Omega-TI Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 First the good news... I found some time to install my PS/2 Keyboard adapter in the TI today. I drilled a few holes... ...mounted the connector... I think it looks pretty nice... ... so I closed it all up and admired the view... And now the bad news... #1) It will not work when the both keyboards are plugged in, so I have to run without the original keyboard hooked up. #2) And the depressing one... not all the keys are functioning. At this point I'm not sure what it is, and I'm not going to screw with it for a few days. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyerd Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Looks like a wiring/soldering fault. Missing keys are all in the diagonal, guess you know that already. Don't know the project so I'm just guessing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 It looks like you lost the translation for the fourth and seventh columns. If you look at the keyboard wiring diagram for one of the old Mitsumi keyboards Radio Shack sold, it might point you to the fault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 It's probably just a couple of leads that broke on the cable during the assembly. Those old ribbon cables are quite old and brittle and I have no clue where to source a NEW one. Having a new, longer and more flexible cable would be wonderful, but I might try to recycle the one on my current keyboard, since it appears both cannot be connected at the same time, which leaves me a little disappointed. It'll be a week or two before I mess with it again though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If the connector is the IDC type, you should be able to carefully pull the individual wires off the connector. Then get a suitable length of normal ribbon cable. It will probably have two wires in the space for each connector position. So lay the end of the cable on flat surface, then using a knife cut 1/2 inch up between the wires. Then snip off every other wire and you've got a bit of ribbon cable with the same cable spacing as the connector. Fit to the connector - you'll probably need an IDC insertion tool - only a couple of $. Repeat at the other end and solder to the board. I used to have a cable that was a couple of feet long and it worked fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 The broken wire is most likely for missing keys. As for both keyboards not working at the same time, first make sure Alpha Lock on the TI keyboard is /UP/. You can't press keys on both keyboards at the same time and that counts as pressing a key, which will interfere with other column scans. Your picture is too dark for me to tell. if it's not that, I'd have to ask where you got the code that is programmed on the AVR. Older versions didn't tristate the keyboard bus in-between keypresses, which prevented having both keyboards hooked up at once. It also prevented joysticks from working for the same reason. (But the version that DOES allow it was published in 2010). Make sure Alpha Lock is up, and enter the Konami Code from the PS/2 keyboard in TI BASIC to get the version information printed to the screen. (Arrow keys - Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, then B, A, Enter). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hi Tursi, When next I open it up, I'll be sure to try it again (with alpha lock up), I truly cannot remember if I tried it both ways. What I do remember is that the space key worked once before locking up and the number 1 key worked and everything else didn't. The version I have appears to be 1.5 written in 2009. I suppose I can get the chip re-written if I had the appropriate file. Might be a good thing to do since I'm going to have to open it up and take it out again anyway. The information dumped to the screen using the code also lacked the missing characters, which makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 yeah, broken wire for sure. That may be all that's wrong. I had similar issues with my prototype boards, which I build the same way, and eventually just fixed with lots of solder. (Ugly, and made it more stiff, but it works ). Rewiring the 15 wires on the cable shouldn't take that long, either. The version on my webpage appears to be 1.5, despite the date, so I'm guessing it should be working with both keyboards. There are no later releases. http://harnlesslion.com/software/adapter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unhuman Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) The lion is harmless. Not harnless. Edited March 5, 2015 by unhuman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Unless, of course, his orignal home was on Harn. Then he could be both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Ah, I usually click the link and make sure. Ah well, it was just for reference, he already has the code. My original home was on neteng, but netenglesslion.com didn't roll off the tongue... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 (edited) It turned out that it was just the number one lead that was broken, so once the single wire was cut out of the harness and replaced it all worked fine. But then since it was open.... might as well attach to pins 4 & 6 of the CPU right? Now honestly, I have no clue what to do with the load interrupt, but that ALT-F12 combination button is BLOODY AWESOME! ** EDIT ** ... and it works great with both keyboards (as long as the alpha lock is UP). When Ksaurl gets around to making these in PCB format I highly recommend their purchase. Not only will you be able to hunker down and get more comfortable behind the keyboard for an extended session, those of you with aging keyboards will be able to prolong their life... and there will be no more 'multiple keyboard confusion'. Edited March 15, 2015 by --- Ω --- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Awesome, I'm glad to hear you get it running! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Too cool. I was interested in installing one myself back in 2011... Never got around to it though. Nowadays, I do everything in Classic99 on a slick split keyboard so I can use Notepad++, TI99Dir, and the like all at once. Almost ALL of my first game project was done on iron though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 Awesome, I'm glad to hear you get it running! ThanX... now it looks like I'm going to have to make a template strip from scratch that fits the new keyboard. I cannot find anything to custom order or download... I'll probably try again later, I spent over an hour and 15 sheets of paper to try to make a basic strip, but cannot seem to get the sizing accurate and lined up properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 Okay, this is a first attempt on a TI keyboard strip for the PS/2 keyboard. Be truthful, does it look cheap and like crap? What do you think it needs? (You'll need to click on the picture to get a decent view of the strip.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 No man... Looks legit. Congrats! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Too cool. I was interested in installing one myself back in 2011... Never got around to it though. Nowadays, I do everything in Classic99 on a slick split keyboard so I can use Notepad++, TI99Dir, and the like all at once. Almost ALL of my first game project was done on iron though. OMGHELIVES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMole Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Okay, this is a first attempt on a TI keyboard strip for the PS/2 keyboard. Be truthful, does it look cheap and like crap? What do you think it needs? (You'll need to click on the picture to get a decent view of the strip.) It doesn't look bad, but because of the two-tone keyboard you're using I think it would look heaps better if the strip was above the keys. You'd cover up your neat TI logo though . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 I think it would look heaps better if the strip was above the keys.. I think you're right. I just printed this one up real quick, didn't even take the time cut it out very well, but it DOES look better. I'll play around tomorrow, but I'm out of time today, I have to get ready and go now. Thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I think you're right. I just printed this one up real quick, didn't even take the time cut it out very well, but it DOES look better. I'll play around tomorrow, but I'm out of time today, I have to get ready and go now. Thanks for the input. What if you inverted the colors - white on black - so the entire strip looks similar to the upper, right corner? It woldn't compete so much with the silver IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 (edited) What if you inverted the colors - white on black - so the entire strip looks similar to the upper, right corner? It woldn't compete so much with the silver IMHO. You were right, but I made it a dark grey so you can still see the lines separating the boxes. On this version I made it a 3 line arrangement, the regular basic line on the bottom and the specialty strip above, in this case the 80 column version of BA-Writer. One of my pet peeves with the TI strips is always having to change them in and out, this will eliminate at least 1/2 of that. ** EDIT ** It looks FREAKING AWESOME printed out on premium glossy photo paper! Now I'll let the ink dry while I'm at work today before I try to cut it out. DONE! Edited March 18, 2015 by --- Ω --- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Good stuff! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Hey Tursi, I simply LOVE the way you mapped out the ESC key to work as FCTN 9 as well. The more I use your little invention the more I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Ohm, I really like your keyboard strips above and below the function keys, that looks great! And yeah, I've been using Esc as back for years... I'll note that Classic99 only has full keyboard emulation because of that REAL PS/2 interface, it's running the same code (mostly). So all the functions are comparable. Scroll Lock is an important one on the real PS/2 adapter, too, since it toggles the Arrow Keys between FCTN ESDX and plain ESDX. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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