a few decades too late, an Adam question

[towmater]

What's the deal with the two hidden keyboard keys that are only revealed when the case is opened?

Edited October 9, 2017 by towmater

[adamcon]

What's the deal with the two hidden keyboard keys that are only revealed when the case is opened?

That is a good question around which may theories swirl. Actually I think there are some pretty good theories, but at the moment I am blank on remembering them.

[TPR]

Pictures, please!

[NIAD]

Special function keys, probably, that were never implemented in the final product.

[Tempest]

Pictures, please!

 

Yeah I second that.

[Dr. D.]

Special function keys, probably, that were never implemented in the final product.

 

According to my recollection of poring over the keyboard 6801 disassembly by Chris Braymen, they are not even decoded in the row/column matrix (i.e., pressing them is not detected, and no ASCII code is assigned to them). It would not surprise me, however, if there were development versions made for R&D internal use for debugging prototype systems, to trigger breakpoints. (Some of you might remember that old Macs had "programmer buttons" on the side that could break into a running program and dump you into a debugger.) Or perhaps they were used in some final hardware test of the key/matrix units before they were assembled into cases.

 

I will dig out my 6801 listings and take a closer look. It has been over a decade...

 

*Dr. D.*

[Milli Vee]

I would be interested in knowing it too - I did see that they are not decoded when I tested them myself.

[mozartpc27]

What's the deal with the two hidden keyboard keys that are only revealed when the case is opened?

 

 

Wait, what? They ADAM has, like, wisdom teeth?

 

Pictures for sure!

[Geoff Oltmans]

I like the developer keyboard idea, and/or probably a CYA for being able to support more language layouts.