Atari xe keyboard to usb?

[oo7]

I ended up buying a new atari 130xe so I no longer plan to revive my dead xe motherboard. This leaves me with a 65xe case and keyboard in great condition. Im thinking of putting a small laptop motherboard inside this and would like to have the keyboard function. Anyone here know how i can adapt the xe keyboard to usb?

 

I think someone once made a tiny interface board for this?

 

The board fits very nice, if i can interface the keyboard it will make a good emulation machine. Already have it in there using a wireless keyboard right now. Running win 10x64 already. Running retro arch already, running altirra already.

[TGB1718]

How about using and Arduino or something similar, use the GPIO pins to capture the keystrokes, decode

in software and send over the Arduino USB port

[Mr Robot]

Tynemouth Software in the UK used to make a xe->usb board that did both joystick ports and the keyboard out to a USB connection but they don't make it any more. 

 

You can use a teensy to interface the keyboard to usb, here's an article about it for people making their own mechanical keyboards 

https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7177&start=

 

This thread should be interesting to you as it appears that @ScreamingAtTheRadio is using a pi pico instead of a teensy so you might get some info there. 

 

[djglish]

I'm working on the same type of project on an 800XL.  I used an Arduino board to do the conversion.  I'm not sure if the keyboard connector is the same on the XE line.

Here is the link to the Youtube from DJ Sures that shows his modification of a 600XL into a RetroPi gaming system.  I used his coding for the Arduino board.  

 

Here is a picture of my 800XL so far.  The top is flipped upside-down above the main body.  I cut the keyboard connector off of a dead motherboard for the project.  

The yellow device is a Joystick adapter that I'll be hooking up to new joystick connectors on the case. The computer is a little BMax micro PC (about $135.00).  I have the BMax locked in place with 3 screw in grommits.

 

 

[Mr Robot]

32 minutes ago, djglish said:

I cut the keyboard connector off of a dead motherboard for the project.  

I really wish you hadn't done that! I have spare keyboard connectors, you could have had one. 

Did you destroy the motherboard? if you did, do you still have it? I know there are people here who would want the chips from it 

[oo7]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

will do some reading shortly when the little guy goes to bed.

 

the xe connection is different than the xl.

 

i chose to put the laptop board in as it is a good fit and very strong for retroarch its a 4 th gen i7, nvidia video and 16gb ram. Using a slim 1 tb drive.

[djglish]

I didn't learn about the fact that the keyboard connectors were available at the time.  I just followed that way that the other person had done the project.  

 

What type of board did you use that fit the case?  I kept the little BMax computer whole since I also can put it in the ST case that I did the same type of keyboard trick with.  There is a Youtube video up there of someone that used an Arduino board to build a converter for the XE.  Just watched it yesterday.  Search on Atari keyboard to USB.

[andymanone]

There is existing a USB-Mod for the XE series (65/800/130).

 

(All you need is an Arduino Leonardo Board and some electronic / soldering skills). 
 

-> Making a Retro Atari 65XE as an USB-keyboard

 

Cheers,

andY

[Mr Robot]

20 hours ago, djglish said:

I didn't learn about the fact that the keyboard connectors were available at the time.  I just followed that way that the other person had done the project. 

Sorry if I came across as overly critical, I didn't mean to, I was just saying its a pity if an Atari died and I was hoping you hadn't binned the rest as some people here would love to take it off you. 

 

[djglish]

Forgot about this thread until today.

Last fall I brought the 800XL motherboard along with me to the "Vintage Computer Fair Midwest" and did sell it for parts.  I had it priced at about $20 and it went quickly.

 

I did finish the project and have it up and running with Altirra.  I brought it to a "Wisconsin Computer Club" meeting and people thought it was cool to see the computer switch between playing Galaxian and then switch to running a Windows 10 screen.  The only thing I wish I could change was to go with an Arduino chip that would let me add in the 5 silver function keys.  An Arduino Mega might work, but I'm not sure that it would fit well into the case and I don't have the programming skills to modify the Arduino sketch to the Mega and add in the extra pins.  I did map the Silver key commands to regular Control/x-key but it would look much better to be able to hit the original keys.