Re: Mac keyboard on a PC

["Bryan Villados" <news002@macgeek.org>]

I think the problem with connecting an ADB based keyboard to a PC is that
even though logically it's a keyboard, the actual connectivity are totally
different animals. The Apple Desktop Bus keyboards are basically networking
devices, similar to that of LocalTalk/EtherTalk devices, in that each ADB
device is really a node, assigned with a network ID, on a bus network. ADB
comes complete with its own proprietary protocol for the device to
communicate on the bus. It's designed like this so that you can daisy-chain
multiple ADB devices on the same bus.

A PC keyboard, on the otherhand, is more like a serial type of device, which
is why it really wasn't designed to have more than one device connected to
the keyboard port (XT, AT or PS/2).

With that, it would take a huge effort to develop a bridging device that
converts ADB signals to something like a PS/2 connection. What would be a
really cool hack is to take an ADB keyboard and re-solder all the switches
to a PS/2 keyboard interface. If you open up a typical PC keyboard, it has
its own processor (don't know what chip it uses now -- back in the early
days of AT keyboards they used to use an Intel 8085, which is a stack-driven
processor), so in reality these keyboards are computers themselves. So it
would be interesting if someone did this sort of hack. I came across a web
page awhile back where someone converted an Apple IIc keyboard to a USB
keyboard so they could fit an iMac logic board into a IIc case, so I know
that a total keyboard re-solder job is possible.

http://www.usennet.ne.jp/~ikawada/iMacIIc/iMacIIc-1.html

I've also seen ADB->USB adapters, which lets you use ADB devices on more
modern Mac systems like an iMac. So maybe this adapter could give you some
clues.

--- Bryan


<email@380c1.ath.cx> wrote in message
news:d96W9.89894$kY3.4663356@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> Hi, i want to use a Macintosh Keyboard II on my PC system.  Is there a way
to do this? I'm looking
> into using the serial port or parallel port to achieve this, but it \
looks pretty complicated.
> Well, thanx in advance
> w00t
>
>