Unrecognized Datahand, how should I troubleshoot?

[schell]

Hi, I just bought a 2000 datahand pro II. I'm on Mac OS X 10.8 and can't seem to get any output. I'm using a Dynex ps2->USB adapter to connect the datahand, but with both ps2's plugged in I get a 'USB drawing too much power' warning, and the whole thing gets shut off, so I've only connected the 'keyboard' cable.

After plugging it in with one cable the 'Unrecognized Keyboard' pane pops up, asking me to identify the keyboard by hitting the key to the right of the left shift button. At that point my mac doesn't recognize the keystrokes. I've downloaded the IOUSBFamily Log package fromt the apple developer site (https://developer.apple.com/downloads/i ... on?q=IOUSB) but it isn't giving me any usable information (that I can recognize).

I've gotten the keyboard part of the datahand to work fine with Ubuntu on a tower, but no luck with the mouse, and neither work on my laptop (the mac). Does anyone have any tips for a newb? Thanks!

[webwit]

There's nothing special about the output of a Datahand, it sends keycodes just like a Logitech keyboard, so I bet your Dynex PS2 to USB adapter is crap. Most PS2 to USB adapters are crap. You need a good active PS2 to USB converter.

[schell]

Thanks, I figured that might be the case. Sucks, despite the current adapter being crap, it was not cheap

[Icarium]

Still congrats on buying a DataHand and welcome to the club.

[dorkvader]

Thanks, I figured that might be the case. Sucks, despite the current adapter being crap, it was not cheap

If you got it at the below price, it's not cheap:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26%23 ... Id=7334306

If you paid a more reasonable price for it, then it's not too bad:
http://www.amazon.com/Dynex-USB-Ps-2-Ad ... B000NADXZQ

I have a couple of the belkin ones, and they're pretty good.

I have heard that the Y mouse by Pi engineering is the best, but they're a bit too expensive for me.
http://piengineering.com/ymouse/whym271.php

[andrewjoy]

You want a blue cube IMO

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[schell]

Thanks guys! I got a Belkin adapter, it works great. The only hurdle left is finding a mapping for the command key It seems there's no way to work it out on the thumbs and the only free key is my left pinky west, which is the DEL key, though my OS isn't recognizing that at all The datahand is in dvorak. Anyone have any ideas? I'm currently fiddling with KeyRemap4MacBook. I think the previous owner may have remapped certain keys in the firmware, is there any way to alter that?

[schell]

I found it! Right ring finger east is cmd. I'm silly, posting before I press all the buttons...

[hoggy]

Glad you got it working. Congrats on your find.

[schell]

Well - after learning dvorak on this guy for a week the NAS and mouse mode buttons are broken, I can't switch modes any longer. It's a shame, I was starting to get the hang of it. Any suggestions on a good replacement? I'd like to go with something as ergonomic as possible (hence the datahand) and it would be nice to have something that's split... Before I found the datahand I was thinking of a maltron or a kinesis contoured.

[hoggy]

Well - after learning dvorak on this guy for a week the NAS and mouse mode buttons are broken, I can't switch modes any longer. It's a shame, I was starting to get the hang of it. Any suggestions on a good replacement? I'd like to go with something as ergonomic as possible (hence the datahand) and it would be nice to have something that's split... Before I found the datahand I was thinking of a maltron or a kinesis contoured.

...eek. Does the reset button help?

Both of the other two boards are fine - get both .

[Icarium]

Just make sure to sell the remains to me as a modding basis!

Edit: The Kinesis Advantage/Contoured boards are awesome. I have two and really love them.

[schell]

Sadly the reset button doesn't help - i think that there is a break in the pcb or those two switches have failed. I'm still going to try to take it apart and see what I can do.

Does datahand.com actually sell new models? It looks like they have an order form...

[webwit]

They haven't for quite some while now. Maybe mail and ask if they do refurbishments. They used to do that before.

[schell]

I did when I first acquired the keyboard - Lynn Anderson said that they do still provide refurbishments and that she would need some extra info. I haven't heard back in a couple weeks.

[webwit]

Lynn and the tech guy were the only ones left, last time I communicated. I've speculated before that company doesn't really exist any longer, it's just two people having jobs elsewhere to pay to bills, who operate on the skeleton of Datahand in their spare time. Previous runs where obtained from new old stock from the manufacturer (over production stored in warehouse), apparently that is no longer working out. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[schell]

That's such a bummer - that keyboard is a great idea. If they don't hold patents on the key-wells (or they do and won't sue) there should be an initiative to open source their devices.

[Icarium]

Yeah, that would be nice but apart from the lego datahand I don't think anybody has ever even tried.

[schell]

After using my datahand for about 6 months my numbers and symbols button no longer works. As this is probably just the first of a series of inevitable fixes, I'm hunkering down and doing this mod - http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=12212.0

[webwit]

Step 1: compressed air.

[Icarium]

If there is a mechanical problem that mod won't help.

[webwit]

True, but usually it's just related to something obscuring an optical sensor.

[schell]

I'll try that too, thanks. The prices of datahands will only keep going up. People who have come to rely on them to get everyday work done are having a harder and harder time getting them fixed or finding new ones. I'd like to be able to 'free' myself from the high prices of ebay datahands and investigate a more 'open' alternative. With Arduino and 3d printers I don't see why we can't have a good DIY solution.

[schell]

Bummer! No dice on the compressed air...

[schell]

Presto! Taking both hands apart completely and putting them back together did the trick. I guess whatever was in the way was really stuck in there.
I still plan on doing that mod and it seems like it's not destructive (apart from the trackpoint), so I can work on it without getting a backup pair.

[webwit]

Heh, that's what I did when I had a similar problem. Pure isopropyl alcohol and compressed air. Took some pictures of the parts:
http://webwit.nl/input/datahand/parts/

[schell]

Wow! Great shots of the magnets in the key wells!
Do you know how to clean the pads? I was thinking about soaking them in bleach - mine are pretty yellowed.

[webwit]

They are dishwasher compatible, but that only does cleaning. I also had the yellowing problem and tried bleach, but that didn't help. Maybe Retr0bright will do the trick, but I didn't try it yet.

[schell]

So funny! I just found this article about retr0bright and was going to answer my own question