Thanks for the review Dork! Now I know what this beast looks like on the inside, any plans for converting it to an unsaver?
You can understand some of the cost-saving measures in these days of disposable equipment, but they still use melted plastic rivets to hold the bits together? Yikes!
I'm deciding if it's worth it to modify this to a tenkeyless design.
You can understand some of the cost-saving measures in these days of disposable equipment, but they still use melted plastic rivets to hold the bits together? Yikes!
That's standard M construction. Often holds up fine for keyboards decades old.
I forgot to put this in my review, but there was one broken rivet.You can understand some of the cost-saving measures in these days of disposable equipment, but they still use melted plastic rivets to hold the bits together? Yikes!
That's standard M construction. Often holds up fine for keyboards decades old.
Did you mention something in another thread about there possibly being a jumper? Was it on the other side of the controller?(http://i.imgur.com/53y5bx2.jpg)
I just finished my first bolt mod on this unicomp and after I got everything back together, windows plays a sound every time a key is pressed but no letters register in notepad... Has anyone had a similar problem by chance?
I'm trying to make it into an unsaver, do the two sheets on the right (circled in yellow) have to be pressed together to complete the connection for the board to work or does it only require good contact at the controller?
*update: It appears that the Caps Lock is registering correctly (led turns on on controller when pressed). It's just that any other key doesn't register..Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/ll5czCG.jpg?1)
with controller connected to computer:Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/PJ16D6z.jpg)
I just finished my first bolt mod on this unicomp and after I got everything back together, windows plays a sound every time a key is pressed but no letters register in notepad... Has anyone had a similar problem by chance?
I'm trying to make it into an unsaver, do the two sheets on the right (circled in yellow) have to be pressed together to complete the connection for the board to work or does it only require good contact at the controller?
*update: It appears that the Caps Lock is registering correctly (led turns on on controller when pressed). It's just that any other key doesn't register..Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/ll5czCG.jpg?1)
with controller connected to computer:Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/PJ16D6z.jpg)
I think there's an issue with it detecting another keypress it shouldn't. I suspect it's a misalignment of the controller on the traces. You can use aquakeytest to see what else it's doing, though it can sometimes be hard to see exactly what is being pressed if it's not a key in the normal 104. EK's switch hitter keeps a log so maybe it's better for that application.
To answer your question specifically, the membranes do not need to be pressed together between the plate and plastic to function, Just the connector needs to make a good connection to the membranes. However, if they aren't flat, it can create an alignment issue which can cause problems like what you're having.
To get around your issue, you can get an old M122 and a soarer which should allow for a better positioning of the controller / switch matrix. I have an NIB M122 with domes that will finally see some use in this capacity.
The ZIF socket on the left side of the controller appears to be for a trackpoint. I bet they use this same controller for their endurapro.
Also in the picture you can see part of the controller. It's in a different location here than in older IBM designs. This was likely a cost-saving technique on the part of unicomp.