Focus FK-2001 Pro Micro

[ayams02]

Hello DT! I hope you guys are safe.
Recently I got an FK-2001 from a garage sale (for the price of none!). I am planning to restore it to use as daily drive. I found this blog post. Aside from restoring the FK-2001, he also convert (or adapt?) to use Pro Micro. However, he did not write the guide for the Pro Micro software (keyboard matrix, QMK config) My question: How do I figure out the keyboard matrix and what should I do with the Pro Micro? I am pretty familiar with QMK (handwired once).

Thanks in advance!

Have a picture of my board! I also managed to get Model M and old Acer keyboard, but that is for another day.

Update: After reading another blog post, it looks like the pinout is, from left to right, CLOCK - DATA - GROUND - (5)V - GROUND. But I have no clue for the QMK part. I found ADB-to-USB firmware tho, if it helps.

[dcopellino]

Hello hayams, i had a look to Scott Paladin's blog entry about focus, finding it quite pleasant to read. Being said that my question remains unanswered. Why do you want to convert your new FK-2001? Do you really want to make all that effort just to have an usb port onboard? Wouldn't be easier just to plug and play the keyboard to a modern computer with a 5pin to ps/2 adapter connected in turn (cascading) with an active adapter ps/2 to usb, simply buyable on Amazon, as we all would do here on DT, or at least as I did with my fk5001 and fk-2000+
Sorry to ask, but maybe I'm missing something.

[Muirium]

Paladin’s done a good job with that one.

You don’t need to replace the cable, unless you want to. Generally, the vintage cables on boards of this era are nicer than what you can source for a USB micro or mini cable today. A converter on the other end of the cable is therefore more elegant, and less work as it’s hidden away.

But if you do want to replace the cable, the blog post is a good pointer how to do it well.

[ayams02]

Hello everyone, thank you for your response. Initially I am planning to convert the FK-2001 with Pro Micro so that I could remap the keys (and some extra QMK stuff). I'd like to use Pro Micro because if I could manage to make it works with Pro Micro and QMK, I am planning to make it wireless using ZMK and nice!nano.

But after reading your comments, I thought that maybe I could just follow your suggestions, of which just use PS/2 to USB adapter. That's it for now, at least.

[Muirium]

Nice!nano is a nice idea. I’m thinking of using one of those on a smaller board. Not sure it makes much sense for a full-size though. For me, wireless is for boards you can take places besides your desk.

[ayams02]

My use case is to connect the board with a PC, a laptop, and an iPad. Would be easier for me to have unified keyboard across all of them.

[Muirium]

Does a Nice!nano let you drive multiple simultaneous Bluetooth hosts?

My experience with homebrew Bluetooth keyboards—mainly my daily driver: Hasu's Bluetooth controller for the HHKB—is that you can only drive one host at a time. It's not like all those Logitech etc. keyboards which keep multiple connections alive all the while, and a shortcut can select between them in an instant. Also, Hasu's controller doesn't even auto-connect to iPad or Mac, you have to go pick it manually from the Bluetooth menu / Settings. You get a better experience with Bluetooth native boards.

That said, I do love my Bluetoothed HHKB. But I use it with one computer, not several, so initial pairing is just a once a day thing for me. It would get more annoying very quickly in a multi-host setup.

[mmm]

Does a Nice!nano let you drive multiple simultaneous Bluetooth hosts?

Yes

It allows for seamless switching between the connected hosts. It automatically attempts to connect to each of the bluetooth profiles configured, and the keyboard will display as connected, but only receive input when the keyboard is on the right "profile". Caused me some confusion in the beginning, when I wanted to use my phone per usual while the keyboard was connected, but I've learned that the occasion is just rare enough that I probably just shouldn't pair with my phone.

It does not seem like it is currently possibly to convert the ps2 output to bluetooth with ZMK. The only option would be to wire up the full matrix, which requires a bit of work, and might not even be possible due to the 23 limited pins (Theoretically 132 keys will work, but that requires an optimized 11x12 pins). Personally I wouldn't bother with messing with the matrix as long an adapter can do the job for me, but a fun project nonetheless.

[Muirium]

Oh, nice one! I may well cave and try one now. Should have something small enough to drive the matrix for myself.