Is there anything like a Soarere's Converter for USB Keyboards

[apastuszak]

I have a USB Unicomp keyboard that I don't use much, because I switched to a IBM Model M with a Soarer's Converter. I've kinda gotten hooked on being able to remap keys and do other nifty things the soarer's converter can do at a hardware level. Is there anything like a Soarer's Converter that can work with a USB keyboard?

[JP!]

I think Hasu was working on something like this.

[XMIT]

There was the TMK USB to USB converter a little while ago?

[Muirium]

You can buy them from him directly. Hasu’s had them for a few years now. Hypersphere spoke positively of his usb to usb, many times. I was considering one alongside my Bluetooth HHKB controller order, but it was pricey.

[Findecanor]

I think the keyboards needs to speak the 6KRO USB protocol. No NKRO support.

[apastuszak]

Hasu's converter doesn't list the Unicomp Model M as compatible.

[edlee]

You can use a female USB to male PS/2 KVM converter to attach to Soarer's converter to make Soarer's converter a USB to USB converter with all of Soarer's useful keyboard macro and remapping capabilities. There are two models that I was able to find on eBay:

Black Box kvusb-ps2

TRIPP LITE 0DT60002

I originally searched for something like, "USB PS/2 adapter", and waded through all of the listings for converters that work with opposite connectors with a female PS/2 to male USB connector.

The Black Box and Tripp Lite converters are priced in the range of $70 to $130. I am using the Tripp Lite 0DT60002 which has worked with a Rosewill RK-9000V2 (non-backlit, non-macro, PS/2 or USB) keyboard and a RK-9000V2 RGB (backlit, macro, USB) keyboard with USB cable. This Tripp Lite/Soarer converter combination is more stable than using the Rosewill RK-9000V2 (non-backlit) keyboard with PS/2 cable directly with Soarer's converter. The LEDs for Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock do not properly function with the Rosewill RK-9000V2 (non-backlit) keyboard connected directly to Soarer's converter with a PS/2 cable, but the LED indicators do properly work with the Rosewill RK-9000V2 or Rosewill RK-9000V2 RGB keyboards connected by USB cable to the Tripp Lite converter which is then connected to Soarer's converter. I have also tried the Redragon Brahma Pro optical USB keyboard with the Tripp Lite/Soarer converter combination, and this keyboard works, too. You can use the built-in macro recording and playback capabilities of the Rosewill RK-9000V2 RGB and Redragon Brahma Pro keyboards which do not require any software and also use the macros of Soarer's converter. The non-backlit Rosewill RK-9000V2 keyboard version does not have any macro recording or playback capability. I do not like the slowness of the built-in macro playback on the Rosewill RK-9000V2 RGB keyboard or Redragon Brahma Pro keyboard. Soarer's macros play back much faster at full interface speed. I am still searching for a modern keyboard that can record and play back macros at full speed without any additional software to replace my Gateway Anykey keyboard, because some businesses do not allow unapproved software installation on their computers as a security measure. You might need the following two lines at the start of a Soarer configuration file to work with the Tripp Lite converter:

ifkeyboard 0000
force set2ext

# set1 is the PC/XT keyboard scan code set.
# set2 is the AT keyboard scan code set.
# set2ext is the PS/2 keyboard scan code set.
# set3 is the 3179/318x/319x terminal keyboard scan code set.

There is another USB to PS/2 converter listed on the IHSE web site, but they have not responded to my inquiry about how to purchase a unit:

https://www.ihseusa.com/ps2-usb-converter.html#overview

[edlee]

I forgot to add that:

ifkeyboard any

should be added afterwards in the Soarer configuration file.

[edlee]

I found another apparently active converter device on eBay with a female USB port and male PS/2 connector which might be compatible with Soarer's converter, but I haven't tried it:

NTI USB-PS2-R PS/2 to USB Adapter