Olivetti ANK 25-102 on WinXP doesn't work... [SOLVED]

[ledpoisoning]

Hi, I'm new user, I'm from Italy and I love vintage keyboard...
On ebay I won this wonderful olivetti keyboard







An ANK 25-102...but it doesn't work on winxp...it has serial port but doesn't power on on post...it needs some trick to work on winxp? An adapter? Thank you for you support...

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Wow. Never heard of a serial port keyboard before. It's mice that used to connect to the serial port on PCs, not keyboards. I have no reason to believe that any modern system would look for a keyboard on the serial port. Probably from the late 80s before PCs and Macs became standard – I am not familiar with Italian systems, only that Olivetti bought British manufacturer Acorn, who used PC-style keyboards on the Archimedes, which would connect to a PC but didn't work on them.

I imagine you will need a custom converter board for that. At least the connection is easy to work with.

Edit: Oh, and my Acorn Archimedes 440/1 used a DB-9 connector for the display. I spliced a regular DB-9 serial lead with a DIN-type BBC Micro monitor lead to connect the machine to a BBC Micro monitor, as the Archimedes monitor PCB was smashed up and I only had classic Cub monitors to hand. Just because it's DB-9 doesn't mean that it's actually serial :-)

[IvanIvanovich]

I've seen some Encom branded Cherry G81-3000 with serial interface on ebay. Seller stated that it worked with serial to usb adapter, so that might be worth a try.

[ledpoisoning]

Thank you for replies...well it looks wonderful I bought it for this reason!!

I tought to connect it to the serial port but didn't work...it is certainly too old!! But there will be a way to make it work under win xp...Another italian guy had same problem...he tried with a serial to usb adaptor but it didn't work...maybe it needs some esternal interface..I don't know type of protocol, maybe I can build an external interface..it is a shame not to be able to work with it...

[Daniel Beardsmore]

At least tell us what the switches are, and whether the caps are double shot ;-)

[rodtang]

At least tell us what the switches are, and whether the caps are double shot

If I remember correctly, dyesub and some not very good switches.

[Ascaii]

At least tell us what the switches are, and whether the caps are double shot

If I remember correctly, dyesub and some not very good switches.

Not always....I recommend you get in touch with Grond, hes italian and has a small collection of Olivetti boards, he should be able to help you.

[ledpoisoning]

Thank you for info...where I can find him?
Anyway I think that this is not serial port, it is proprietary connector...but I don't know anything about it...anyway is there any chance to modify and let it works with winxp? It's always a keyboard!

[Icarium]

It should definitely be doable with an active adapter (microcontroller) but it might still be quite a bit of work.

[Ascaii]

He is a member here, just write him a PM.

[ledpoisoning]

Thank you....I don't think that this is a DIN 5 pin....it is like a D-SUB 9 pin...so I have to re-assign pin to D-SUB 9 pin...any tips? I think that is Olivetti Proprietary connector...
Anyway colors are:

1 Black
2 White
3 Green
4 Red
5
6
7
8
9 Orange

[tlt]

I found this datasheet of a newer version of the chip http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet- ... S8060.html. Hopefully they are similar and has the same pinout. I think it's power and some sort of serial in the connector as there are only five wires. You could figure out how it works and build a converter with for example a Atmega32u4 (e.g. Tennsy, Arduion Leonardo). pin 23 SOUT (serial out) looks interesting, is it connected to the dsub 9 maybe? You could also rip out the electronics and scan the rows and columns of the keyboard matrix with a Atmega32u4 controller.

[ledpoisoning]

Great updates guys!!
I simply connected a PS2 male to original port with this diagram:

PS2 male:

1: DATA (PIN 1 from serial port to PIN 1 PS2 male)
2: NC
3: GND (PIN 3 from serial port to PIN 3 PS2 male)
4: VCC (PIN 9 from serial port to PIN 4 PS2 male)
5: CLK (PIN 2 from serial port to PIN 5 PS2 male)
6: NC

There's only a wire, PIN 4 of serial port that I hadn't connected...
Now it's working great...there's only a few second of delay at the push of Bloc num, bloc scorr and caps lock, it works immediately but led power on after 4 or 5 second later...I don't know why!
Thank you for the info, maybe this solved problem can will be helpful to somebody in the future, older keyboards has a special charm!!!

[pasph]

All the ANKs are rubber dome but really good, i think the 102 was sold with M24

[ledpoisoning]

All the ANKs are rubber dome but really good, i think the 102 was sold with M24

Yep you're right...I'm not an keyboard expert, but I can feel that the touch is not mechanic...I'm looking for a mechanic model M...next week I'll let you know about it...

I dunno if 102 was sold with M24...I saw Olivetti M300 and it has a similar keyboard, take a look:



or M240:

http://www.baldi.it/museo/menu_museo_pc_olivetti.html

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I like that M300 – two floppy drives, one upside down :-P

Still no money shots though. Plain domes? Domes with sliders? Maybe those weird things with a dog/cat-no-ear-licking-cone things. You never know, the keycaps could be U mount :-)

[pasph]

I have a WS 685 and it's a MX black terminal keyboard

[Fatwin98]

Hello guy's, i have this keyboard at home with the original pc but i would like to use my keyboard with my new pc. I creating an adaptator with good pin and i have one problem, my keyboard doesn't work ' i see a 3 leds flashs but anythink response
Have you got an idea ? Thank you, good night

[clickandthock]

Great updates guys!!
I simply connected a PS2 male to original port with this diagram:

PS2 male:

1: DATA (PIN 1 from serial port to PIN 1 PS2 male)
2: NC
3: GND (PIN 3 from serial port to PIN 3 PS2 male)
4: VCC (PIN 9 from serial port to PIN 4 PS2 male)
5: CLK (PIN 2 from serial port to PIN 5 PS2 male)
6: NC

There's only a wire, PIN 4 of serial port that I hadn't connected...
Now it's working great...there's only a few second of delay at the push of Bloc num, bloc scorr and caps lock, it works immediately but led power on after 4 or 5 second later...I don't know why!
Thank you for the info, maybe this solved problem can will be helpful to somebody in the future, older keyboards has a special charm!!!

Hi!
Try to connect my m24 to a PS/2 but dos not work... Have you used a protocol converter or something??

Thanks!