Cherry G80-3000

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Cherry G80-3000
Cherry 3000 front.jpg
Model no. MX 3000
Part number G80-3000*
FCC ID GDD5YOG80-3000
Manufacturer Cherry
Layouts Standard ISO and ANSI / 101-105 keys
Keyswitches Cherry MX
Interface AT and PS/2, later versions have USB/PS/2 combo.
Power draw USB version: 20/161 mW (no/all LEDs)
Years of production 1988–present
Price $104.50 (1992)[1]
~40–50€ (2010s)

The Cherry G80-3000 is a series of PCB-mounted full-size Cherry MX keyboards manufactured by Cherry. First introduced in 1988, it is one of the oldest keyboard series still in production. It shares the same case design as the Cherry MY switch G81-3000 and the rubber dome G83-3000, with which it can be easily mistaken.

History

The first version of the keyboard was first released in 1988, and it has had many revisions.

In many ways it was reminiscent of the IBM Enhanced Keyboard, in layout, with keycaps in a cream and grey colour scheme and with a coiled cable with a DIN plug. Earlier models had n-key rollover, and until the mid-1990s a PC/XT switch could be found. The Cherry MX switches and the keyboard controller occupied a large circuit board that filled both the breadth and depth of the keyboard's case. The key caps were in doubleshot thick ABS. The key caps on the bottom row were then of Cherry's "Row A" which was higher and more angled than the row above it. At this point, the letter code in the article number was three letters long.

In 1990 to 1992, Cherry produced keyboards with keycaps in thick PBT, with dye-sublimated legends. These keycaps from the Cherry G80-3000 are considered by many to be the highest-quality keycaps that Cherry has produced and fetch a high price on the second-hand market.

After a while, dye-sublimation of PBT keys was abandoned for cheaper laser etching, but the PBT keys were still thick. At this point, the letter code in the article number grew to five letters.

The biggest change in the keyboard's history came in 1996 with the introduction of Windows keys. The keyboard remained largely the same on the outside but underwent a lot of internal changes. The internal PCB was divided into two smaller boards: one for the key switches and one for the controller, where the same type of controller was also used for several other keyboards with the same layout: the G81-3000, G83-3000 and the G83-6000. The case's walls became thinner, and the LED window cover was removed in favour of three little LED windows. The PCB supports on the inside of the case were also changed, making the old PCB incompatible with the new case (and vice versa). The four 1.5 unit modifier keys on the bottom row were changed to seven 1.25 units in the lower Row B profile. While the Space bar was shortened from 7 to 6.25 units, the position of the key switch remained the same. Keycaps in PBT became thinner, but the quality of the laser-etching improved. The PS/2 connector replaced the AT connector.

Since the 2000s, doubleshots on G80-3000 became quite rare and since the end of 2010, Cherry stopped production of any doubleshot key caps. Since the mid-1990 lasered key board legends appeared and became dominant by the 2000s. Black key caps Keyboards are no longer made in cream/grey colour scheme. A "hellgrau" (all light grey) colour was introduced and replaced the cream/grey colour scheme. Nowadays, keyboards have a USB and PS/2 combo: the connector is USB but the keyboard can talk PS/2 with a passive adapter. The USB controller identifies itself as a "G83 (RS 6000) Keyboard"

The FCC ID of GDD5YOG80-3000 was also used for later production runs of the G80-1000.

Rebrandings

Das Keyboard

The second version of the Das Keyboard (not the one currently offered) was a rebranded black G80-3000 with Cherry MX Blue switches, blank POM keycaps and the logo "Das Keyboard" in large bold white letters where the Cherry logo would have been.

NCR

Double-shot keys can be slightly darker than on Cherry-branded G80-3000 models, G80-3077, Also, it come with a industrial grey case.

Olivetti

LED cover of Olivetti Cherry G80-3011 HBI.

Article number G80-3011 was used for G80 (MX Black) internals inside the normally MY switch Olivetti KBD 2812. Such keyboards still have G81-3000 in the FCC ID, suggesting that these were non-standard assemblies.


