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Modding a Thinkpad Keyboard for External Use?

Posted by Cliff on from the just-for-the-fun-of-it dept.

Rinisari asks: "I've recently acquired a working keyboard from a IBM Thinkpad. It has ~87 keys, mousestick with left, right, and rocker buttons, and five other buttons: IBM, volume up/down/mute, and a power button (part number 08K4785). I want to make an interface cable, preferably USB but PS/2 will suffice, to be able to use this on my desktop. Has anyone ever tried something like this?"

2 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Keyboard controller? by df200 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Have you checked if this thing has a keyboard controller chip built in? Normal PC keyboards have their own logic but laptop keyboards AFAIK don't, the logic may be somewhere on the laptop's mainboard.

  2. You need a microcontroller by mewyn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In order to pull this off, you will need to figure out how the keyboard's matrix is set up, then hook it up properly to a microcontroller, and then program said microcontroller to work with PS/2 (forget USB). Simply put no easy task. And then there's the trackpoint. With that, you will have to find a microcontroller with analog inputs, and figure out how the thing behaves electrically. Just give it up and buy a new keyboard. This thing is a task only for someone who knows a lot about EE, and has the time to do it.

    Mewyn Dy'ner