• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

IBM iPoint keyboard--anyone have any ideas?

I saw that one long ago. Apparently, a special adapter to receive the keyboard signals is also required--and that's a mystery.

Regardless, you'll see that I've already worked up a very functional "Blue pill" to PS/2 adapter that works quite well. I use one of the iPoint keyboards with a rackmount setup, where I can move around the room and still do keystrokes, even with bog-standard MSDOS or Linux. No special drivers needed.

I now have two of the keyboards and two of the BP adapters.
 
I should note that the lights on the keyboard are not usually controlled by the keys. The computer sends codes to the keyboard to tell it to turn on or off the lights.
It requires a two way communication. At least for the newer keyboards I've worked with.
Dwight
 
Infrared keyboards, drivers & interfaces

Infrared keyboards, drivers & interfaces

WBST said:
Maybe this will be of use:
http://drivers-01.blogspot.com/2012/12/ibm-sk-8807-19k1800-infrared-ir-keyboard.html
Click to expand...

That is not the real driver: it is a scam which installs a "PC maintenance" app called TweakBit "on sale today for only $99.95 !"

https://tweakbit.com/

Then there is another scam product which offers to remove TweakBit, called "Advanced System Repair" (which I'm sure will up-sell you on something, if it is isnt just plain old spyware.) Such is the wonderful world of Windows, LOL. ;)

https://www.fixmypcfree.com/blog/how-to-remove-tweakbit/

The OEM driver for my SK-7100 does not work under Windows 7 or later. But the only thing it ever really did was map the programmable function keys to custom events in Windows - everything else was done in hardware (which was detected by Windows as a standard PS/2 keyboard & serial mouse.) I used a serial to PS/2 mouse adapter if there was no serial port, and it worked fine.

The SK-7100 has 6 programmable keys (which do nothing right now for lack of a driver) and 6 standard media transport keys (volume & playback controls) which already work without a driver because they use standard key codes. I would like to find some key mapping utility apps that work under Windows 10 / Linux / BSD, but its not a big deal - the keyboard is still usable as-is.

Speaking of drivers, there is a legit driver archive which claims to be largest driver database in the world.

https://drp.su/en

The problem is that their app wants to find drivers for you instead of letting you search the repository - but at least they have the decency to make the whole repo (21 GB) available to those who need it. If you download all or part of it, you will find the drivers in zip files by category. None of the many driver installer scams on the internet would ever do something like that.

https://drp.su/en/info/driverpack-network

Dwight Elvey said:
It requires a two way communication. At least for the newer keyboards I've worked with.
Click to expand...
Chuck(G) said:
Communication is one-way. There are no photosensors on the keyboard--just IR LEDs.
Click to expand...

I agree... there is no 2-way communication on these things. You can see the IR traffic down-converted to visible wavelengths through a digital camera. (Which is also a good way to confirm that the device is actually sending something.)

Chuck(G) said:
I saw that one long ago. Apparently, a special adapter to receive the keyboard signals is also required--and that's a mystery.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the OEM driver for that IBM keyboard would have worked with the built-in IR receivers that many desktop PC's used to have before Bluetooth became a standard for short range communications. Under Windows, those things even supported file transfer capability, and Windows Update might still install a driver for those modules if you could find one & hook it up. (Some recent Intel NUC systems still have a built-in IR receiver.)

Also, here is a USB interface that might be easier to construct.
https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-USB-IR-receiver

Here is an assembled IR receiver that employs the Windows USB HID standard. You can probably find others.
http://www.electronic-sources.com/USB-Receivers-30375200/

"Human Interface Devices (HID) is a device class definition to replace PS/2-style connectors with a generic USB driver to support HID devices such as keyboards, mice, game controllers, etc."

Recent updates to HID over USB also include:

Support for USB 1.1, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0.
A HID over USB driver is available on all client SKUs of Windows and is included in WinPE.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/hid/

It would be interesting to test these Silitek keyboards with a HID USB IR receiver to see what happens. Since Linux already supports HID devices, that might increase the options for people who dont want to build an interface.

http://www.linux-usb.org/USB-guide/x194.html

There are also BSD drivers for HID devices, for example:
https://github.com/wulf7/utouch

HID over I2C support in FreeBSD
https://reviews.freebsd.org/D16698

A simple library for communicating with USB & Bluetooth HID devices on Linux, Mac and Windows.
https://github.com/libusb/hidapi

While digging through my archives I also came across this:

If anyone is missing documentation for some old hardware, I have a full site rip of the defunct "Total Hardware" online archive with jumper settings, BIOS settings, board layout diagrams & connector IDs for 18,655 pre-Y2K computers & peripherals. It's all in HTML format which could be put right back online and made accessible to the public without modifications. (565 MB)

Contents:

Motherboards
Hard Disk / Floppy Controllers
Multi I/O adapters
Memory cards
Graphics cards
Sound/Multimedia
Optical drives
Tape drives
Modems, Telephone/ISDN
Network Cards & devices
Hard disks
 
Chuck(G) said:
I now have two of the keyboards and two of the BP adapters.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the work you've done, Chuck! I saw them on sale a few months ago, and found your info when I went searching for specs on them. I got a couple to use with SBCs that only have serial ports.

