deskthority

I got this Zephyr stackpole board from Computer Reset, and I'd like to convert it to USB using a pro micro and soarer's converter. So here is the sucker on my work desk, ready for dissection. Easy peasy, four screws around the edge of the case. Plus four little pry tabs on the two sides of the case. Got it open, you can see the sexy PCB below Turns out, for once forcing the thing open was the right call. It had these peculiar velcro strips holding the plate to the case. The connector, with six pins and five wires. Here is the DIN plug: And back of the PCB: So, how do I figure out which wire is clock, data, power, and ground? I already have a pro micro ready to be flashed with soarers firmware, which I have done before. I have not done this for a long time and even though I recently made a Wyseverter, those pinouts are already covered and fairly easy to do on your own.

I have a multimeter, would that be the best way to determine which pins go to what? Any help with this would be very much appreciated.

This should tell you where the pins are on the cable. If you want to make an external converter you can wire up something to connect to the pins as the appear in the pinout. If you plan to do an internal converter you would do a continuity test on the din plug and the connector on the board to determine what goes where. This board looks like it has uses all 5 pins, so it might actually use the reset pin, which soarers does not deal well with IIRC, so you might need to set it up with whatever Hasu's converter is. I don't know anything about that so I can't really advise on what you would need to do for that.

If you want to know what I would do if I were doing an internal converter for this check below:

You should try making Soarer's Simple Logic Analyzer

That'd allow you to tell Data / Clock.

But that's assuming it's AT/XT or something similar. It might be a different protocol all together. But that simple logic analyzer is definitely a good starting place.

Well I wired it up with this external converter but to no avail. Keyboard lights up but I have nothing from HID listen. On a separate note, I tried converting one of the IBM compatibles to USB with a soarers and got an R05 error. The IBM compatible board uses the same plug and I matched the pinouts right. The lock LED's light up but I only get that R05 error for the IBM compatible.

Also, this is the firmware I used:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=17458.0

That is what I should be using right?

Also for the AT IBM compatible(not the Zephyr) I get this output in HID listen:

No way this works! Turns out I had one of the connections wrong, ground is not black on that AT to PS/2 adapter i sliced up, its green!
I have no clue why this would be, but it turns out everything works now! Feels good to be typing on such a beast even if the layout is atrocious. Thanks for all the suggestions, turns out you just need to think hard and retrace your steps.

Also, the R05 error basically means the clock is timing out. Makes sense considering clock was ground.
I typed that whole message out on the stackpole Zephyr and even though the switches aren't too shabby I don't like this layout one bit, I missed shift far too many times

Redmaus wrote: 25 Jun 2019, 08:34
I have no clue why this would be

That's because manufacturers don't really follow a specific standard. The only way to accurately tell what cable is what, is to trace the leads to the pins using a multi-meter.

I'm necro'ing this. I bought this keyboard from Redmaus a little while ago. Because it's cool. It also has been cleaning up very nicely.

* I do not have a multimeter.
* I have some idea of what a multimeter is, but I have no idea how to determine which line is for data, VCC, etc.
* I don't know who Continuity is and why he's on or in my keyboard.
* I have built a Soarer's Converter before.
* I have basic soldering and desoldering skills.
* Soarer's Simple Logic Analyzer isn't simple, to me, at least.
* Redmaus doesn't remember/know what the pinouts were.

So, could y'all please help me out? While I definitely would like the quick fix of, "Put this cable here. Solder that," I'd like to know how to determine all of this for myself.

Thanks!

Well if you know the pinout to make an external AT plug soarer converter I think it will work on this keyboard.

I'll give it a shot. I did try AT adapter -> PS/2 adapter -> Active USB adapter and that didn't work.

It's mocking me.

I had it working for about two minutes, then the Pro Micro fell off my desk, ripping out the wires. I couldn't figure out which ones they were .

I tried using the 5-pin din section of a female AT to PS/2, as in the above example. I tried using Zirron's schematic and that didn't work for me. I do not have the "PE" wired up to anything, though. On my XT, I have an identical Pro Micro, and also no connection for PE. Looking up what PE means, as a wiring term, I see it's supposed to be for "Protective Earth." Further, it's supposed to be "ground." So, wire it with two grounds?