Thank you! Intellivision Controllers!

+intvsteve · April 13, 2015

For teaching repair techniques still useful to this day!

So a couple weeks back, my fancy schmancy relatively new keyboard started acting up. (OK, just a MS Natural Ergonomic 4000 that's around two years old.) Spacebar wasn't working. I find out about this from one of the younglings who's panicking during a Minecraft session while I'm still at work. Those urgent cell phone calls from kids at work... yeah, not nerve-wracking at all.

When connecting the keyboard to a machine, a bunch of spaces would be entered, then stop. Hmm... Where have I seen trouble caused by an input device that seems to be constantly sending input.... (Interestingly, no 'key stuck' errors on booting...)

After taking out about eleventy billion screws, what do I find this fancy schmancy new input device? Why, it's a circuit matrix! And guess what time-honored repair technique musty old dad showed his younglings that night? Yep... Get a piece of paper. Cut to appropriate size and shape. Punch a hole in it of appropriate size and shape. Place it between the layers of the circuit matrix where there's trouble. Tah daahhh! Works like a champ!