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PS/2 Keyboard Cable

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First post, by Velociraptor

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I bought a cheap beige keyboard a while ago on ebay. It looks like an IBM M2, but it's not the same mechanism at all. "Wyse USB Terminal Euro Keyboard with Side PS/2 Port. Model KU-8933 901715-03"

I liked it because it had a USB cable fitted and also had a PS/2 DIN port on it. I'm now setting up the 2 PCs that will use it. I'll use a KVM switch.

So for the first time today I connected it by the PS/2 connector and the PC it connected to screamed through the speaker. I powered off and tried a known working PS/2 keyboard, which still of course works.

I then tried the known working keyboard through the KVM using the same cable I used to connect the Wyse to the PC. Still works.

That leads me to 2 possibilities

1) The Wyse keyboard does not work by PS/2, only by USB

2) There's a difference in cables between a keyboard cable, and a switchbox cable. Both look the same with the same DIN plugs, but are wired differently.

Does anyone know?

Reply 1 of 7, by konc

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I really don't know anything helpful, but from the description and the fact that this is a terminal keyb, have you considered the possibility that this side ps/2 port is not an alternative way to connect to keyb to the pc, but to connect other devices on it? Like some handheld scanner for example, since it was made for terminals.

Reply 4 of 7, by darry

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Velociraptor wrote on 2020-07-07, 18:13:

Ah well that's probably what it is! Thanks folks!

Hopefully a USB to PS/2 connector will work and I can still use the KVM.

Pretty certain a standard passive USB to PS/2 adapter will not work . If that is a PS/2 mouse port, that means the keyboard has an active PS/2 to USB converter for the mouse and an internal USB hub . Such a device will not work with a passive USB to PS/2 adapter .

Reply 6 of 7, by darry

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Velociraptor wrote on 2020-07-07, 18:24:

Ah no I mean I'll ignore the PS/2 port and use a USB to PS/2 adapter on the keyboard's USB cable to allow me to connect it to the KVM.

That's what I meant too. The keyboard will likely not work with a common USB to to PS/2 adapter because the USB keyboard mechanism and internal PS/2 to USB adapter means a USB hub chip is used inside the keyboard housing to connect the two . A USB hub will not work through a USB to PS/2 adapter .

Reply 7 of 7, by Velociraptor

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Ah I see what you mean, well the little adapter thing is on it's way, and it didn't cost much so I'll give it a try. But as you say if it's presenting itself as a keyboard and mouse through USB as a hub then that can't be translated to a keyboard.

I tested it with my modern PC and as a pleasant surprise it was detected as a USB keyboard, and then to my disappointment the PS/2 mouse I plugged into the side of it worked too. Looking at device manager the USB keyboard doesn't appear as a keyboard.

https://i.imgur.com/UEQaHT2.png

That looks to be it there.

I'll still give the adapter a try when it arrives, but it looks like this keyboard cannot be used through the PS/2 KVM. That's rather a shame, I've tried a USB switch before but they're electrical and unreliable.

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