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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: captain on Tue, 28 February 2012, 16:32:32

Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: captain on Tue, 28 February 2012, 16:32:32

I was sure that I'd seen talk on here about adapters, but I am not finding anything in posts or wikis. It could be that iPad is thwarting me, so I'm sorry if this is superfluous.

I have some older keyboards that I'd like to hook up to my Macs and PCs. Some of them have PS/2 interface, some are DIN5.

I have read reports of some adapters failing to convert DIN5 to PS/2 to USB, others fail even to convert DIN5 to PS/2, and even some cannot handle converting PS/2 to USB!

Ideally, I'd like one device which has two parts, so I could use the PS/2-USB part on PS/2 keyboards, and add on the DIN5 to convert to either PS/2 or all the way to USB, depending on my need at the time.

Can y'all point me in the right direction here?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: REVENGE on Tue, 28 February 2012, 16:47:17

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=PS2-to-USB+adapters
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=PS+2+Keyboard+and+Purple+Dongle+Compatibility+List
DIN5 to PS/2 adapters are passive, they only adapt the physical connection. Get whatever is the cheapest you can find on eBay, Goodwill, or your local computer store.

Looks like we need a "How to Find **** in the Wikis" wiki.

Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: fohat.digs on Tue, 28 February 2012, 19:24:17

I have been using these things

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42105[/ATTACH]

I think I bought 5 of them for $5-10 on ebay from Hong Kong and they have always worked great for me.

There are several large DIN-to-PS2 adapters in my collection, I prefer the ones with a 6" flexible cable between the ends over the single-piece kind, but all of them have worked pretty much flawlessly for me.

In fact, the only problems I have ever had were trying to run old-school keyboards with a laptop when operating on battery power.

Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: captain on Tue, 28 February 2012, 19:32:52

Quote from: REVENGE;529724

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=PS2-to-USB+adapters
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=PS+2+Keyboard+and+Purple+Dongle+Compatibility+List
DIN5 to PS/2 adapters are passive, they only adapt the physical connection. Get whatever is the cheapest you can find on eBay, Goodwill, or your local computer store.

Looks like we need a "How to Find **** in the Wikis" wiki.

Definitely a "How to find **** in the wikis via the dumbed down interface of tapatalk."

How's this for idiotic?:  the $5 "iPad HD" version dispensed with the SEARCH function that existed in the $3 iPod version. Alas, searching with the iPod version came up empty.


Thanks for the pointer!  


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Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: captain on Tue, 28 February 2012, 19:39:08

Thanks ripster. I needed, and deserved that!  :-P

Brought to you by another piece of Apple ****.

Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: captain on Tue, 28 February 2012, 19:42:41

Am I the only one who sees the painful irony of using an iPad to access a bbs about mechanical keyboards?!  :-/.

Title: DIN5 - PS/2 - USB adapters
Post by: REVENGE on Tue, 28 February 2012, 20:40:27

Quote from: ripster;529974

Ripsters Theory Of Forum Wikis (RTFW) (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?22912-Ripsters-Theory-Of-Forum-Wikis-RTFW).

Not what I had in mind.