ISO Model M SSK?

[TheSven]

Hi there
I was just wondering if IBM ever made a  British ISO Model M Space Saving Keyboard. And if so what was the Model No.? If not, is there any way to convert the ANSI model to ISO.
On another note, if I plug a US ANSI keyboard into a system but say it is a UK layout in control panel, will it recognise as a British keyboard and work like one, with " on the 2 key, etc.
Any help is appreciated,
TheSven

[CPTBadAss]

ISO SSKs definitely exist, I just can't find the part number at the moment. This thread should be able to help you though. Or perhaps you can find it on clickykeyboards.com.

That DT thread also states that you can convert ANSI to ISO but the link is dead. I suspect it's simply adding a barrel and moving some of the little white stabilizers around.

I don't know about that US ANSI to UK layout question though.

[skcheng]

An old thread of mine.   But check out post #62, German ISO SSK.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=9447.60

Also have the Italian version.   Same board.    And both NIB.   

[madhias]

Wow, just read your thread, skcheng! Interesting pictures and information. I have two SSKs, one from '88 and one from '91. The '91 model is much nicer, as it has these thin dark blue/violet legends and a beige frame.

I also saw an industrial SSK not long ago.

[EDIT] This one (image from tinnie):

[E TwentyNine]

Hi there
I was just wondering if IBM ever made a  British ISO Model M Space Saving Keyboard. And if so what was the Model No.? If not, is there any way to convert the ANSI model to ISO.
On another note, if I plug a US ANSI keyboard into a system but say it is a UK layout in control panel, will it recognise as a British keyboard and work like one, with " on the 2 key, etc.
Any help is appreciated,
TheSven

There's always a way to convert any Model M (except maybe the M15) between ANSI/ISO via a bolt mod and some relocation of pivot plates/springs.

I wouldn't do it to an SSK unless it needed the bolt mod for other reasons.

And yes, you can tell the OS what language/layout your keyboard is to get it to recognize keys properly.

[TheSven]

Wow, just read your thread, skcheng! Interesting pictures and information. I have two SSKs, one from '88 and one from '91. The '91 model is much nicer, as it has these thin dark blue/violet legends and a beige frame.

I also saw an industrial SSK not long ago.

[EDIT] This one (image from tinnie):

Show Image

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, don't suppose you could tell me the part no.?

[snoopy]

Wow, just read your thread, skcheng! Interesting pictures and information. I have two SSKs, one from '88 and one from '91. The '91 model is much nicer, as it has these thin dark blue/violet legends and a beige frame.

I also saw an industrial SSK not long ago.

[EDIT] This one (image from tinnie):

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, don't suppose you could tell me the part no.?

I can do... 

[TheSven]

Wow, just read your thread, skcheng! Interesting pictures and information. I have two SSKs, one from '88 and one from '91. The '91 model is much nicer, as it has these thin dark blue/violet legends and a beige frame.

I also saw an industrial SSK not long ago.

[EDIT] This one (image from tinnie):

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, don't suppose you could tell me the part no.?

I can do... 

Show Image

Thank you very much :). Reason is, Unicomp do a replace thing and if I could get the model no., I could buy one from there. I love the TKL form factor and my UK layout. So it's that or find someone selling one? But if the OS can recognise a US keyboard as a UK keyboard when I tell it to, it shouldn't matter too much.

[CPTBadAss]

Um....I highly doubt you'll find an ISO Industrial SSK easily. I suggest looking through skcheng's thread to find a picture with the part number.

[ezrahilyer]

I would re-iterate that is completely possible to change from ANSI to ISO and ISO to ANSI by moving a few hammers, but yes you will have to be doing a bolt-mod at the same time.
As long as you select UK layout in your computer you will get the proper char when you press the key, you can test this by changing the layout setting of your current keyboard to something else and typing away.
I used to change co-workers layouts to Dvorak to drive them nuts, then go to their computers and show them that it 'works just fine' by touch typing Dvorak.

[TheSven]

I would re-iterate that is completely possible to change from ANSI to ISO and ISO to ANSI by moving a few hammers, but yes you will have to be doing a bolt-mod at the same time.
As long as you select UK layout in your computer you will get the proper char when you press the key, you can test this by changing the layout setting of your current keyboard to something else and typing away.
I used to change co-workers layouts to Dvorak to drive them nuts, then go to their computers and show them that it 'works just fine' by touch typing Dvorak.

Yes, I tried that just now

[madhias]

Wow, just read your thread, skcheng! Interesting pictures and information. I have two SSKs, one from '88 and one from '91. The '91 model is much nicer, as it has these thin dark blue/violet legends and a beige frame.

I also saw an industrial SSK not long ago.

[EDIT] This one (image from tinnie):

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, don't suppose you could tell me the part no.?

I can do... 

Show Image

I'm getting tired of asking when to see some more pictures  :)

[snoopy]

Wow, just read your thread, skcheng! Interesting pictures and information. I have two SSKs, one from '88 and one from '91. The '91 model is much nicer, as it has these thin dark blue/violet legends and a beige frame.

I also saw an industrial SSK not long ago.

[EDIT] This one (image from tinnie):

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for, don't suppose you could tell me the part no.?

I can do... 

Show Image

I'm getting tired of asking when to see some more pictures  :)

soon...

 :))

[Daniel Beardsmore]

On another note, if I plug a US ANSI keyboard into a system but say it is a UK layout in control panel, will it recognise as a British keyboard and work like one, with " on the 2 key, etc.

Not correctly, no. ANSI has the least number of keys (101/104/87) compared with ISO (102/105/88) and JIS (105/108/91) so it is fundamentally impossible to use an ANSI keyboard as ISO: one key from the keyboard won't exist. As I recall, you lose backslash if you do that, so you'll need to remap the keyboard to optimise the layout for the keys you actually want.

[TheSven]

Not correctly, no. ANSI has the least number of keys (101/104/87) compared with ISO (102/105/88) and JIS (105/108/91) so it is fundamentally impossible to use an ANSI keyboard as ISO: one key from the keyboard won't exist. As I recall, you lose backslash if you do that, so you'll need to remap the keyboard to optimise the layout for the keys you actually want.

I never use backslash anyway

[Daniel Beardsmore]

heretic