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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: lam47 on Mon, 26 January 2009, 18:45:49

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: lam47 on Mon, 26 January 2009, 18:45:49

In linux I can use the mouse PS2 port for a second keyboard but in vista it does not work.
Is there a way to run them both?

I have some little PS2 to USB adapters but they also dont seem to work with any of my keyboards.
However if I try them on the xbox they work fine.

Any ideas?

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: bhtooefr on Mon, 26 January 2009, 19:21:25

Pics of the "little PS2 to USB adapters?" The little tiny ones tend to just be pin converters... but that'd be odd, unless the Xbox's USB host ports can also act as a PS/2 host for some reason.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: lam47 on Mon, 26 January 2009, 19:24:38

I will have to take some pictures in the morning as it quite late and Ella is asleep.
It does seem off though.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: cmr on Mon, 26 January 2009, 19:33:06

Quote

In linux I can use the mouse PS2 port for a second keyboard

now this i have got to try.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: cmr on Mon, 26 January 2009, 19:35:25

yep. a dell crapmaster in each port!

this is typedd through the mouse port (this keyboardddddddddddddddddd has got a sticky "dddd" key)

and this is typed through the keyboard port!

interesting.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: lexicon on Mon, 26 January 2009, 21:09:13

Doesn't seem to work on my machine, a Dell 4700 running Ubuntu.  Bummer.  Although I'm not sure why I want it to.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: cmr on Mon, 26 January 2009, 22:45:30

mine is an MSI P45 of some kind. there's too much crap jammed into the case for me to get the actual model number right now.

incidentally, its PS/2 keyboard port will also handle a model M. i haven't plugged my M into the mouse port so i don't know about that.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: lam47 on Tue, 27 January 2009, 06:33:23

This is my adapter

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/laurie47/DSC00122-2.jpg)

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: Therac-25 on Tue, 27 January 2009, 08:24:06

Quote from: lam47;19825

This is my adapter

Those won't work.  Those are just pass-throughs, because the USB controller can figure out if it's talking to a PS2 keyboard, and then automatically change into a PS2 port.

You want something that looks like this:

(http://www.usb-ware.com/images/uc451-200.gif)

This has circuitry on board that reads the PS2 keyboard and implements a real USB client device.  The ones you have just passthrough the PS2 protocol to the USB port, and rely on the USB port to do the magic.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: Chloe on Tue, 27 January 2009, 08:37:51

I have one of those dual PS/2 adaptors. I prefer to use PS/2 directly because it has really limited NKRO on certain key combinations.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: bhtooefr on Tue, 27 January 2009, 11:06:04

In that case, your Xbox actually does have a PS/2 controller, and it can control a USB port (if a PS/2 device is plugged into a USB port.)

Usually, it's not the USB host that it's expecting to do the magic, but the device - the device uses unused PS/2 pins for USB signals, and if there's anything on those pins, the device runs in USB mode.

Title: 2 x ps2 keyboards at once
Post by: lam47 on Thu, 29 January 2009, 09:16:33

Well its interesting to know that they have put that functionality into the 360.
Thanks.