• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Qwerty to Dvorak For the CoCo

J

Jtterbug

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Messages
158
Location
Pacific NW
Hello,
I decided to try the Dvorak simplified keyboard. I like it and find it more efficient than Qwerty. However, after getting used to the new layout, I realized my CoCo uses Qwerty. I was wondering if there was a board or chip that could convert the Qwerty signals to Dvorak.
Thanks
 
The CoCo is a hard wired keyboard setup, to change the key layout you will have to redesign the keyboard for the new keyboard setup. I have seen someone who made up a adaptor to use a IBM compat keyboard. I had that info but lost it years back from a HDD crash.
 
Yup, the coco's keyboard matrix ran right to the address bus -- so you'd have to rewire the switches. Unfortunately under the hood the mechanism on both the original chiclet and the 'superior' melted and/or enhanced keyboard is the 'printed plastic sheet' mechanism similar to what's inside a dome keyboard -- so there's no board with traces to cut and rewire.

BUT

A common modification in the early days of the coco was to wire in a TRS-80 Model 1 keyboard, which did use mechanical switches on a circuit board. If you can find a model 1 keyboard it's layout compatible, the keycaps come off easy enough to be re-arranged, and if you go to some early issues of 80-micro or Hot Coco they have all the wiring instructions to install it.

I'll dig through the PDF archives I downloaded of those two magazines to see if I can find the relevant article -- even if you don't do the model 1 conversion it at least has all the wiring info...

Oh, and you might want to look into the Coco technical reference (the "green book") as it had a full circuit diagram of the Coco that could be very handy.... after all that reference is how I did my first 32k upgrade the piggy-back style and the inverse video conversion...
 
That's odd. I thought I saw a connector, so the keyboard could be removed. So I thougt that a chip or board could be put in between to convert the signals.
 
I'm not familiar with the CoCo, but couldn't you just modify the internal lookup table that converts the matrix to key codes? You probably could make an EPROM "converter" to go between the keyboard and the computer but it might take a little more than just one or two chips.
 
Okay. Two questions, What chip converts the matrix, and how could I convert it. However, after typing on that keyboard, I figure I may as well type it on my computer and convert it.
 
You can redo the Basic ROM so it will read the key matrix any way you want. Back in the days when I was totaly into the CoCo, I could of done it, but time marches on and forgotten almost all of what I did on the CoCo.

Where's the Hot-Coco PDF files located and the Coco technical reference (the "green book"), Deathshadow? I been looking but not found them.
 
Thanks Deathshadow! Lots of good info I been looking for. Still no luck on the Worlds of Flight simulator manual for Coco....

Jtterbug , in those files is a PDF file called "full turn of the screw (1989)(rainbow magazine)(pdf" by Tony DiStefano, on pg28 of that PDF it shows a way to hook up more keys to the key board of the CoCo, even shows the keyboard scan lines and a small basic program to read the extera keys. I have not fully read it but that may have the IBM xt keyboard to Coco adaptor in it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top