I just got an "On Sale!!!" email from Goldmine, and they have them on sale again for $3, through Sunday 4/5. So anyone interested can get them cheap now.

Thanks again,

Ran
 
Chuck(G) said:
I recast the code for the "Blue Pill" cheapies. This is what the receiver looks like now:
...
I've got three of the iPoint keyboards now, after the Goldmine Electronics special on these ($10). One of these days, I'll get around to doing the USB version, but right now, it doesn't matter to me.
Click to expand...
Did, or could, you post the Blue Pill file somewhere? THX!

And, did you ever tackle a USB interface instead?
 
There's a code repository on Github that I posted quite some time ago.
I noted that I have no need for USB keyboards and don't even own one, the USB aspect would be hard for me to do. My KBs are all PS/2 model Ms or NCRs.
 
Goldmine has these back on for $3. Ordered one as wall-art but maybe I'll pull out a blue pill from the drawer just to make it work with... something
 
They're not bad--the feel is pretty decent and the 4xAA batteries seem to last forever. I think I've got 6 of the things scattered around.

One thing that I've never gotten to is what to do with the "joystick" control.
 
Chuck(G) said:
There's a code repository on Github that I posted quite some time ago.
I noted that I have no need for USB keyboards and don't even own one, the USB aspect would be hard for me to do. My KBs are all PS/2 model Ms or NCRs.
Click to expand...
Great; what's your account/handle there? I don't see any reference in this thread, perhaps there's another one with it referenced?
 
Chuck(G) said:
Heck, I've got a bunch of those still in original packaging. I'll sell you one for half that price! :)
Click to expand...
Don't you wish ...

Nice touch with the USART debug output. And status LEDs too (blinken lights!).

I'm considering extending your implementation with a parallel output for some other vintage keyboard-replacement applications. Seems like a "natural" given an excess of available I/O pins (37 for general use) that could be suborned for that purpose. Would need to add new mappings, of course.

For the IR receiver did you use a "naked" 3-wire device or one of those PCBs with the added pair of caps and resistors?

Thank you for sharing your design / implementation.
 
If my everyday versions weren't in nice little boxes, I'd pull them out to show you how the IR receiver is mounted--just soldered through the header holes on the PCB. Absolutely nothing fancy. The Vishnay sensors seem to be a bit more immune to strong ambient light than the Chinese generics.

It'd be easy enough to adapt one of these for use as just about any keyboard--PC XT included.
 
Chuck(G) said:
On impulse (new for $5), I picked up an IBM I-Point IR keyboard:

G15326B.jpg


It takes 4 AA cells and has a rubber pointing device in the corner. I can't find a thing out about this and will probably end up hooking an IR sensor to my logic analyzer to figure the codes out.

The serial number is 768, so there probably weren't many of these produced. IBM part number 19K1800; Model no. SK-8807.

Anyone know anything else about this?
Click to expand...
old thread but by chance do you have a picture of the keyboard for the IBM one? Your picture you posted is no longer valid. Curious because I am the one who sold that patent but never saw the IBM one. other vintage joysticks I designed were for a company named Suncom.
 
There's a photo at the Electronics Goldmine. I've got six of the things, so if that doesn't work for you, I can haul out one of them and take some snaps. IBM Part# 19K1800.

G15326B_c3c0806c-40f8-4209-a09a-a9dc451b7824.jpg
 
Chuck(G) said:
There's a photo at the Electronics Goldmine. I've got six of the things, so if that doesn't work for you, I can haul out one of them and take some snaps. IBM Part# 19K1800.

G15326B_c3c0806c-40f8-4209-a09a-a9dc451b7824.jpg
Click to expand...
thanks If you do ever have a chance yes would like a good picture or so. I see the i-point in some of their store point of purchase keyboards once in a while. I wish I had seen one of these when they had the receivers to see if they had implemented the firmware algorithm that are in their trackpoint keyboard by Lenovo. Coincidently I just ordered another Lenovo trackpoint corded keyboard a week ago as one of the scan ports on the chip died so 2wsx do not work. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3U4TQS/ . The reason I would have liked to see it in action to see if they used the trackpoint algorithms in action is the trackpoint inventor (Ted Selker)from IBM found it was also key to control the deceleration curve. IBM was trying to license to the company I sold the patent to so I was involved in the potential licensing, but IBM wanted way to much in royalties. I suggested to that company to have their firmware guy just implement a deceleration curve of their own. Which they did, but that is why I wish i could have played with one of the IBM versions but Ted I am confident had left IBM before that one came out, he went onto be a professor http://ted.selker.com/

If I head back to the USA for a period of time if you wnt to get rid on them I would be interested to add them to my collection of keyboards. My last venture into keyboards right after selling the i-point I lost a ton of money, called the keyboard organizer. Now another vintage computer accessory. Got locked out of the market by the two top keyboard companies. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mykeyo-pro-keyboard-stand-organizer-tablets#/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top