12 »

Did you just ruin the model M space saver market?

Or create a new one for mini mods...

Shawn Stanford · « **Reply #92 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 07:20:17 »

He made it possible for folks who want to use them to have them. Collectors are still going to go the the real thing and keep prices nice and high.

Of course, once he gets the technique down, he can probably double his money on any Model M he buys off the 'bay. Obviously, not everyone who wants a Space Saving is a GHer or a collector.

I am absolutely going to try this. I'll post pics when I'm done.

WhiteRice · « **Reply #93 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 08:37:16 »

Quote from: Shawn Stanford;237181

He made it possible for folks who want to use them to have them. Collectors are still going to go the the real thing and keep prices nice and high.

Of course, once he gets the technique down, he can probably double his money on any Model M he buys off the 'bay. Obviously, not everyone who wants a Space Saving is a GHer or a collector.

I am absolutely going to try this. I'll post pics when I'm done.

Good point. I kinda wish I didn't sell my full size M now; I would like to try it as well. Make a personalized mini without fear of ruining my stock case.

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #94 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 10:57:32 »

Shawn basically summed it up. I wanted a mini. Now I have a mini. If I make a nice one, I might be able to sell it. But it's not a real mini.

sealcouch · « **Reply #95 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 12:42:54 »

I bought an extra model m to try this but I've been nervous. I am going to try it when I get home this weekend.

sealcouch · « **Reply #96 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 20:53:02 »

Also, how could I make it look seamless? To make it actually look like a mini.

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #97 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 21:30:09 »

Quote from: sealcouch;237546

Also, how could I make it look seamless? To make it actually look like a mini.

Sure, though it would probably require some painting and a filling agent to achieve that effect.

Findecanor · « **Reply #98 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 22:23:48 »

There is "crinkle paint" that can achieve the textured effect on the front of the keyboard.
I have only a very small amount of black, that I got from a guy in Britain who claims that he got it from a guy who restores old cars. That is the only lead I've got, I'm afraid.
It could be a bit tricky to use, though, because the thickness of the layer of paint defines how large crinkles that will form when the paint dries. I was painting a cylindrical object, and I quickly learned that I could not paint it in squirts from three sides -- the areas where my painting overlapped got crinkles that were three times as large as the others! I had to build a motorized rig to be able to paint it in a single sweep. I suppose that painting just the top of a keyboard would be easier to do in one sweep.

Another method could be to use epoxy putty and a rubber stamp. First lay some latex rubber or silicone onto a piece of textured plastic and let cure. Then lay down epoxy putty on the area that you want textured, wet it thorougly (because water makes epoxy putty soft and slippery) and press your flap of rubber onto it. If it does not look right, you can smooth over the epoxy clay/putty and try again.

On my Compaq MX-11801, I did not care about replicating the texture, as it was quite fine. I used only ABS (from cut off pieces of the case) dissolved in acetone as putty and then filed and sandpapered it smooth. I figured that I would paint it with Vinyl Dye, but right then the supplier of the chain of shops that I was going to buy it in decided not to stock it any more ... and I can't find another source of it in Sweden. Gah!
I doubt that the stamp method would work with ABS/acetone sludge, though. ABS sludge needs to cure properly, and it changes it shape while it does so. Be extra careful with ABS sludge so that you don't lay on too large 'a layers -- that may never dry. It can also shrink considerably when it dries.

Daniel Beaver · « **Reply #99 on:** Fri, 22 October 2010, 23:46:19 »

I like that stamp idea. I couldn't think of a way of replicating the texture. I also suck at painting.

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Author Topic: Dell AT101 Space Saver (Read 82434 times)