deskthority

This is pretty much a copy paste of an unsuccessful Reddit post I made.

I've got a Topre Realforce R2. Its my dream keeb. Unfortunately it randomly died on me one day. The only modifications done are a Norbaforce case, and the mini usb adapter that comes with it.


My keyboard worked fine for a few years, but I woke up one morning and it was dead for seemingly no reason. No device showed up on my computer and none of the lights were on. I plugged it into another computer and it worked for a few minutes before dying. I plugged it back into mine and it worked for a few hours before dying. I occasionally tried plugging it in, and my computer would show something got plugged in, but disconnect it within a few seconds. Now it doesn't work at all. It doesn't work in safe mode, and it doesn't matter which usb port, or which computer I plug it into. No input at all.


As far as troubleshooting, I've tried switching to the original case and usb cable, and tried on many different computers in many different ports. Ive taken it apart and attempted to diagnose an issue to no luck. Ive poked around with a multi-meter, and it seems to be getting power. I thought it could be the firmware, but i have no idea how to go about fixing that, and I really don't feel like replacing any delicate chips. I really cant figure it out.


Any help would be super appreciated. My keeb has been out of commission for months. I'm stuck using a corsair with speed silvers. Please help me break this nightmare.

Sounds like the controller has died.
Some pictures of the controller would help pinpoint which component needs to be replaced.

cakeanalytics wrote: 11 Nov 2020, 17:48 Sounds like the controller has died.
Some pictures of the controller would help pinpoint which component needs to be replaced.

Ive tested with the original cable, plugged directly into the PCB, as well. No noticeable difference.

On computer startup, can you get into BIOS when pressing F11/F12/Delete/whatever your computer's BIOS key is on the Realforce? If you can't, firmware's not going to help you because the computer's not recognizing there's a keyboard attached.

My current favorite thing to look at after that would be to make sure that the keyboard's properly grounded.

cakeanalytics is mostly going in the direction I would be. It'd be great if the problem is that you have a popped capacitor. 30 cents later and you're back up and running.

hellothere wrote: 11 Nov 2020, 18:12 On computer startup, can you get into BIOS when pressing F11/F12/Delete/whatever your computer's BIOS key is on the Realforce? If you can't, firmware's not going to help you because the computer's not recognizing there's a keyboard attached.

My current favorite thing to look at after that would be to make sure that the keyboard's properly grounded.

cakeanalytics is mostly going in the direction I would be. It'd be great if the problem is that you have a popped capacitor. 30 cents later and you're back up and running.

I havent checked the caps. I'll do that next.