deskthority

I have been testing several M2 lately, and I confess to being perplexed.
I am used to Ms, and M2s are a different beast.
I know these have not been used in many months, but what would cause the following? In every case, the keyboard is plugged directly into a PS/2 port, and the computer is turned on, after being completely shut down.

At first an entire keyboard may be unresponsive, but after being plugged in for 10 minutes or more, suddenly it works.

Certain groups of keys refuse to respond, but if you hold the key down for at least 2 minutes, suddenly the whole group starts working.

Certain areas of the alpha block refuse to respond, no matter how long I give them. This is usually in a diagonal stripe, like 1 Q S X.

They're notorious for capacitor issues, which covers the first few things you mentioned.

The rest likely stem from their lower overall build quality.

So replacing the electrolytic capacitors will fix them? That sounds easy enough

It might not be worth your time, frankly. I think some of the capacitors are surface mount, and M2s really don't sell for much relative to other keyboards.

It would be simpler to sell them cheap-as-is to people who want projects or replacement keys for their M15s.

elecplus wrote:
but after being plugged in for 10 minutes or more, suddenly it works.

Certain groups of keys refuse to respond, but if you hold the key down for at least 2 minutes, suddenly the whole group starts working.

I don't know anything about M2s, but I have to ask:

Why would you leave an unresponsive keyboard plugged in for 10 minutes, then try again?

and:

Why would you hold a key down for 2 minutes waiting for something to happen?

The 10 minutes was because the phone rang and I got called away. When I got back to the test machine, suddenly everything worked.

The 2 minutes was because I am stubborn It did not make sense to me that on a very clean looking keyboard, the ASDF were the only keys not responding. After repeatedly trying the online keyboard tester for several minutes, they started working. Another hint was that a few other keys initially failed, but after pressing them several times, they started working.

The keys not working in a diagonal stripe has happened on at least 3 keyboards, and I wish I knew how to fix them.

That's probably membrane corrosion, then.

If a part of the keys aren't working, it's probably a membrane issue. You can use an eraser to get rid of that. If most or all of the keyboard isn't working it's probably a capacitor issue. Tbh, in either case, I'd toss it or salvage it for scraps. You would probably find enough working M2s to satisfy market demand.

Aaaw I rarely see M2s over here on the German market. It looks pretty sweet though!

Too bad the caps aren't M/F compatible!

There is some demand for their caps

alh84001 wrote: There is some demand for their caps

Yeah, that's what I salvaged mine for too, as well as the flippers. Surprisingly it takes more effort to rip open than you'd think.

I have one, with some caps having broken stabiliser "wire". It's not that complicated once when you know how those clips work.

alh84001 wrote: I have one, with some caps having broken stabiliser "wire". It's not that complicated once when you know how those clips work.

True, but half are hidden under the caps so you have to take them off. And the screws have that weird square hole that you have to have lying around. And if you want to reassemble it afterwards, it's horrible, because the clips are liable to break off.

I really like the M2, I have 3 of them and have replaced the capacitors on all 3. They are really not hard to dis / reassemble once you've done it a few times. There is a certain beauty in the simplicity of its construction that is sadly overlooked.

Yeah so I'm looking for ISO Enter for M2

Well, bubblebobbler has one that he'll send to me sooner or later with some other keys, which I have no use for. Shipping from UK is a pain though.