CherryPi - Waiting on Boards

[Neebio]

Ahoy friends, so I've got this crazy plan to pick up one of those used G80-11900LUMEU-2's from that guy on ebay (here) and this is basically what I want to do with it:

Behold, the CherryPi^TM!



Keeping the touchpad functional is essential, and obviously the thing needs to work when connected to the Raspberry Pi.  I don't mind doing some/a lot of direct wiring, etc.  I would reroute the usb connection from external to internal, directly to the raspberry pi, consuming one of the two USB ports.  The second usb port would be connected to a powered usb hub, which itself will supply power to the RPi.  The HDMI, 3.5mm audio, USB ports (of the hub) and LAN port would be exposed at the back of the keyboard (probably using M/F cables attached to the case).  The three main status LEDs of the RPi would be moved/repeated on the case surface (PWR, HDD, LAN).

What I am currently wondering about is:

- Can I feasibly reuse the original controller if I move (and remove) a couple keys (ie,move: print screen, insert, delete, home, end, pgup, pgdn, remove: scroll lock, pause/break)
- If I can't reuse the original controller, can the touchpad be connected to a new controller?
- Is the PCB simple enough to allow for sections to be removed and direct wired back to functionality? Traces easy to follow, modify?

If you own one of these boards or happen to know a bit about them and can answer any of these questions (or just want to share something about the idea) please let me know!

[Findecanor]

- Is the PCB simple enough to allow for sections to be removed and direct wired back to functionality? Traces easy to follow, modify?

I don't think that you can cut such a large part from the PCB without making reconnection of some important traces very difficult. The connector for the ribbon cable to the controller is right there, for instance.
I am not 100% sure, but there might be room for the Raspberry Pi underneath the main circuit board if you replace the controller with a Teensy/Teensy++ tucked somewhere else. There have been discussions about putting a Raspberry Pi into a G80-3000 which is just as deep and high, but I have not seen any results.

A common mod that people have done on that board and the G80-11800 (which has a similar PCB) is to remove the trackball/trackpad and the number pad.
See the old Dell AT101 Space Saver thread for several examples of that mod, and other mods for making keyboards smaller.
Unfortunately, a lot of images in that thread have expired.

By the way, there could be unused switch positions below the Escape key and between those keys and the function keys. There is also an unused switch position below the Pause key.
I once soldered key switches there on my winkeyless G80-11800, and pressed some ... which crashed the original controller..  )

[Neebio]

Thanks for the insight Findecanor.  The location of the Raspberry Pi isn't necessarily a must to have there, especially if that's where the controller is...  If it would work better, might be able to push the new large function grouping to the right and put the RPi in between the Esc and function group.

Unless somebody can post some good high quality images of the PCB from the top and bottom, I may just have to buy one and check it out to see how doable it is...

[xavierblak]

Unless somebody can post some good high quality images of the PCB from the top and bottom, I may just have to buy one and check it out to see how doable it is...

This is going to be your best bet. I did some quick googling and didn't turn up any images of the pcb.

Cool project. I'll be looking forwards to seeing where this goes. 

[McWilloughby]

Good luck with the project. I'm probably being dumb but which pcb is it that you need high resolution photos of? I've got a RasPi so I can provide them if that's what you were wanting.

[xavierblak]

Good luck with the project. I'm probably being dumb but which pcb is it that you need high resolution photos of? I've got a RasPi so I can provide them if that's what you were wanting.

He needs a shot of the keyboard's pcb. He wants to modify the internals so he might have to remove parts of the keyboard's pcb to make it fit.

Edit:
Just a heads up I was just scanning through the great finds thread where these boards are posted and someone posted a decent pcb shot of the top. You'd probably still need to see the bottom. But it looks like the keyboard's controller is mounted right where you want to put the Pi. So that means all the rows and columns are coming back to that point on the pcb. Meaning that would probably be a bad place to cut the pcb.

[Neebio]

Just ordered three of those G80-11900 boards... so this is probably happening one way or another.  When I eventually get around to doing it, I'll probably end up making a new thread anyways...

[Pacifist]

Don't think the Pi can fit in em.

The controller is there, and its pretty big

[Neebio]

One of these boards will have unmentionable things done to it's internals.  It'll fit...

[Pacifist]

One of these boards will have unmentionable things done to it's internals.  It'll fit...

Just noticed you are going to use a teensy. Good luck