deskthority

I have an IBM Model M, one of the later ones without a detachable cable. The plastic of the cable started coming apart near the plug. I bought a replacement cable from Unicomp, took it apart, and swapped cables. Now the !@#$ thing won't work.

I plug it in to a PS2 port, the LEDs flicker, the Numlock light comes on, but nothing I type registers. I have unplugged and replugged the PS/2 cable at both ends, I have unplugged and replugged those cursed damned pesky plastic ribbon cables (invented by a demon to give repair techs nightmares) that go from the PCB to the keys. Every time, the light lights up, but all the keys are dead.

Is there something I am missing? Some trick to get this damned thing to work? I really don't want to spend $75 shipping this damned thing to Unicomp when in all likelihood I've managed to foul up something obvious.

EDIT: when plugging the transparent plastic ribbon cables into the PCB, the wide ribbon must *not* have the second protective layer of transparent plastic plugged into the socket. The narrow ribbon is built so you *have* to plug the second layer into the socket, which makes one think you have to do it with the wide ribbon as well. If you do it the same way on both connectors, because surely that makes sense, then it won't work.

Naturally I failed to notice how it was connected originally before disassembly.

Hmm..you're not just plugging that ps/2 in while your PC is on right? You got to plug it in while it's off then turn it on..

This might sound stupid, but plug in, boot, and reboot. Always happens (at least for me) with PS2 keyboards. Good luck!

yes; shut-down, plug-in, start-up

Dingster wrote: This might sound stupid, but plug in, boot, and reboot. Always happens (at least for me) with PS2 keyboards. Good luck!

YES, with much older Model-M's I have to restart my PC "TWICE" so it's recognized by the motherboard (X370 Titanium).

Definitely not Microsoft's doing, it's the actual hardware choosing not to see the keyboard when first starting up.

Another possibly stupid solution: is the adapter passive? I'm saying this because if you use a passive adapter the numlock light does indeed flash on and then nothing happens.

You know those flexible transparent ribbon cables that connect the PCB to the actual keys on a Model M? They have a second layer without any conductors on it, I assume to protect the layer with the conductors. I was plugging both layers into the socket. For one socket, this is fine. For the other socket, if you do that, the keyboard will not work.

Naturally I only figured this out after spending about $100 on parts and sending it in to Unicomp to be fixed. FML.