Fixing Dead Omnikey 102
Posted: 18 Apr 2019, 17:33
I restored the physical aspects of an old Omnikey I got off ebay a while ago (white alps for those curious), and have finally had the chance to sit down with it and try getting it to talk to my computer. I bought a male to male ps/2 cable and an active ps/2 to usb converter (the controller has a ps/2 port soldered onto it).
No matter how many dip switch combinations I try, no matter how many times I restart my computer and cold or hot plug the converter, nothing responds. No lock lights, no key presses, nothing.
So my question is, which of these sounds like the best option:
Do I try another converter?
Do I wire a ps/2 cable right into the keyboard controller?
Do I somehow intercept the ribbon cable from the main pcb and wire that to a different controller like a teensy (or something bigger to account for all the wires)?
Do I scrap all of the boards and just handwire it?
I would like to still use a ps/2 cable out of the keyboard because I want to coil it and have that aesthetic, but if I have to cut my losses and handwire it to usb, so be it.
No matter how many dip switch combinations I try, no matter how many times I restart my computer and cold or hot plug the converter, nothing responds. No lock lights, no key presses, nothing.
So my question is, which of these sounds like the best option:
Do I try another converter?
Do I wire a ps/2 cable right into the keyboard controller?
Do I somehow intercept the ribbon cable from the main pcb and wire that to a different controller like a teensy (or something bigger to account for all the wires)?
Do I scrap all of the boards and just handwire it?
I would like to still use a ps/2 cable out of the keyboard because I want to coil it and have that aesthetic, but if I have to cut my losses and handwire it to usb, so be it.