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Author Topic: Alphasmart ADB to USB Cable with Apple keyboards  (Read 3281 times)

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Offline wrexroad

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Alphasmart ADB to USB Cable with Apple keyboards
« on: Fri, 28 February 2014, 13:10:27 »
So in another thread I mentioned that my AEK II seemed to be broken because when I connected it a computer through my ADB-USB converter nothing happened. I assumed it was the keyboard because connecting an Apple Keyboard 2 with the same converter works just fine. 

However,  in a moment of fiddling last night, I plugged in the working Apple Keyboard 2, typed for a minute, then unplugged the ADB side of the converter (leaving it still attached to the USB port) then plugged it in to the AEK II. The keyboard was suddenly working perfectly!

After some troubleshooting I found that the ADB converter would not work for the AEK unless the standard Apple Keyboard was plugged in first, then removed, then replaced with the AEK. Does anyone have some idea about why this might be? Does the standard keyboard do some sort of handshaking that wakes up the ADB? I would like to figure out a way to trick the ADB converter into working with the AEK if possible.

Also, it may be worth noting that with either keyboard, regardless of which I plug in first, the Num Lock / Scroll Lock / Caps Lock keys all flash as soon as the board is plugged in. So I know the board is receiving power in either case, just for some reason the ADB converter isn't listening until after it sees the standard keyboard.


Thanks!
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Online fohat.digs

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Re: Alphasmart ADB to USB Cable with Apple keyboards
« Reply #1 on: Fri, 28 February 2014, 16:15:37 »
I can't really speak to your actual question, but in Windows 7 I often have to plug in a keyboard via USB, hear a ding sound, and then reboot for the motherboard to actually "see" the keyboard. After the first iteration of this it seems to remember from then on.

I have only used the AEK and AEK2 with Griffin iMate and an old 2-way ADB-to-USB adapter that I used to have.
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Offline Bangledorf

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Re: Alphasmart ADB to USB Cable with Apple keyboards
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 20 April 2017, 22:45:52 »
Did you ever figure this out? I just purchased this same adapter for my old ADB keyboards, and all of them are exhibiting the exact symptoms you are describing. Unfortunately, I do not have one that works to get the adapter to "figure" it out.
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