Need help getting sctools/scinfo to open my Soarer's Converter [SOLVED]

[Riemann_Roch]

EDIT: I solved this. Solution below.

I just bought an IBM M122 (Model number 1390572) off of eBay, my first Model M keyboard. I bought a 5-pin Soarer's Converter from orihalcon on eBay, and, good news, it works right out of the box.

Bad news, I downloaded the Soarer's software from geekhack and the hid_listen software, and got the codes for some of the keys so that I could map an ESC key and a LGUI key onto the keyboard. There's also an annoying tiny left shift key and a </> key where the full length of the left shift key should be, so I want to map the </> key to LSHIFT. Also, there's an extra key {/} on the home row next to the ENTER key that I keep hitting when I type, so I would like to map it to ENTER.

I can create an sc file that has these remaps on it, and using

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scas

, I can convert it to a binary to load into the keyboard, but when I use

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scinfo

, I get the following output:

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❯ ./scinfo
scinfo v1.10
scinfo: looking for Soarer's Converter: not found

I found sctools online (https://github.com/thentenaar/sctools), and when I run

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sctool info

, I get the following output:

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❯ ./src/sctool info
Soarer's Converter Tool v1.0
Unable to open device

Am I missing a step? Neither

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scwr

nor

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sctool write

work.

How do I get this software to open the Soarer's converter so that I can remap the keys?

I am a total newbie at this.

Thanks!

EDIT: SOLUTION: use sudo. Both scinfo and scwr require superuser access to the firmware in the converter.

[Riemann_Roch]

I tried this on two different Linux laptops, one running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and one running Linux Mint 20. I have access to a Mac running OSX 10.15.5 that I use for work. I might be able to borrow my kid's laptop that is running Windows 10 if need be.

[Riemann_Roch]

Here's the Soarer's Converter that I purchased: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Soarers-Co ... 2575692501

[edlee]

IBM Model M keyboards require more power than modern keyboards, which sometimes causes problems. Some people have solved the problem by adding resistors in various ways to the adapter or to the keyboard itself.

http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/keyboard ... tions.html

[edlee]

A person named John Hawthorn designed his own replacement controller for IBM Model M keyboards.

https://www.johnhawthorn.com/2020/07/mo ... ontroller/

[edlee]

Some people have had success using v1.03 of Soarer's converter software. I don't know if it is possible to reflash your version of Soarer's converter.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=62168.0

[Weezer]

I'd borrow the win10 machine. On windows it's as simple as changing the extension of a .txt file to .sc and then dragging it over the .bat file while your soarer's is plugged in.

[Riemann_Roch]

Thank you for your responses, @edlee.

I'm very new to this. I'm probably not likely to create my own hardware to solve this problem anytime soon. I literally started learning about this software yesterday.

I tried the v1.03 software, and it was just a bunch of hex files for the firmware. I am assuming that the device I purchased already has firmware (since I can type with it), and I don't know how to flash that firmware, or even which hex file to pick.

I went to the v1.0 software and used the sc* tools, and scinfo could not locate the Soarer's converter plugged into a USB port on my dock, even though I can type with the keyboard.

I see that orihalcon has thousands of sales on eBay and everyone in Geekhack and here seems to recommend their converters. I emailed the seller and asked about this issue, and I am awaiting a reply. Hopefully, they can help, but if not, I'm not really sure how to proceed at my skill level.

[Riemann_Roch]

I'd borrow the win10 machine. On windows it's as simple as changing the extension of a .txt file to .sc and then dragging it over the .bat file while your soarer's is plugged in.

That totally worked! A few minutes with my daughter's Windows 10 laptop, and I got everything to work, and even added a new layer with a Dvorak Simplified Layout hotbuttoned to the EXTRA_F1 key.

Thanks a lot! Much appreciated!

[Weezer]

I'd borrow the win10 machine. On windows it's as simple as changing the extension of a .txt file to .sc and then dragging it over the .bat file while your soarer's is plugged in.

That totally worked! A few minutes with my daughter's Windows 10 laptop, and I got everything to work, and even added a new layer with a Dvorak Simplified Layout hotbuttoned to the EXTRA_F1 key.

Thanks a lot! Much appreciated!

No prob! Glad it's working for ya.

[edlee]

I'm glad that you got everything to work. The scas program does not care what the file name extension is on the configuration file. I keep the *.txt extension on my configuration file so that I can simply click on the configuration file name to edit the configuration file.

[fohat]

I see that orihalcon has thousands of sales on eBay and everyone in Geekhack and here seems to recommend their converters.

I'm pretty sure that Orihalcon fabricates the cables himself (at least he used to) and has written firmware for mapping keys (that he provides). If not, contact him (via this forum might be better than via ebay) and he will help you out.

[Riemann_Roch]

Follow up: on Linux, some commands, like scas, don't require sudo, and some, like scwr, do require sudo. Using sudo for everything, when in doubt, works. Only the superuser has access to the converter's firmware.