Triumph-Adler

Modifier keys have white legends on sky blue. Other keys have dark blue legends on light grey.


Motorola

This keyboard has article number G80-3055HAU[2].

All the Double-shot keys are white. Unix layout. And the stepped control key is pad-printed.

Reuters

This variant has Cherry article number G80-3234 HQU[3] or LPMEU[4]. It has a guide to functions in Excel and Reuters software printed on the case. Some have been found with MX Clear switches.

Other variations

Model number Branding Colour scheme Other features Codes known to exist
G80-3019[5] HFU, HFD
G80-3036[6] Beige Clear switches HAC[6], LQMCH
G80-3060[7] Cherry White or black, orange legends 60th anniversary special. NKRO. HLCUS
G80-3422[8] Unbranded Mixed beige and grey caps Numeric and acronym legends ("Vatican layout") LAMIT, possibly LANIT[9]
G80-3456 T-Mobile Beige[10] With Clears[11][10] LQMDE
G80-3464[12] Unbranded Black HKMGB
G80-3471[13] Caps with pad-printed APL legends HPMDE
G80-3484[14] Cherry Black Brown switches HKCUS[15], HKMUS[16]
G80-3600 Cherry Black[17], white[18] MX-Board branding. Some with Japanese JIS layout. LYCJA[17], LYCEU[18]

Possible controller bug

G80-3000, G80-3600 (a G80-3000 with 6KRO) and G81-3000 keyboards exhibit a potential bug with the controller under USB operation. Whenever a keystroke is blocked, a USB report is issued containing 0x0101010101010101. Microsoft Windows discards this report, while Linux and macOS will attempt to obey it. The first byte holds the modifier keys, and bit 1 is left control; Linux is confirmed to retrospectively apply the apparent control keystroke to the most recently-pressed key. For example, holding Q, then holding A at the same time, reaches the rollover limit of a G30-3000; when P is then struck with the first two keys held, that keystroke is blocked, causing 0x010101010101010101 to be emitted, which applies left control to the most recently-pressed key (A), causing the system to see Ctrl+A.[19]

The USB HID specification indicates (in Appendix C) that instances of keys being blocked must be reported to the OS, but the wording of the specification is hard to understand and no example is given.[20] Specifically, the standard specifies:

The keyboard must report a phantom state indexing Usage(ErrorRollOver) in all array fields whenever the number of keys pressed exceeds the Report Count. The limit is six non-modifier keys when using the keyboard descriptor in Appendix B. Additionally, a keyboard may report the phantom condition when an invalid or unrecognizable combination of keys is pressed.

Based on the problems displayed, there is a suggestion that only the six non-modifier key position fields should be set to 0x01, giving 0x000001010101010101. Affected Cherry controllers also put 0x01 into the modifier field (first byte) and into the second byte, which is reserved and expected to contain 0x00. Setting those first two bytes to 0x01 prevents the aforementioned operating systems from correctly interpreting the report, but it remains unproven as to where the fault actually lies: it may be that Linux and macOS are misinterpreting a valid report. Cherry have yet to comment.[19]

Article numbers

The G80-3000 is available with different switches, layouts and colours. Modern G80-3000 keyboards have article numbers in the following format:

G80-3000LXCYY-Z
L
Keycap printing, typically L for lasered
X
Switch (P = Cherry MX Black, Q = Cherry MX Clear, S = Cherry MX Blue)
C
Connector, typically C for combination PS/2 + USB connector
YY
Layout (EU = US ANSI with Euro sign, GB = UK ISO, DE = German ISO, etc.)
Z
Colour (0 = white, 2 = black)

Gallery

G80-3000LQCDE-2

German ISO, black, USB and PS/2 combo with MX Clear switches, manufactured in 2012. Laser-etched keycaps with off-white infill.

G80-3000HAU

101-key US ANSI, with double-shot keycaps, manufactured in 1994.

ESA-3000-HASRO

Russian Cyrillic.

See Also

  • G80-1000 is the predecessor of this series and has been produced parallel to the G80-3000 for quite some time.
  • G80-3011 is a keyboard in G80-3000 shell, made for Olivetti.

References