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First post, by rick12373

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I have an old keyboard I would love to hook up to my Windows 10 PC. It has the AT/XT connector. I know there are AT to PS/2 adapters and also PS/2 to USB but I am not sure if both of the adapters are used if it would work.

486 DX4-100 (overdrive)
16MB 72-pin SIMM RAM (2x8MB)
1MB Diamond Speedstar Pro VLB video card
SB 16 Value CT2770
AOpen VI15G Socket 3 Motherboard
HDD/FDD VLB controller card

Reply 1 of 11, by Horun

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XT keyboards require an XT keyboard controller and cannot be used on an AT/PS2 motherboard without a conversion circuit. Using just adapters is not enough.
However you can adapt most AT keyboards to PS/2....

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 2 of 11, by Jo22

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That's right, XTs had a different keyboard protocol, as well.

Some people even say it was more simple, but also more elegant than the AT protocol.

From what I vaguely remember, it didn't need to lock/unlock keys (?) in the same was as the AT protocol does need to do.

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Reply 3 of 11, by konc

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rick12373 wrote on 2021-10-13, 20:51:

I have an old keyboard I would love to hook up to my Windows 10 PC. It has the AT/XT connector. I know there are AT to PS/2 adapters and also PS/2 to USB but I am not sure if both of the adapters are used if it would work.

I'm probably writing the obvious, but have you checked if it has an XT/AT switch on the back?

Reply 4 of 11, by rick12373

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konc wrote on 2021-10-14, 06:40:
rick12373 wrote on 2021-10-13, 20:51:

I have an old keyboard I would love to hook up to my Windows 10 PC. It has the AT/XT connector. I know there are AT to PS/2 adapters and also PS/2 to USB but I am not sure if both of the adapters are used if it would work.

I'm probably writing the obvious, but have you checked if it has an XT/AT switch on the back?

It doesn't it is from the Leading Edge 8086 I think I posted about on here before.

Thanks for all of the other advice though!

486 DX4-100 (overdrive)
16MB 72-pin SIMM RAM (2x8MB)
1MB Diamond Speedstar Pro VLB video card
SB 16 Value CT2770
AOpen VI15G Socket 3 Motherboard
HDD/FDD VLB controller card

Reply 5 of 11, by snufkin

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I used Soarer's Converter to connect a Model F to USB: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2510&start=

Works well, and as long as it's just me the deafening key noise isn't a problem. That page says V1.1 "Added support for 'almost' PC/XT protocol keyboards, e.g. Leading Edge DC-2014.", so there's a chance it'd work.

Reply 6 of 11, by rick12373

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snufkin wrote on 2021-10-14, 15:29:

I used Soarer's Converter to connect a Model F to USB: https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2510&start=

Works well, and as long as it's just me the deafening key noise isn't a problem. That page says V1.1 "Added support for 'almost' PC/XT protocol keyboards, e.g. Leading Edge DC-2014.", so there's a chance it'd work.

Is it possible to buy it assembled? I don't want to put it together myself. I don't have the tools or skill anyway.

486 DX4-100 (overdrive)
16MB 72-pin SIMM RAM (2x8MB)
1MB Diamond Speedstar Pro VLB video card
SB 16 Value CT2770
AOpen VI15G Socket 3 Motherboard
HDD/FDD VLB controller card

Reply 7 of 11, by zapbuzz

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would be cool to have an AT with an XT keyboard controller chip & keyboard i wonder if anyone achieved that 😀

Reply 8 of 11, by snufkin

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I was going to say that it looks like there are a few for sale on everyone's favourite auction site, but looking at one listing it says:

Please note that the following keyboards are KNOWN NOT TO WORK with because of slightly different protocols than standard XT and AT: Zenith Keyboards with XT Layout (ZKB-2 ANSI Layout Does Work), Leading Edge DC-2014 and DC-2015, Lynk terminal, and Amiga Keyboards

So watch out for that. I did find one list in the US that explicitly says it works with Leading Edge DC-2014 and DC-3014 (I searched for "soarers converter leading edge"). The listing included pictures showing which keyboard PCB it works with.

Reply 9 of 11, by rick12373

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Well yesterday I actually bought this from eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/143828363461?nma=tru … =p2047675.l2557 . It is from Russia so hopefully it arrives and also does not take 6 months! The seller has good reviews. A bit of a gamble, hopefully it works with the Leading Edge Keyboard or other old keyboards.

486 DX4-100 (overdrive)
16MB 72-pin SIMM RAM (2x8MB)
1MB Diamond Speedstar Pro VLB video card
SB 16 Value CT2770
AOpen VI15G Socket 3 Motherboard
HDD/FDD VLB controller card

Reply 10 of 11, by rmay635703

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zapbuzz wrote on 2021-10-14, 15:59:

would be cool to have an AT with an XT keyboard controller chip & keyboard i wonder if anyone achieved that 😀

I would think you would just need a protocol adapter like this one only wired to go the other way

https://hackaday.com/2017/01/21/attoxtkeyboard/

What’s more fun is there were historically keyboard protocol adapters in the day as well, would be fun to find a gold brick example to see what was done back in the day.

Reply 11 of 11, by snufkin

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I think it'll depend on which version of Soarer's firmware is loaded. If it does work (as in you can mash some keys and something appears on the screen) you may still have to jump through a few hoops to get the key mapping right, but that's not too much of a faff. The converter firmware can be configured by using some software to first compile a text file describing how you want the keyboard to work, then upload that configuration file to the converter via its USB connection, so no need to have a separate device programmer. It can also be set up to turn on LEDs for caps/num/scroll lock.

If it doesn't work, then it looks like there are new converter firmwares around now like TMK and QMK, which apparently support more keyboards, are open source and actively developed. But I haven't played with any of them.