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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: sexzual on Mon, 08 October 2018, 00:19:30

Title: Strange wyse / esprit keyboard conversation
Post by: sexzual on Mon, 08 October 2018, 00:19:30

Pics here: http://imgur.com/a/BCxNQrt

Anyone ever have any luck converting one of these to USB? It's an esprit / wyse lr54106. Uses the standard wyse 4p4c connector, but doesn't work when plugged into a soarers wyseverter. At least not when it's wired to work with other wyse boards. Was going to try hooking it up to a standard soarers converter, as it's 4 wires, but weirdly enough the two middle wires are soldered together / jumped where they are first soldered to the board ( see pic for details - top left corner)

Any suggestions?

Title: Re: Strange wyse / esprit keyboard conversation
Post by: sexzual on Tue, 09 October 2018, 23:34:23

Update: I'll send one of these to anyone who helps me convert it for the cost of shipping for helping me out

Title: Re: Strange wyse / esprit keyboard conversation
Post by: abrahamstechnology on Mon, 22 October 2018, 09:56:25

It has a voltage regulator, so the input it wants is probably more than 5 volts.

Title: Re: Strange wyse / esprit keyboard conversation
Post by: ErgoMacros on Mon, 22 October 2018, 15:04:41

Disclosure: I have not done his before.

I guess my approach to this would to treat it like a "hand-wired" project.
1. Remove the existing controller  (40-pin, lop left of the PBC) and replace it with a socket
2. Map put which pins are for the rows, which for the columns, and for now ignore the LEDs
3. Given the required # of rows and columns (sum=rows+columns) will tell you the minimum number of IO pins your controller needs.
   Looks like you have 100 keys, so 10 rows + 10 columns or 20 IO pins is the least it could be configured for, but more likely it's
   something like 5-6 rows * 20 columns requiring 25 or 26 IO pins needed
4. Get a capable controller (Teensy perhaps? with enough pins. Summary here: https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/pinout.html) or maybe you can use the soarer?
5. Configure QMK or TMK to set the row and column pins used
6. Add the key-map
7. Cross-connect the needed Teensy pins to the existing controller socket. Don't connect anything other than the keyboard scan matrix.

Later, maybe, try to add the LEDs too.

It's a bit of work, but should be possible.
All the beast.

Title: Re: Strange wyse / esprit keyboard conversation
Post by: abrahamstechnology on Mon, 22 October 2018, 15:14:27

I'd talk to snacksthecat on Deskthority, he has successfully converted many terminal boards in the past.

Title: Re: Strange wyse / esprit keyboard conversation
Post by: ErgoMacros on Fri, 26 October 2018, 13:23:32

Here's someone with, essentially, my suggested approach.
  https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=97885.0;topicseen