Vintage Cherry Din5 to USB, how?

[Easy_Spinach]

Hi,

today I was lucky enough to find a Cherry G80-1000 HAD with production date A49 and double shots for 5€. I gave him 10 instead but still felt guilty tbqh
I just realized that DIN5 to USB is not that simple.. It comes with a DIN5 to PS2 adapter. I need it to be USB though,
I already figured out that I cant just wire a USB cable to the PCB or use a simple hardware adapter since its a different protocol.
There seem to be different options of active converters. Can you recommend one?
I also read that there are DIY projects with teensys that can do the trick but I couldnt find proper documentation.
What would you guys recommend me and could you point me in the right direction? Im broke AF so price is a big concern and I would prefer a DIY solution that I could possibly hide inside the casing.

Thanks !

[Findecanor]

First: DIN5 to PS/2 is just wiring. Find wiring diagrams online! Use of a multimeter for checking continuity could be a great help.

There should be lots of active PS/2 to USB converters on the market. Just about any of them should work just as well with Cherry keyboards .. as long as it is an active one.

DIY projects have moved on from Teensy 2.0 microcontroller board to the 5V Pro Micro because they use the same microcontroller but are much cheaper. You could get one for 5€ shipped from China, or even less if you buy in bulk. Be aware that there are two versions: one for 5V and one for 3.3V, and you'd want the former. Another quirk is that it was made for Arduino which has a different pin number on each type of microcontroller board: See the pin diagram in the Wiki article!
Check here for Soarer's firmware to download to the microcontroller board, and how to solder things up.
Check this thread for info on how to "flash" the files onto the Pro Micro.

[Easy_Spinach]

Thanks, I still have a pro micro laying around

[kbdfr]

I had no problem connecting DIN Cherry keyboards to USB by just chaining two cheap, passive adapters:
DIN to PS/2 and PS/2 to USB.
Perhaps as a first step you should just give it a try

[ZedTheMan]

Uh, passive ps/2 to USB working?
I'm not sure that is a thing unless the ps/2 board has USB already, and I have doubts for that on a DIN5 plug AT board.

Huh.

[Lbibass]

First: DIN5 to PS/2 is just wiring. Find wiring diagrams online! Use of a multimeter for checking continuity could be a great help.

There should be lots of active PS/2 to USB converters on the market. Just about any of them should work just as well with Cherry keyboards .. as long as it is an active one.

DIY projects have moved on from Teensy 2.0 microcontroller board to the 5V Pro Micro because they use the same microcontroller but are much cheaper. You could get one for 5€ shipped from China, or even less if you buy in bulk. Be aware that there are two versions: one for 5V and one for 3.3V, and you'd want the former. Another quirk is that it was made for Arduino which has a different pin number on each type of microcontroller board: See the pin diagram in the Wiki article!
Check here for Soarer's firmware to download to the microcontroller board, and how to solder things up.
Check this thread for info on how to "flash" the files onto the Pro Micro.

I’m begging you, please stop recommending soarers. Just use TMK. It already has a nice GUI, and it just makes so much more sense to use than Soarers. And: it’s still being updated.

[Findecanor]

I’m begging you, please stop recommending soarers. Just use TMK. It already has a nice GUI, and it just makes so much more sense to use than Soarers. And: it’s still being updated.

Then you link to that GUI that creates firmware files for the converter without using having to install a build environment!

[swampangel]

Then you link to that GUI that creates firmware files for the converter without using having to install a build environment!

http://www.tmk-kbd.com/tmk_keyboard/edi ... 2_usb_rev1

there are different urls for different converters, context and flashing instructions at https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=72052.0


If you don't want to DIY and you don't need the reprogrammability of soarers/tmk, these work fine https://www.amazon.ca/Perixx-PERIPRO-40 ... 008DFVQFW/ I have some cheaper ones that also work but have quirks (don't work with macos, or aren't good for gaming because they "forget" a key is held down after a while).

[Easy_Spinach]

Then you link to that GUI that creates firmware files for the converter without using having to install a build environment!

http://www.tmk-kbd.com/tmk_keyboard/edi ... 2_usb_rev1

there are different urls for different converters, context and flashing instructions at https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=72052.0


If you don't want to DIY and you don't need the reprogrammability of soarers/tmk, these work fine https://www.amazon.ca/Perixx-PERIPRO-40 ... 008DFVQFW/ I have some cheaper ones that also work but have quirks (don't work with macos, or aren't good for gaming because they "forget" a key is held down after a while).

Thanks I will be looking into TMK then. I definetly want to DIY it. I will try to hide the Pro Micro inside the Cherry Keyboard case and add a USB-C Port so that I can add and remove a braided cable that im gonna make for it.