deskthority

I am making my first attempt at building a mechanical keyboard, and I've run into a problem. The board needs to support PS/2, as the computer it will be used with has no USB ports. I have the keyboard matrix finished, however I cannot find any solutions for a controller that will support PS/2. What kind of device should I use to interface the keyboard with a PS/2 port?

Not sure what your end goal is or what type of build you are pursuing but you may be able to utilize a controller from an existing board. Used PS2 style boards can be found cheap if not free. Please sare what your end game is with this project and I'm sure you'll get plenty of options offered up to choose from, welcome to DT

My end goal is pretty much just to have an ANSI keyboard to use with an old 386 setup, however without the navigation cluster, and using Complicated White Alps. I'm planning to connect the keyboard to the PC via a PS/2 -> AT adapter.

Why in hell are you still using a 386? How you even manage to still use a 386, and for what?

DOS Gaming

DOSbox or you might be able to get those games from GOG.com.

Why would I use DOSBox when I have the actual hardware? XD The only thing I'm looking to do is build a better keyboard for the machine than the crappy rubber dome monstrosity that it came with.

I think it would be much easer to just buy an older mechanical keyboard that supports PS/2 and then mod it with the switches you want. There are also several people around here that have done mods to move keys around.

There is the "ps2avr" firmware for AVR without USB hardware that has been popular with Asian custom keyboards. I think most keyboards using later firmware versions talk USB but PS/2 must have been used at one time.

There have also been PCI and ISA cards with USB ports, but the probability of finding drivers for DOS might be slim.