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XT Keyboards - any suggestions?

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First post, by PTherapist

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I bought an IBM XT motherboard and all was well until I came to look for my keyboard and discovered that I no longer had an XT compatible keyboard. All I could find in my collection were a couple of AT keyboards with markings for XT/AT switches, but no actual switch included.

There was 1 PS/2 Compaq branded keyboard that would get me past the 301 error, but of course the keys were useless and/or doing random things when pressed.

I've searched online and obviously eBay has some XT capable keyboards, though they're a bit on the pricey side. Has anybody got any suggestions of particular keyboards to look out for, that will support XT?

Also any other possible solutions for this problem?

Reply 1 of 7, by keropi

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I had an AT keyboard with a place for an AT/XT switch that was not populated. After I removed the jumper and installed a switch it was possible to use it without issues in both XT/AT machines, maybe you can do the same to one of your keyboards?

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Reply 2 of 7, by looking4awayout

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Well, looking for an XT keyboard on Ebay is going to be a long and tricky journey. There might be some inexpensive ones somewhere, but you'd have to look thoroughly.

If you want something that resembles the Model F (so 84 keys and 10 function keys) and is versatile enough to be used both on XT and AT platforms, I recommend you the BTC-5060XT series. It's autosensing, so it will just work fine whenever you plug it into an XT or AT class computer.

A 5060XT is the keyboard I have on my system, and despite being a foam and foil kind of keyboard (not everybody's cup of tea) it works fine for me.

Another good keyboard, if you want an ANSI layout, is the Chicony KB-5181, that has a physical switch that allows you to choose between XT or AT protocols, plus it comes with clicky Alps switches.

An interesting XT only keyboard in my opinion, this one not having a standard Model F or ANSI layout, is the Keytronic KB5151 series. It adopts the model F layout with 10 function keys, but it's arranged in a way that resembles ANSI layout, and in fact, it predates the ANSI layout introduced with the Model M.

Last time I checked for them on Ebay, they were sold for quite low prices.

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Reply 4 of 7, by PTherapist

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Joey_sw wrote:

i do curious if adapter for XT Keyboard <--> AT Keyboard was ever made?

I've seen some information with regards to building something to do that, but not sure if anything like that was ever commercially released.

Reply 5 of 7, by jesolo

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Joey_sw wrote:

i do curious if adapter for XT Keyboard <--> AT Keyboard was ever made?

Yes, there was. By fellow Vogons member Carlostex.
Unfortunately, he's currently out of stock (check out his thread on Amibay).

Reply 7 of 7, by Zup

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I wonder why there is no arduino based AT to XT adapter (or AT to Amstrad PC adapter)...

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