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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Red October on Wed, 13 January 2016, 16:03:24
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So I picked up one of these from ebay because it was described as an AT keyboard and has the correct plug for that type, and at the price I couldn't resist it. Seems people have figured out that people collect old keyboards and now they can be found on ebay for hundreds of dollars!
Anyway, here's a link to the current auction:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honeywell-60164180-001-AT-Keyboard-115ST13-8E-1-J-/151948335455?
The one I ended up with is a revision J, not a revision C like the one pictured. Of critical note is that it doesn't appear to be an AT keyboard. I can plug it in to my machine via a DIN-to-mini-DIN (PS/2) and the LEDs blink and the one labeled "Power On" in fact lights, but none of the keys seem to produce output or change the state of the other LEDs. I opened the case up to see if perhaps there was a mode switch or something, but there are no user-manipulable controls inside. There are a few unpopulated places on the board for jumper wire, but not knowing what they do, I didn't want to jump any of them. The keyboard itself is unfortunately uninspiring to use, with mushy keys. I was hoping that this would be a "runner", but it looks like it's just another for the collection. Nonetheless I thought the folks here would like to learn about it; if there is interest I will post whatever photographs you guys may desire.
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Looks like it's better to be put here : https://geekhack.org/index.php?board=41.0
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What switches does this use? Keycaps look just like Honeywell rubber dome Oo .
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Of critical note is that it doesn't appear to be an AT keyboard. I can plug it in to my machine via a DIN-to-mini-DIN (PS/2) and the LEDs blink and the one labeled "Power On" in fact lights, but none of the keys seem to produce output or change the state of the other LEDs.
I don't know how common this is, but on my AT Zenith I had to hold the Esc key down before powering on the PC and until the OS was fully loaded for input to register.
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Of critical note is that it doesn't appear to be an AT keyboard. I can plug it in to my machine via a DIN-to-mini-DIN (PS/2) and the LEDs blink and the one labeled "Power On" in fact lights, but none of the keys seem to produce output or change the state of the other LEDs.
I don't know how common this is, but on my AT Zenith I had to hold the Esc key down before powering on the PC and until the OS was fully loaded for input to register.
I will definitely try this later tonight; also I'd like to know what the purpose is of all of the unlabeled keys?
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So here's a quick update; I tried a few things to get it working; first tried holding ESC while the machine booted, held ESC all the way from power-on to the logon prompt, but got no dice. I also tried while holding down the blank key in the upper-left corner where ESC usually is. This did not work. I also took out of the loop a KVM switch I had been using (and still have to use for my tired old M5-II as the breakout block in the cable where it goes into two separate PS/2 plugs does not fit through the hole I bored in my desk for the keyboard and mouse cables... I should fix that the next time I have a big drill bit to hand). When it was connected directly to the only PS/2 port on the mainboard I got a message at boot-up about there being no keyboard detected. All the time the "power on" lamp on the keyboard was illuminated, so from this I guess we learn that it expects power on the same pin. Next step I think is hooking it up with a scancode viewer running to see if this thing even sends recognizable scancodes. Doubt I'll go further than that as, as I've said, the keys are mushy and I don't think it will be a particularly gratifying keyboard to type/game on.
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So an update, if anyone's curious. I plugged it in to my Soarer's Converter and it worked straight away; it's using XT protocol. The keymapping was really odd, but I expected that since I didn't do anything to the programming of the Soarer's Converter. I don't know if it's possible to figure out how to make the extra keys work, but it's ultimately not awesome to type on, so it's not going to replace the Model F I'm currently typing on.
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Very cool, glad you got it working! Shame it's not a great typer. Them's the breaks :rolleyes: