IBM PC Enhanced Keyboard News (and other factoids about IBM keyboards)

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Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.hardware
Message-ID: <4nhexngofl.fsf@rtp.ericsson.se>
References: <3B1525B7.400C9DE3@cornercap.com> <3B165371.8C18DB45@cornercap.com>
    <3B167105.878A3007@pacificnet.net> <PpVU6.779$iH6.78338@news.shore.net>
    <9g18dj$pis$1@agate.berkeley.edu>
    <Pine.GSO.4.33.0106102027000.10517-100000@mars.rite-group.com>
Date: 11 Jun 2001 09:02:06 -0400
Organization: Ericsson Inc., RTP, NC
From: Raymond Toy <toy@rtp.ericsson.se>
Subject: Re: SunBlade keyboard

>>>>> "Rich" == Rich Teer <rich@rite-group.com> writes:

    Rich> On Mon, 11 Jun 2001, Alan Coopersmith wrote:
    >> Ken <s14b23@yahoo.com> writes in comp.sys.sun.hardware:
    >> |
    >> | What I want is a keyboard for my PC that has Ctrl and Caps Lock
    >> | in the "proper" place. :)
    >> 
    >> If your PC supports USB (including at the BIOS level), just buy a Sun
    >> USB Unix-layout keyboard and use it.  That's what I did for my Mac...

    Rich> ... And if it doesn't, check out the Happy Hacker keyboard.  They can
    Rich> come with the proper key layout, and have got a PS/2 interface, IIRC.

Or get a Northgate Ultra keyboard.  Although, they're not made by
Northgate anymore, but someone else that I can't remember but a web
search will find it.  A bit pricey, though.  (I have an original one
from over 10 years ago, and I love it.  I'll be sad if it ever dies.)

Ray


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Newsgroups: comp.periphs, comp.emacs, comp.os.linux.hardware
Message-ID: <87bsmgmeoe.fsf@carrot.petrofsky.org>
Organization: http://www.idiom.com
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 04:01:40 GMT
From: Alphanumeric Petrofsky <alphanumeric@petrofsky.org>
Subject: Need help getting Control-H to work on an OmniKey/101

[Followups directed to comp.periphs]

> From: Paul Lew (lew@gsg.com)                                         
> Subject: Re: WTB: Northgate OmniKey 101 keyboard                           
> Newsgroups: misc.forsale.computers.pc-specific.misc                    
> Date: 1996/10/27                                                           
>
>
> rodsmith@indiana.edu writes:
>
> > I'd like to buy a Northgate OmniKey 101 keyboard.  I like the "feel"
> > of this keyboard, and would like a consistent layout between home
> > and work.
>
> I just purchased one which I returned.  This is the new OmniKey/101
> keyboard with the new Win95 keys added.  I have an old OmniKey/102 at
> home which have dip switch to change control/caplocks.  On the new
> keyboard, this dip switch has disappeared, instead, everything is now
> controlled by software download.  The software distributed with the
> Omnikey/101 keyboard works only on Windows-95 and Windows 3.1.  I
> installed it on the Windows-95 and the download failed.  I tried it on
> the Windows 3.1 and it works.  So as long as you have access to a
> Windows 3.1 system and program the keyboard once, the keyboard is
> ready for use on other systems like Window-NT or Unix.
>
> The Visual basic program which control the keyboard programming is
> nicely done, BUT, with bugs.  When I switched the control and
> caplocks, the CTRL H became mute and since this is the primary key I
> used for emacs, I had to return it.
>
> The keyboard itself is still as good as ever.  My suggestion is if you
> like to swap the control and caplock keys, you might want to get an
> old OmniKey/101 with dip switch.  Otherwise, you might want to wait
> until Northgate fix this problem.


Hi,

I have an OmniKey 101 keyboard, model KYBD101P with 104 keys and no
dip switches.  It is in many ways far superior to the cheap keyboard I
normally use, but it has a problem that is a deal-breaker for this
emacs user: when the key to the left of the "A" key is held down, the
"H" key generates no scan code on press or release.  This means I need
to either use some other key as control, or live without C-h.  Neither
option is acceptable.

Is there anybody out there with this model that has control-H working
the way I want it too?

Unlike other Omnikey keyboards that have dip switches for
configuration, this model just has an eeprom that you're supposed to
configure by running a Windows utility.  I have neither the utility
nor Windows.  The keyboard's maker, Northgate, is no longer in
business.  The eeprom is currently set such that the key-left-of-A
generates the standard capslock scancode.  With the configuration
utility, one could change this to the control scancode.  I don't care
which code it produces, of course, because I can easily configure
Llinux accordingly.  But I'm thinking that maybe when the scancodes are
reconfigured, the "H" problem magically goes away.

The only other scenario I can imagine is that Northgate shipped a
keyboard without bothering to ensure that all the keys work when in
traditionally-placed-control-key mode.  This wouldn't surprise me from
some manufacturers, but it seems unfathomable from Northgate, because
they were so sensitive to control key preferences that they actually
included alternate capslock and control keycaps with their keyboards.
Unfortunately, the following old article I found on google leads me to
fear that Northgate may have done just that.

Can anyone help me?

-al


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq, alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,
    alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000, comp.sys.hp.hardware
Message-ID: <es5qlvcctboro72qdj6k980tfthmppo7mc@4ax.com>
References: <MPG.19c31f05c5adcc109896b2@news.fullerton.edu>
    <M8k6b.1705$BG6.1442@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net>
Organization: Not in he slightest
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 04:03:59 GMT
From: Marek Williams <abc@example.com>
Subject: Re: In search of an excellent keyboard?

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 12:10:20 GMT, "MyndPhlyp" <notreally@home.now>
dijo:

>How about an old Northgate OmniKey Ultra keyboard? ...
>
>Unfortunately, Northgate no longer exists. But at least one of their
>keyboards does and I have it. Definitely a collectors item if you
>experienced the PC industry changes from the 80386 to the Pentium.
>Personally speaking, Northgate would never have been able to make a living
>building and selling these keyboards - they're just too damned good.

Indeed, they are great keyboards. I have two of them. Unfortunately,
both have broken keys. They were great keyboards to type on, but they
didn't hold up terribly well.

When my last good one developed a bad key I searched around and
discovered that there is an outfit still making them. They purchased
the dies from the old Northgate Company (perhaps at a sheriff's sale),
and you can still get a brand new one. I bought one, but was
dissatisfied. It's the same as the old Omnikey 102, but does not play
well with current computers. It used to switch suddenly to INS mode
all the time. When I replaced it with a $5 keyboard from CompUSA, the
INS mode problem disappeared, so I know it was something weird in the
keyboard.

My hand still wants to go to the left of the keyboard when I need a
function key. Sigh.

--
Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so reply here.

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: alt.sys.pc-clone.compaq, alt.sys.pc-clone.dell,
    alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000, comp.sys.hp.hardware
Message-ID: <Aad7b.816$c35.507@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net>
References: <MPG.19c31f05c5adcc109896b2@news.fullerton.edu>
    <M8k6b.1705$BG6.1442@newsread1.news.atl.earthlink.net>
    <es5qlvcctboro72qdj6k980tfthmppo7mc@4ax.com>
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 05:03:28 GMT
From: MyndPhlyp <notreally@home.now>
Subject: Re: In search of an excellent keyboard?


"Marek Williams" <abc@example.com> wrote in message
news:es5qlvcctboro72qdj6k980tfthmppo7mc@4ax.com...
>
> My hand still wants to go to the left of the keyboard when I need a
> function key. Sigh.

Don't forget the backslash-pipe key just to the right of the right shift key
and the asterisk between the right Ctrl and Alt keys. Quite handy for those
of us who actually used DOS. I could never figure out a need to move the
tilde-back accent key down between the left Alt and Caps Lock keys though.
All the reminiscing of the past made me decide to put the current Dell
keyboard on the dust pile, buy a PS/2-PS/2 cable, place the PS/2-PC cable
lovingly along side the Dell keyboard and resurrect the Omnikey Ultra just
for old time's sake.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc,comp.std.misc
Message-ID: <Pine.3.96.990421180338.7480E-100000@stratagy.com>#1/1
References: <7ffo0l$fpf$1@narses.hrz.tu-chemnitz.de>
	    <371E055B.12A49F95@GSC.GTE.Com>
Organization: Stratagy Users Group
Date: 22 April A.D. 1999
From: "Richard S. Shuford" <shuford%list.stratagy.com>
Subject: IBM PC serial connectors and keyboards (was Wyse 120: which cable?)


Scott G. Hall wrote:
>
> You can thank IBM for this non-standard crap.  They chose to use a
> male connector on their PCs -- where everyone else was using a female
> connector on their PCs and terminals -- just to force customers to
> have to buy IBM cables.


Everyone else?  Not DEC.  I'm sitting three feet from a VT220
terminal, which has a male connector on its rear panel.  And I can
attach to it the female end of a Burroughs (Unisys) serial cable,
the other end of which terminates in a male connector that fits
the female connectors on most modems.

It's easy to attribute sinister motives to any big corporation, and
in some cases suspicion is justified, but not here.

In 1983, I was working for BYTE magazine (which, back then, generated
the type of enthusiasm people now have for "Wired"), and I took part
in an interview with Don Estridge, the IBM Vice President who oversaw
the development of the IBM PC at the emancipated IBM Entry Systems
Business unit in Boca Raton, Florida. (A writeup of the interview was
published in the November 1983 BYTE, pages 88-97.)

Although the subject of male vs. female connectors was not explicitly
brought up, Larry Curran and I did discuss several details of the
design of the original IBM PC with Mr. Estridge.  And, from the
general philosophy he espoused, I believe that IBM used male-pin
serial connectors because that is what the EIA RS-232-C standard said
you are *supposed* to use on the DTE side of a serial connection.
(Oddly enough, it did *not* say you should use a DB-25P, but it did
say that the DTE connector should be male and the DCE end female!)

A thing we did talk about was one IBM PC design decision that people
griped about very intensely in the early 1980s: that the original
84-key keyboard put the \| backslash-or-vertical-bar key to the left
of the Z key (in the so-called B00 position). IBM's PC designers did
so because that is where the consensus international keyboard
standard said it should go.  (The relevant standard in the old ANSI
catalog was X4.23-1982; it has been superceded by X3.154-1988/R1994.)

Even though IBM historically pushed proprietary technology, the Entry
Systems Business unit intended to follow what were, on paper at least,
recognized formal standards.  I'm sure that the adherents of the
proprietary approach within IBM were smugly amused at how much flak
the PC team took from using the formal consensus keyboard standard.

A photo of the original PC keyboard appeared on page 232 of that same
November 1983 BYTE, in an article comparing IBM's PC to one just
introduced by Texas Instruments.  The author, Bobbi Bullard, went on
to complain at length about the IBM keyboard's key placement, in case
you suspect I'm blowing the issue out of proportion.

(According to industry rumor, which I cannot verify, the fact that
the international standard put the \| key in the B00 position is
blamed on delegates to the standards committees from one cantankerous
nation in Europe, which I won't name here, thus avoiding a diplomatic
crisis.*)

A tutorial on basic RS-232-C concepts can be seen on this Web page:

    http://www.arcelect.com/rs232.htm

Some brief history of the IBM PC is visible at:

    http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/special/anniversary/back/lkr1c.htm

    [Alas, the anniversary article has become a 404 page.]

Collected information about video terminals is still to be seen at:

    http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
    [this archive]

In some possible world, Philip "Don" Estridge might have eventually
become president of IBM.  The 22-year IBM veteran was clearly a man
moving up; shortly after the interview he was appointed IBM's Vice
President for Worldwide Manufacturing.  But he and three other IBM
executives died in an airplane crash in August 1985.

Requiescat in pacem.

 ...Richard S. Shuford
    shuford(at)LIST.stratagy.com

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

* Despite my best efforts, the diplomatic crisis came anyway.  It was France.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: alt.sys.pdp10
Date: 28 Nov 2000 20:23:57 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
From: Frank da Cruz <fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: Re: Avant keyboard
: 
: The L-shaped enter key really is truly useless, I wonder why
: it's so popular...

Political correctness.  This all started, I think, with some massive
"human factors" study commissioned by DEC in Europe, which ultimately
resulted in some DIN standards and the LK (canoe paddle) keyboard.  I'm
pretty sure this was at least a year or two before the IBM 101 keyboard.
(I remember first seeing the keyboards at a nondisclosure presentation
of... I think it was the Digital Pro 350?... and being utterly appalled.
Of course the Pro 350 offered a wide choice of appalling features.  Didn't
DEC finally empty its warehouses of them by making them into consoles
for the VAX 8700?)

Before that was a long period of "let the 100 flowers bloom", and some
very nice keyboards appeared, such as on the Concept-100.  Back in those
days, people touch typed, and there was value in having all the keys in
striking distance of the home keys.

The DEC study was basically geared towards making computers (and
therefore keyboards) more friendly to the general non-computer-using
public, thereby increasing the market for computers and terminals.  So
as a result we had to have all these ergonomically huge Return/Enter
and Shift keys, and whatnot (though, ironically, they never thought of
a HELP key).  Implicit in the process was the recognition that (a) the
terminal-host model was dead (so we don't need Ctrl or Esc keys any
more), and (b) touch-typing was a discredited legacy concept (because
it is not a mass-market phenomenon).

The ultimate insult to the Old Guard was putting Caps Lock where Ctrl
was.  What could be more useless?  This seemed to send us directly
back to the ASR 33 Teletype days when computers spoke only upper case.
(Those of us who remember the VT50 and earlier still recall the
liberating sensation of entering and viewing lowercase on the VT52 and
early DECwriters.)

To add fuel to the fire, various European government procurement
bodies began to *require* the new layout, so by 1983 or so, the only
keyboards available were essentially today's DEC and IBM layouts.  At
least DEC waffled by leaving Ctrl in the same row, rather than moving
it way down to tendon-twisting territory.  But anyway, what it all
adds up to is: you're supposed to be using a mouse, not a keyboard.

And that's why the market for good keyboards is a vanishingly small one.

 ..............................................................................

Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 20:30:08 +0200
Organization: Badlab Construction Services, Inc
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.hardware, comp.unix.solaris, comp.sys.sun.admin
Message-ID: <3AC37F30.6201@c-lab.de>
From: Michael Joosten <joost@c-lab.de>
Subject: Re: Do you dislike Type 6 keyboards? (was: SS20 / SunBlade 100)


: [1] Not, if you please, accent grave, unless ' is accent accute.
: I know this is a lost battle, but still, right is right.

Names of characters are assigned in the standards in which the
characters are defined.  The characters in question are defined in 
US ASCII (ANSI X3.4-1986), ISO 646, ISO 8859, and ISO 10646.  In all
of these, the names of these two characters are APOSTROPHE and GRAVE
ACCENT, respectively (and yes, in uppercase too :-)

 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Date: Wednesday, 18 January 1989  13:31-MST
From: Rich Kennerly <LVL@CORNELLA.CIT.CORNELL.EDU>
Re:   Enhanced keyboards

   Here is a list of the extra keys on an enhanced keyboard:

Enhanced Keyboard key:                  BIOS value:
                                        base    shift   cntrl   alt
F11                                     8500    8700    8900    8b00
F12                                     8600    8800    8A00    8C00
kp-Enter                                E00D    E00D    E00D    A600
KP-/                                    E02F    E02F    9500    A400
KP-*                                    372A    372A    9600    3700

HOME                                    47E0    47E0    77E0    9700
UP ARROW                                48E0    48E0    8DE0    9800
PAGE UP                                 49E0    49E0    84E0    9900
LEFT ARROW                              4BE0    4BE0    73E0    9B00
RIGHT ARROW                             4DE0    4DE0    74E0    9D00
END                                     4FE0    4FE0    75E0    9F00
DOWN ARROW                              50E0    50E0    91E0    A000
PAGE DOWN                               51E0    51E0    76E0    A100
INSERT                                  52E0    52E0    92E0    A200
DELETE                                  53E0    53E0    93E0    A300

Note that you cannot get these values with the old BIOS interrupt,
it will remove the E0's to be compatible with the old keyboard.  See
the following code fragments that use the old and new BIOS calls.


getkey_     PROC   NEAR         ; get key code for standard keyboard
            mov    ah,01H
            int    16h
            jnz    GOTAKEY
            mov    ax,00H
            ret
GOTAKEY:
            mov    ah,00H
            int    16h
            ret
getkey_     ENDP

getxkey_    PROC   NEAR         ; get key code for enhanced keyboard
            mov    ah,11H
            int    16h
            jnz    GOTXKEY
            mov    ax,0
            ret
GOTXKEY:
            mov    ah,10H
            int    16h
            ret
getxkey_    ENDP

I have found that an AT with old keyboard and old BIOS (you need the
new BIOS to fully appreciate the enhanced keyboard) will get very
upset if you try to use the new BIOS function calls with it.  Here
is a routine that will look into the BIOS data area to see if BIOS
found an enhanced keyboard at INIT time.  Note that this approach is
not ideal since IBM and others can change the layout of BIOS at
will; fortunately they never seem to.  In any case there is no
interrupt call that will tell you this (if there is let me know
please).

; gkybdtype returns 0 for standard 84 key kybd, 10H for enhanced keyboard

        KB_FLAG_3       equ 096H        ; address of keyboard flag byte
        KBX             equ 00010000B   ; enhanced keyboard flag bit

gkybdtype_      proc near
        push    es
        mov     ax,40H
        mov     es, ax
        mov     ax,es:[KB_FLAG_3]
        and     ax,KBX
        pop     es
        ret
gkybdtype_      endp


RICH KENNERLY - LVL@CORNELLA.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
CIT - Network Development
125 Caldwell Hall
607-255-7342

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Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x,comp.windows.x.i386unix
Path: utkcs2!stc06.ctd.ornl.gov!news.he.net!newsfeed.nacamar.de!uunet
      !in3.uu.net!137.208.127.3!newsfeed.wu-wien.ac.at!usenet
Organization: Vet. University Vienna
Message-ID: <5kpd3b$ffm@cantine.wu-wien.ac.at>
References: <5kn732$d0i@hermes.acs.unt.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: i112pc09.vu-wien.ac.at
Date: 7 May 1997 08:04:59 GMT
From: bunka@i112pc09.vu-wien.ac.at (Sebastian Bunka)
Subject: Re: Keyboards?!! Natural???

In article <5kn732$d0i@hermes.acs.unt.edu>,
        homer@jove.acs.unt.edu (Jing-Rerng Homer Chiang) writes:
>
> Anyone know how to map those darn "Winblows" keys to something useful?  I
> remember reading about them somewhere .. and the new Xkeysyms? thingy
> with support for the Microsoft Natural keyboard made me wonder.  Any clues?
>
> Homer Chiang

use your .Xmodmap:

....... a lot of keycodes ....
keycode 100 = Left
keycode 101 = Begin
keycode 102 = Right
keycode 103 = End
keycode 104 = Down
keycode 105 = Next
keycode 106 = Insert
keycode 107 = Delete
keycode 108 = KP_Enter
keycode 109 = Control_R
keycode 110 = Pause
keycode 111 = Print
keycode 112 = KP_Divide
keycode 113 = Mode_switch
keycode 114 = Break
keycode 115 = bar slash backslash
keycode 116 = slash braceleft bracketleft
keycode 117 = backslash braceright

The keycodes are 115, 116 and 117 - I've put bar slash and backslash
on the keys since I'm using a German keyboard ...

Hope this helps, Sebastian
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sebastian Bunka                 ph. (+43-1) 250 77 4208
Institute of                    FAX (+43-1) 250 77 4290
Medical Chemistry               email: Sebastian.Bunka@vu-wien.ac.at
University of Veterinary Medicine - Vienna - Austria
------------------------------------------------------------------------

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.systems
Path: cs.utk.edu!nntp.memphis.edu!nntp.msstate.edu!gatech!news.mathworks.com
      !news.kei.com!simtel!news.sprintlink.net!in2.uu.net!nntp-xfer-2.csn.net
      !jeffco.k12.co.us!mtuley
Subject: Re: Question on Gateway's Anykey Keyboard
Message-ID: <mtuley.282.0010DF71@jeffco.k12.co.us>
From: mtuley@jeffco.k12.co.us (Matt Tuley)
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 1995 16:52:15
References: <444ha8$5ht@cobia.gulf.net>

In article <444ha8$5ht@cobia.gulf.net> jackdins@gulf.net (JackDinsmore) writes:

> Can I simply switch my Gateway Anykey programable keyboard over 
> to a different brand computer, or must I transfer the contents
> of the Anykey subdirectory along with it?

I'm using my Anykey on my Dell without that directory. All that
directory has in it is the program that allows you to store different
keyboard configurations on disk and to transfer them to and from the
keyboard. The keyboard itself maintains all of its functional features.


  Matt Tuley                                              tuley@csn.net
   Making my own little dent in the infinite Spandex of the universe...

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc,alt.folklore.computers
Path: cs.utk.edu!willis.cis.uab.edu!news.ecn.bgu.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu
      !howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!in2.uu.net!rbdc
      !rbdc14.rbdc.com!wayne
From: wayne@rbdc.rbdc.com (Wayne Farmer)
Subject: Re: SysRq: what???
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 04:25:23 GMT
Organization: Red Barn Data Center, Winston-Salem, NC.
Message-ID: <wayne.870.305F97B2@rbdc.rbdc.com>
References: <42cjjp$ssi$2@mhafn.production.compuserve.com>
            <42vn7u$adl@newsman.viper.net> <432s7i$iuc@allnews.infi.net>
          <wayne.864.30596E58@rbdc.rbdc.com> <43d0oe$3fo@ixnews5.ix.netcom.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: rbdc14.rbdc.com

In article <43d0oe$3fo@ixnews5.ix.netcom.com>,
 mcknighl@ix.netcom.com (Lawrence E. McKnight) writes:

>wayne@rbdc.rbdc.com (Wayne Farmer) wrote:
>[snip...
>>
>>Exactly so.  That's why there are the F1 - F12 keys on the PC keyboard; 
>>because they first existed on the 3270 terminal.

>Then why:

>1) did the original PC had F1-F10

Perhaps because 12 keys wouldn't fit on the keyboard?  They remedied this in 
the later version keyboard, moving the F-keys from the left side to above the 
keyboard.

>2) what about F13-F15?  

The IBM 3270 terminals I'm familiar with had either F1-F12 or F12-F24; I don't 
know of a version that stopped at F15.

+-----------------+-------------------+------------------------------+
|  Wayne Farmer   |  Kernersville,    |  wayne @ rbdc.rbdc.com       |
|                 |  North Carolina   |  72377.134 @ compuserve.com  |
| "a thing of beauty                  |  WayneOHere @ aol.com        |
|          is a joy forever" - Keats  |                              |
+-------------------------------------+------------------------------+
"We have arrived at the megabyte millenium, using our sophisticated
 worldwide communications system to talk dirty to strangers."
                                     - Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x, comp.windows.x.i386unix
Date: Tue, 06 May 1997 18:26:41 +0200
Message-ID: <336F5BC1.167EB0E7@clipper.ens.fr>
From: David Madore <madore@clipper.ens.fr>
To: Jing-Rerng Homer Chiang <homer@jove.acs.unt.edu>
Subject: Re: Keyboards?!! Natural???

Jing-Rerng Homer Chiang wrote:
>
> Anyone know how to map those darn "Winblows" keys to something useful?  I
> remember reading about them somewhere .. and the new Xkeysyms? thingy
> with support for the Microsoft Natural made me wonder.  Any clues?

See the following URL:

  http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/madore/linux.html

you can find the Linux and XFree86 keycodes of these wonderful little keys.

At the end of the same page, you can find my .xmodmaprc and local.map
files which I use to take advantage of the aforementioned keys. Note that
if you use Metro-X they will NOT function.

     David A. Madore
    (david.madore@ens.fr,
     http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/madore/index.html.en)

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Date: 6 May 1997 13:39:05 GMT
Message-ID: <5knc9p$o9u$1@dismay.ucs.indiana.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.x, comp.windows.x.i386unix
From: John Fieber <jfieber@indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Keyboards?!! Natural???

In article <5kn732$d0i@hermes.acs.unt.edu>,
        homer@jove.acs.unt.edu (Jing-Rerng Homer Chiang) writes:
> Anyone know how to map those darn "Winblows" keys to something useful?

Assuming you are using XFree86, you can start by adding:

XkbKeymap   "xfree86(us_microsoft)"

to the "Keyboard" section of your XF86Config file.  That binds the
windows keys to Meta_L and Meta_R, and the menu key to (surprise!)
Menu.

If you want to re-bind them, just use xmodmap.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc
Path: cs.utk.edu!cssun.mathcs.emory.edu!emory!gatech!news.mathworks.com
      !tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon
      !mail2news.demon.co.uk!phesk.demon.co.uk
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 95 18:36:23 GMT
Lines: 24
Message-ID: <812054183snz@phesk.demon.co.uk>
References: <445i11$hc3@oswald.eciad.bc.ca>
From: Peter Hesketh <pbh@phesk.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: how does a keyboard work?

In article <445i11$hc3@oswald.eciad.bc.ca>
           dvogel@eciad.bc.ca "daniel vogel" writes:

> i'm interested in specifically how a keyswitch interacts with the
> controller.  i want to use the key switches for other input (from
> motion sensors, etc) and need to know basically how a keyboard works
> internally.

The keys are connected in an XY matrix to a fixed program microcontroller 
in the keyboard.  This continually sends pulses down each Y in turn, and looks 
at the pattern returned on the X's.  From this, it removes keybounce, performs 
n-key rollover, and then looks up the key number in a rom table within the IC.
It then sends the key number together with some status bits like 'This key
was just pressed', 'This key was just released', plus bits for Ctl, Shift and 
Alt.

The scanner chip in the keyboard is only designed to drive signals within a 
keyboard, so you can't connect a cable to a remote switch because the cable 
capacitance could look like a shorted switch.  If you used a local slave relay 
you should be OK.
-- 
Peter Hesketh from Mynyddbach, Monmouthshire, UK
"Pas de lieu Rhone que nous"  Sam Loyd

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc,biz.comp.hardware
Path: cs.utk.edu!stc06.ctd.ornl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!nntp-server.caltech.edu
      !library.ucla.edu!delphi.cs.ucla.edu!drivel.ics.uci.edu
      !news.service.uci.edu!unogate!mvb.saic.com!homer.alpha.net!usenet
From: geslifer@ecnet.com (Gordy Slifer)
Subject: Re: Best PC Keyboard - Can you recommend one?.
Date: Fri, 06 Oct 1995 17:31:56 GMT
Organization: Jade Net
Lines: 32
Message-ID: <453p9j$g7o@homer.alpha.net>
References: <44u0v8$t0u@news.gate.net> <452dop$gen@rcogate.rco.qc.ca>

pierrele@leblanc.interax.net (Pierre Leblanc) wrote:
:
>padron@gate.net (J. Padron) wrote:

>>I use my computer for 6 to 8 hours every day, and I'm looking for a
>>real GOOD keyboard.

>>So, at this time, I'm looking for the best standard-layout keyboard I
>>can get.  Can anybody recommend one?.

>Personnaly, the best i know of is the genuine IBM keyboard but some
>people find it noisy.  So if you can stand those clicking noises...

>--                        
>Pierre Leblanc, pierrele@leblanc.interax.net
>     

The closest thing to the real IBM keyboard in the non IBM world is the
OmniKey by NorthGate Computers in Mnpls / St. Paul area (P.O. Box
59080, Minneapolis, MN 55459-0080).  

They run about $100 or a bit more if you want a set of function keys
both to the left and above of the regular letter keys.  Also, noisy
(clicky) but excellent tactile feedback, exceptionally durable, can be
programed to do a few neat things.  A long time winner of "BEST OF..."
competitions.  You should be able to call them at 800/526-2446.  I
have one on both of my computers.  

--
gordy slifer


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc
Path: cs.utk.edu!gatech!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!tank.news.pipex.net!pipex
      !howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uwm.edu!homer.alpha.net!usenet
From: geslifer@ecnet.com (Gordy Slifer)
Subject: Re: Need infos on Northgate OmniKey Ultra keyboard
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 1995 02:03:52 GMT
Organization: Jade Net
Lines: 65
Message-ID: <45n5v0$28u@homer.alpha.net>
References: <45md7p$oib@nntp.ucs.ubc.ca>

wng@astro.ubc.ca (W. NG) wrote:

>Hi, I got a OmniKey Ultra keyboard make by Northgate Computer from a 
>friend.  The keyboard seems to work fine.  It has a row of dip switches, 
>1 push-button switch, and 2 DIN (bus mouse type) connectors at the back of 
>the keyboard.  Can someone tell me what they are for?  Is the keyboard 
>programmable, if so, how?  Any comments will be appreciated.

He should have also given you a manual and a configuration setup disk.
I have the Ultra, but it only has one place to plug in the keyboard
cable, so yours may be older / newer?

The 8 DIP switches you noted are used as follows:

The first three are used to identify the type of computer (PC/XT,
Northgate AT PS/2, Tandy, AT&T, or Amiga)  All three off (down) are
normal for IBM-AT compatible.  #1 up for IBM-PC, XT.

#4 up if you are using your computer as a Novell ELS or non-dedicated
server.  Down (off)  is normal position.

#5 down for normal CAPS, LOCK, CTRL and ALT positions.  To switch CAPS
LOCK, CTRL and ALT positions, set #5 on. The Ctrl will be where CAPS
LOCK is now, ALT will be where CTRL is now and CAPS LOCK will be where
ALT is now.  Northgate supplied a key puller and new key caps to help
make this change ... you probably didn't get that with your keyboard
either ....

#6 on (up) swaps the locations of the \ key and the * key.  Use the
key cap puller, etc.

#7 on, gives your keyboard the Dvorak layout.

#8 on, implements "sticky keys", i.e., the SHIFT, CTRL and ALT keys to
the left side of the spacebar stay pressed until you press any other
key and release it also.  For example, if you press the left SHIFT
followed by two a's, the result will be Aa.

You may have noticed that you have to press Prnt Scrn twice to do a
print screen, that is something they did on purpose to protect you
from yourself - get used to it.  I don't care for that feature, but
there is not way to turn it off.

There are dozens of other features, even software you can use to
program 14 other functions.  Supposedly the software is available on
C$erve or you can call tech support at 1-612-943-8346 for help, to try
an get a manual and to order the config. software for $7.95 (at the
time my manual was printed). 

For me, I leave all 8 switches off and have probably lost the
software. I bought the keyboard because I wanted function keys both
across the top and on the left side, and I really liked the feel of
the keys.  But, if you want to pursue it, you have a lot of other
options.  Northgate's address:

  Northgate Computer Systems, Inc
  P.O. Box 59080
  Minneapolis, MN 55459-0080

Good Luck,


--
gordy slifer

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Path: cs.utk.edu!emory!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net
      !europa.eng.gtefsd.com!news.umbc.edu!haven.umd.edu!nova.umd.edu!news
From: COATES@UMUC.UMD.EDU (Ellster)
Subject: Re: ??? What are 386SPART.PAR and WINA20.386 files for???
Date: 29 Jan 1994 20:38:17 GMT
Organization: umd uc
Message-ID: <2iehfp$pra@nova.umd.edu>
References: <94026.122034U51054@uicvm.uic.edu>
            <tgrel.39.0013213D@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <CKEL70.AFv@world.std.com>

In <CKEL70.AFv@world.std.com> dfanger@world.std.com writes:

> So what is the A20 line good for?

Enabling the A20 line allows the system to go into Protected Mode.

Protected mode programs can run in memory above 1mb.  See the dpmi, xms,
and vcpi documents at ftp.qdeck.com for details.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*  Elliott Coates
						       coates@umuc.umd.edu   

  [update:  in 1997 terms, that would be

    ftp://ftp.quarterdeck.com/pub/technotes/VCPI.TEC

   ...RSS]

  [update:  in 1999 terms, the FTP host seems to have disappeared.]

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Path: cs.utk.edu!news.msfc.nasa.gov!newsfeed.internetmci.com
      !inet-nntp-gw-1.us.oracle.com!news.caldera.com!news.cc.utah.edu
      !news.cs.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!jrd
Message-ID: <1996Jan30.090609.72706@cc.usu.edu>
References: <yrazqbiymmp.fsf@panix.com> 
     <4e62gs$63d@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu> <om68duimit.fsf@tees.cs.ualberta.ca>
Organization: Utah State University
Date: 30 Jan 96 09:06:09 MDT
From: jrd@cc.usu.edu (Joe Doupnik)
Subject: Re: K95 emacs.ini doesn't map Alt as Meta


In article <om68duimit.fsf@tees.cs.ualberta.ca>,
   Vladimir Alexiev <vladimir@cs.ualberta.ca> writes:
>
> In article <4e62gs$63d@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu>
>    jaltman@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Jeffrey Altman) writes:
> 
>> Ctrl-Space.
>> SET KEY \1056 \Knull
> 
> 1056? On my keyboard it's 1337! (IBM XT 84 keys, DOS 3.1, MS-Kermit 3.14).
> And I just posted a list of all the scancodes... I guess it won't be very
> useful then :-(
----------

	Whoa! MS-DOS Kermit deals with keyboards by reading what the BIOS
reports. It does not have a canned list of every "scan code" in the program.
And it's not C Kermit but MS-DOS Kermit (no relation).

	You have just demonstrated the failure of the canned table approach,
and the success of the MS-DOS Kermit approach. Machines can and will differ.
	Joe D.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals
Path: cs.utk.edu!gatech!newsfeed.internetmci.com!tezcat.com!news
From: Loren <loren@tezcat.com>
Subject: Re: IBM 3151 & Standard IBM PC Keyboard?
Date: 12 Mar 1996 21:54:49 GMT
Organization: Tezcat Communications - Chicago
Lines: 30
Message-ID: <4i4rr9$sfi@tlaltec.tezcat.com>
References: <4htqsc$4if@pith.uoregon.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: loren.tezcat.com
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.1N (Windows; I; 16bit)
To: melissaa@efn.org

melissaa@efn.org (Melissa Anderson) wrote:
>Does the IBM 3151 use the same keyboard that IBM ships with their PC 
>products?  The cable connectors seem to be the same and I can't see any 
>physical differences.  Does anyone know if they're interchangable and/or 
>where I could find the keyboards and/or cables?
>
Melissa,

The 3151 uses a different keyboard than a PC.  I can probably supply you 
with some.  Just let me know what model number you need them for or the 
part number that you need or the part number of the monitor that needs a 
keyboard.  (In case you don't know, look for 7 digit part numbers.)  Let 
me know how many you need.  WE accept approved corporate and 
institutional purchase orders.

regards,

Loren

-- 
                     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
| Loren Williams    *  Argecy Financial Corp. - An IBM Business Partner *
| tel 312-871-8590  *  "18 years specializing in new and professionally *
| fax 312-871-8596  *   refurbished IBM terminals, controllers,         *
| loren@tezcat.com  *   printers, and PC equipment.                     *
                    * WWW site (temporary):                             *
                    *    http://www.tezcat.com/~loren/argecy.html       *
                     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals,comp.sys.ibm.as400.misc,comp.protocols.ibm
Path: utkcs2!stc06.ctd.ornl.gov!cs.utk.edu!duncan.cs.utk.edu!shuford
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 1997 11:19:40 -0500
Organization: Computer Science Dept, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.970207104058.1575B-100000@duncan.cs.utk.edu>
References: <slrn5fe4rn.407.sho@tannis.sho.net>
From: "Richard S. Shuford" <shuford%cs.utk.edu>
Subject: Re: strange IBM keyboard, maybe LK250 copy?


In message <5ddpnt$38d$1@news3.microserve.net>, cmos@me.com (cmos) wrote:
|
|
| ...I don't know a whole lot about 3270, but all I ever seen with
| it was BNC coax type connectores, sometimes twisted wire pair
| if it has a balum. The 3270 is an old networking scheme that
| run about 1Mbit and it was mostly ASCII with some vector graphics.
| Some one correct me if i'm wrong.


OK.  Here is some correction.

A true 3270 terminal does NOT speak ASCII at all!

A 3270-type device speaks only EBCDIC, the Extended Binary-Coded- Decimal
Interchange Code, a proprietary invention of IBM, derived from the hole
patterns used by the old 029 cardpunch.  (Remember 80-column cards?) It
also transmits data in block mode, not character-by- character.  (And only
variants equipped with the "3270 Graphics Data Stream Extensions" could do
vector graphics.  SAS still supports these graphics, by the way.)

(Also by the way, the term "balun" comes from "balanced-to-unbalanced".)

Yes, a 3270 does speak through a single-core coax cable to a 360/370-type
mainframe via an intermediary piece of equipment called the IBM 3274
Control Unit or another "terminal concentrator".

But so far you have NOT actually established that the keyboard is for a
3270 anyway.  IBM also made a whole series of 52xx terminals, also
designed to speak EBCDIC, but only to the midrange System/3x computers,
which communicated over a two-core "twinax" cable.  The keyboard might
belong to one of those.



Remembering that in message <slrn5fe4rn.407.sho@tannis.sho.net>,
  sho@tannis.sho.net (Sho Nakagama) wrote:
>
> Recently I got to raid the basement of a company and came across
> several keyboards attached to various IBM XTs and ATs.
> Of course no one at the company ever saw them before.
>
> They have 24 keys marked "PF1" through "PF24" across the top
> They have 10 keys to the left with lables like "Help" and "Finish"
> There is a blank key in the middle of the arrow keys
> Where the "alternate editing keys" would be in a 101 PC keyboard,
>        there are keys marked things like "Field" and "Mark"
> There are keys above the number pad like "speed" "esc"
> There is a "reset" button
>
> It plugs in via a "Y" cable, one into the standard keyboard port,
> the other into a full length card via a DB9.
> The card has two DB9 females and two "RCA" jacks.
> Oh yes, the part number is "6110344", Model "F"


There's no way that this is a copy of an LK250.  The LK250 is a DEC item,
with a design in some sense influenced by IBM, for use with a normal PC.

I don't know what the mystery keyboard is, either, but here are a couple
of guesses about two products the keyboard might fit:


   -  IBM made a mainframe-in-a-PC product, the PC/370, which was mostly
      used as a development platform for MVS/CICS applications in COBOL.


   -  IBM also made a special 3270/PC (PC/XT with 3270 terminal-emulation
      board built in) that bore a 19-inch gas-plasma display, which could
      show simultaneously 4 mainframe logon sessions.  This "3290
      Information Panel" was shown in a picture in an article I wrote long
      ago:  "Two Flat-Display Technologies" by R. S. Shuford.  BYTE, March
      1985, Vol 10, number 3, pages 130-134+.  (But I never unhooked its
      keyboard.)

 *****************************************************************************

 ...Richard S. Shuford  | "A gossip betrays a confidence;
 ...shuford%cs.utk.edu  |  so avoid a man who talks too much."
 ...Info-Stratus contact|  Proverbs 20:19

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Path: utkcs2!stc06.ctd.ornl.gov!news.he.net!newsfeed.direct.ca
      !su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com
      !news.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.e-tex.com!news
Message-ID: <5m3dgo$8j7@news.e-tex.com>
References: <33823880.34F5@mindspring.com> <5ltcge$arh$2@gondor.sdsu.edu>
            <33826479.7737111@news.empnet.com> <33830DBB.1878@BellAtlantic.net>
            <5lv84p$1oqg$1@ausnews.austin.ibm.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: d5m16.e-tex.com
Date: 23 May 1997 06:29:44 GMT
From: DALE@tafbbs.com
Subject: Re: Scroll Lock key?

In <5lv84p$1oqg$1@ausnews.austin.ibm.com>,
   glass@glass.cv.lexington.ibm.com writes:
>In <33830DBB.1878@BellAtlantic.net>, Jeffrey S. Dutky <dutky@BellAtlantic.net>
> writes:
>>Hans Chloride wrote:
>>>
>>> On 20 May 1997 23:35:42 GMT, stremler@rohan.sdsu.edu (Stewart
>>> Stremler) wrote:
>>>
>>> > Walter Gewin (wpgewin@mindspring.com) wrote:
>>> > >
>>> > > Does anybody know what purpose the Scroll Lock key serves???
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >Yes. It puts you into "fast mode" when playing Rogue on a clone.
>>> >
>>> Hehehe....  It also lights a LED on the keyboard on PC-clones.
>>> What about the "SysRq" key on IBM-PC type machines?  Somebody
>>> told me it was used in something called "TopView" or something
>>> like that. Supposedly a primitive attempt at a multitasking shell
>>> or something. Anybody know anything about that?
>>
>>I think that the SysReq key was used in an early version of OS/2,
>>before presentation manager. I think it switched from the current
>>task to some kind of supervisor program.
>>
>>- Jeff Dutky
>
>I don't remember the SysReq key ever being used by OS/2, although I'll
>confess that I didn't start using OS/2 until Release 1.2 (or, was it 1.3?).
>Anyway, the SysReq (System Request) key is used by some 3270 terminal
>emulators.  The most common use is to get control back from a brain-dead
>session so you can force the session off (e.g., SysReq and then LOGOFF).
>
>Dave


I should know better than to read news at 01:30.... SHIFT-SYS-REQ-ENTER
took you to the console on the System/36[1] on the 52xx series terminals and
the Data-something-or-other (2] terminals, and even the IDEA emulation
boards[3] 
and software on some versions.  I doubt seriously that was the only use;
however, it was the only one I ever saw.


[1] Don't ask -- but OS/2 betas and version 1.0[5] looked _very_ similiar to
    the S/36 OS[4]
[2] Thank goodness, I seem to be forgetting some of that particular nightmare!
[3] Nifty little single-board assembly that yu placed in an XT and loaded
    emulation software--and your ASCII-based PEECEE became an EBCDIC
    terminal.
[4] Microcode version 5, anyone? I have these 11 disks......
[5] Yes, version 1.0 had a VTOC. Yes, I have a copy around the shop,
    somewhere....[6]
[6] If you even _think_about asking, you're a sick puppy!


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Path: utkcs2!stc06.ctd.ornl.gov!novia!news-feed.inet.tele.dk
      !cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!howland.erols.net
      !feeder.chicago.cic.net!chi-news.cic.net!news.uiowa.edu!not-for-mail
Message-ID: <5obb7f$ttk$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu>
References:  <5ob63p$c9f@reader.seed.net.tw>
NNTP-Posting-Host: pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu
Organization: The University of Iowa
Date: 19 Jun 1997 13:12:15 GMT
From: jones@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W.Jones,201HMLH,3193350740,3193382879)
Subject: Re: Origin of 101-key layout

From article <5ob63p$c9f@reader.seed.net.tw>,
     by dski@cameonet.cameo.com.twx (Dan Strychalski):

> Andrew Grygus (aax@ix.netcom.com) wrote in 5mduiu$kku@sjx-ixn7.ix.netcom.com
> (1997/05/27; this one goes back a bit) --

>> ...remember the IBM PC RT?  That's the keyboard you are using...

> I had never heard of the PC RT, not even under its official name, the
> RT PC, so I went looking. One of the things I found was the following
> excerpt from http://www.winmag.com/library/1995/1295/12feata.htm --

> > 1986   IBM dipped its toes in the RISC waters with the RT PC, but no
> > one cared except keyboard vendors, who quickly adopted the RT's
> > 101-key keyboard and made it an office standard that survives today.
> 
> Keyboard vendors quickly adopted a design from a non-PC-compatible
> machine which I never heard of and which, from all accounts, failed in
> the market?
>
> One main difference between the 1986 "enhanced" AT keyboard and the
> 1984 AT board was the addition of dedicated arrow and editing/paging
> clusters, making it unnecessary to use the number pad and the Num Lock
> key for movement, paging, etc. (the dedicated clusters are unnecessary,
> too, but that's beside the point). My impression is that clone makers
> were producing keyboards with such clusters before the RT PC came out
> in January 1986, and that IBM was scurrying to catch up with the clone
> makers. (Some problems with old keyboards suggest that the arrow and
> editing/paging clusters send the same codes as the number pad keys do
> with Num Lock off; this is *not* how these keys work in IBM's
> implementation).
> 
> Anybody know about pre-1986 AT-type keyboards with dedicated arrow and
> editing/paging clusters?


I'm typing this on an IBM PC RT Model 6151.  Indeed, the keyboard is very
suspiciously similar to that of all later IBM PC's.  F1 through F12 across
the top, entirely unused by any RT PC application I've got.  Numeric keypad
over on the left, covered with dust and coffee stains because I've never
found a use for it, and this little cluster of nonsense keys like scroll
lock that have no useful function under X-windows.

Of course, the plug on the end of the RT keyboard cable won't work on
anything but the IBM RT PC motherboard, and the RT mouse suffers the
same weakness.  I dread the day that my keyboard fails, since it's the only
part of the entire machine that I don't have a duplicate of.

Ah yes, the caps-lock key is on the home row, right under tab and right
above shift.  Hit it by accident, and all hell tends to break loose in "vi".

You wonder about X-Windows and vi?  Remember, the RT is a UNIX box, with a
choice of 2 operating systems, either BSD UNIX (sold by IBM as AOS) or AIX,
IBM's preferred version of UNIX.

So, I can't imagine why IBM would have introduced the RT keyboard for the
RT.  My guess has always been that the IBM keyboard design folks designed
this keyboard for the PC marketplace, and it just happened that their first
production run landed on the RT.

Was the RT a failure?  I never thought so.  It wasn't the kind of machine
that propelled IBM's stock to new heights, but it served as a proving
ground for the ideas that led to the RS 6000 and it's successor, the
Power PC.  Those are hardly failures.

                                Doug Jones
                                jones@cs.uiowa.edu


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 18:45:36 -0400
Organization: Global Network Services - Remote Access Mail & News Services
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.classic
Message-ID: <37f3e834_4@news1.prserv.net>
From: Fred Mau <fredmau@ibm.net>
Subject: Re: Old IBM keyboards

>Excatly what the hell do we use it for? The AT Tech Ref comments on the
>SysReq make it a superkey of all sorts of functions...


As I recall, the few times I used it was on early, early (1.2 ?) versions of
OS/2 using the Extended Services package for 3270 communications. It
emulated the "Attn" key on 3270 keyboards.

Which may or may not have been the original intention for the key.  Knowing
IBM's mainframe-centric mindset in those days, they probably assumed (or
wished) that everyone with an AT would be connected to a mainframe and so
made the SysRq/Attn key a permanent part of the design. Or maybe that's
giving them too much credit for forsight.

And I'm not even sure what the Attn key did in the 3270 world. All I ever
got by pressing it was messages back that said "Not Authorized to Attn Key".


                                        Fred Mau
                                        Orlando, Florida
                                        fredmau@ibm.net
References: <37E676AF.F9B19493@ruhr-uni-bochum.de>
    <37f006b7_4@news1.prserv.net> <7ssb4j$j99$6@newsflash.concordia.ca>
    <37f1d4fd_1@news1.prserv.net> <7stgbh$so2@piglet.cc.utexas.edu>
    <37f2f186_3@news1.prserv.net> <7t0m8p$jr9$1@newsflash.concordia.ca>

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Date: 04 Oct 1999 20:05:26 GMT
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.classic
Message-ID: <19991004160526.21940.00000663@ng-fr1.aol.com>
From: Rosemary Jones <rjones5622@aol.comxjunkx>
Subject: Re: Old IBM keyboards

From what I remember, ATTN would sometimes interrupt what was currently
executing in your TSO session and send you back to the TSO command line.
Rosemary


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Message-ID: <3f89f8d0.7247645@news.ecn.ab.ca>
References: <RkVgb.66297$%h1.46249@sccrnsc02>
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 01:01:01 GMT
From: John Savard <jsavard@ecn.aSBLOKb.caNADA.invalid>
Subject: Re: 3270 terminal keyboard??

On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 14:39:45 GMT, "George R. Gonzalez"
<grg2.Elide-This.Part@And-This-comcast.net> wrote, in part:

>Does anybody have a picture or list of keys on a true 3270 ?
>
> Not an emulator, the real thing.
>
>Some folks are claiming the 3270 had a Scroll Lock key, but .......

My web site, at

http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/other/scan.htm

contains pictures of many keyboards in diagrams I have drawn,
including one for *one of the possible keyboard arrangements* for the
original 3270.

And, no, it didn't have a Scroll Lock key. It's the one with black and
gray keys.

-- 
John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html

 ..............................................................................

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Message-ID: <3f89f978.7415767@news.ecn.ab.ca>
References: <RkVgb.66297$%h1.46249@sccrnsc02>
    <J9Zgb.245626$mp.154911@rwcrnsc51.ops.asp.att.net>
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 01:02:34 GMT
From: John Savard <jsavard@ecn.aSBLOKb.caNADA.invalid>
Subject: Re: 3270 terminal keyboard??

On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 19:00:58 GMT, Lon Stowell
<LonDot.Stowell@ComcastPeriod.Net> wrote, in part:

>  Can't imagine why it would need one, since all of the
>  3270's were block mode.  I guess you could make one
>  appear to scroll, just to confuse the unix wienies,
>  but in reality you'd just be playing with buffer
>  addressing in block mode.

Under MTS, making it appear to scroll was exactly what was done,
except that it scrolled 9 lines at a time so as to minimize time
wasted refreshing the whole page.

-- 
John Savard
http://home.ecn.ab.ca/~jsavard/index.html

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


References: <380E56B0.31E79961@att.net>
Date: 21 Oct 1999 14:36:39 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.windows.misc,
    microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc,
    comp.os.ms-windows.misc, alt.comp.periphs.keyboard
Message-ID: <7un8dn$2vj$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
From: Frank da Cruz <fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: Re: WIN/NT Keyboard Remapping of CNTRL/CAPS_LOCK *correctly*

In article <380E56B0.31E79961@att.net>, David Lawless  <lawless@att.net> wrote:
: I just finished writing a driver to reverse the roles of the
: CNTRL and CAPS_LOCK keys in Windows NT.  It also reverses the
: tilde/apostrophe and ESC keys for those who like EMACS.

Mark Russinovich wrote exactly the same thing years ago:

  http://www.sysinternals.com/

(There are separate versions for Windows 9x and NT.)

I couldn't live without it -- The IBM keyboard is perfect for me,
except for the placement of those four keys.  We distribute Mark's
driver, CTRL2CAP, with Kermit 95:

  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/k95.html

But of course, this is good only for a couple OS's.  If you want to
boot lots of OS's on the same PC, you have to figure out how to do the
same thing in each of them, which can be really annoying.

Since I need to do this, I halfway solved the problem by buying
something called a "Happy Hacking" keyboard (really).  It plugs into
any PC and it has the Ctrl key where those of us who have read this
far like it to be, but has numerous annoying differences from the IBM
keyboard.

(Tangentially, I understand that real IBM keyboards like Part #82G2383
are no longer manufactured and IBM PCs now come with the same crappy
insubstantial mooshy wobbly keyboards as other PCs -- the battleship
keyboards were outsourced to Lexmark anyway, so maybe they are still
available under that name.)

Anyway, this issue comes up so often that I wonder if it wouldn't be
a good idea for Lexmark or somebody to equip their keyboards with some
DIP switches to accomplish the Ctrl/CapsLock and Esc/Tilde swaps so we
can forget about doing it in software.  That way, nobody would need to
manufacture a special "programmer's keyboard".

Also, before leaving the topic of annoyances, the IBM/Lexmark keyboard
has removable keytops -- great idea, for many reasons.  But the Ctrl
and Caps Lock key tops are not the same shape so (unlike the Esc and
Tilde keytops) you can't exchange them.

- Frank


   [see http://www.pfuca.com/products/ ]

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Newsgroups: comp.terminals,comp.windows.misc,microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc,
    comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.misc,
    alt.comp.periphs.keyboard
Message-ID: <3810340D.8B9223BA@att.net>
References: <380F488C.841D7978@att.net> <7un8dn$2vj$1@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: dlawless.reno.powernet.net
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 02:53:17 -0700
Organization: PowerNet
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 02:53:17 -0700
From: David Lawless <lawless@att.net>
Subject: WIN/NT Keyboard Remapping:  FINAL NOTE

I've had a few misguided folks write to me that the Microsoft
Kernel Toy KeyRemap found at

    http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wutoys/w95kerneltoy/default.asp

will remap the CTRL and the CAPS_LOCK key.  That's nice, but
this utility will not remap the ESC and apostrophe/tilde key,
and does nothing about solving the PC/AT "gray key" problems,
most notably the inability to issue a CTRL-BREAK once the CTRL
key is mapped to the CAPS_LOCK key.  Now my set of Win 3.1/95/98
drivers doesn't address that problem either (see the first message
in this thread on this), but my drivers remap the ESC key which
is important for any hard-core EMACS user.

This is a nasty problem to solve as the referenced PC-MAG
article in my second post to this thread notes.  I did it for
the NT platforms because that's where I do all my work.  For now
I can live with pressing the physical CTRL key before issuing a
soft-CTRL BREAK sequence on the consumer versions of Windows.

I'd like to emphasize that in ten years I have NEVER seen a
remapper that address the AT key problem for the CTRL key done
by anyone else.  I'd be happy if someone has, but you're going to
have to prove it if you think you know of one.  Don't just
"shoot off" about this, unless you really know what you're
talking about.

-- 
David Lawless

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Message-ID: <te0QOBreC6u04H5HaUTOwYtrpGm0@4ax.com>
References: <380F488C.841D7978@att.net> <3810340D.8B9223BA@att.net>
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 16:09:42 -0700
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Newsgroups: comp.terminals, comp.windows.misc,
    microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc,
    comp.os.ms-windows.misc, alt.comp.periphs.keyboard
From: Raymond Chen <raymondc.---@microsoft.com>
Subject: Re: WIN/NT Keyboard Remapping:  FINAL NOTE

The problem is that keyboard hardware "knows" too much about the
physical keys.  You can swap them around in software all you
want, but the hardware "knows" that the ctrl key is the ctrl key
and does secret funky things with it.

One example is the Ctrl+Break problem which you pointed out.

Another is the rollover problem.  Keyboards have special-case
wiring for Ctrl, Alt, and Shift, and will let you hold down all
three keys while pressing a fourth (say, Z), and the fourth key
will come through and do whatever the software mapped
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z to.  You can see this in action by
right-clicking a shortcut file, going to the "Shortcut key"
section, and typing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z.  All four keys will be
recorded.

Now instead of Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z, try A+B+C+D.  Notice that it
doesn't work.

--
(My return address is intentionally invalid; delete ".---" to get my real
address.
My responses are not to be considered official technical support or advice.
Personal requests for assistance will be ignored.)

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

References: <381F1763.933609A7@gecm.com>
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 03:11:35 GMT
Organization: @Home Network Canada
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc
Message-ID: <38223e5b.2890515@news>
From: Chris <dealer901@home.com>
Subject: Re: wet keyboard doesn't work

On Tue, 02 Nov 1999 16:55:00 +0000, Robert McCartney
<robert.mccartney@gecm.com> wrote:

>I dropped my keyboard in water. I thought it had dried when I
>reconnected it, but now the computer makes a beeping sound as if a key
>was permanently depressed & the keyboard doesn't function. Could it be
>permanently ruined? Is there an easy way to tell?

I doubt it was permanently ruined.  Unless it was powered up when you
dunked it.  The key is in cleaning.  Here is what I mean.

One day, I was having problems with the computer.  I decided (for no
other reason than it would take my mind off my computer troubles) that
my keyboard was full of mung, and needed cleaning.  The fact that I
have spilled several cans of Coke on it and that things appeared to be
growing out from between the keys helped make that decision.

So I unplugged my MicroSoft Ergonomic Elite keyboard, and walked over
to the sink.  I turned the tap on full blast, and proceeded to blast
piping hot water into the keys.  You would not believe the grunge that
collects in there.  Eeeek.  I blasted water in and out of it for a
minute, then stopped.  I shook the beast dry (sort of) and proceeded
to reboot.  Needless to say, it didn't work.

I then figured, there was water shorting out some keys in there.  It
would not take a lot.  So, bravely, I broke out the ol' Phillips
screwdriver and opened the beast up.  Needless to say there was still
TONNES of water in there.  The keyboard is actually made up of 3 or 4
layers of flexible plastic sheets.  One sheet will have (aluminum?)
contact pads sprayed on.  Then another layer will have holes cut out
where those pads are.  Then another layer has a power grid etched on.
Basically, sitting like they are, they will hold water a VERY long
time.  I carefully spread them apart and used many paper towels to
make sure every drop of water was soaked up from every single surface.
That takes a while.  The whole construct is quite simple, so it is
really easy to put back together.  I had to redo the operation a
couple of times, only because I missed wiping a few parts the first
time around.

Now, my computer keyboard is like new.  Perfect.  Nice and clean (for
now) and works far better than it did before I cleaned it.  I have
heard of persons tossing them in the dishwasher and the like.  I
suspect the trick is not in the cleaning, but the drying.  Depending
on just how the keyboard is constructed can make the difference in
drying out the beast quickly.

My advice would be to open the device up and carefully dry off each
component by hand.  What do you have to loose, the keyboard does not
work as it is, right?  Make sure EVERYTHING is dried, every plastic
key, every switch, every nook and cranny.  It does not take much to
stop the device from working.  Even then, you may need to
dissassemble/dry/reasssemble several times as the assembly process
tends to shake loose droplets which you missed before.


=====
Chris
=====


            [ The archivist makes no claims about
              whether you should try this! ]

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 07:39:06 +0100
Organization: icare
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc
Message-ID: <808fkj$gql$1@news3.isdnet.net>
From: jp Magne <icareinf@worldnet.fr>
Subject: Re: fuse on keyboard or motherboard ?

thanks artur,

it is true, i have set fuse, and now the keyboard works well.

jp Magne

Artur Yelchishchev a écrit dans le message
<38331281.15740516@news.uninet.ee>...
>On Sat, 6 Nov 1999 19:28:08 +0100, "jp Magne" <icareinf@worldnet.fr>
>wrote:
>
>>is there fuse for keyboard and mouse on motherboard  ?
>
>Yes, it always located on mainboard, near to k.b. connector. May looks
>like resistor or so BTW, so you'll have to trace it.
>
>Artur.

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Message-ID: <8p7hgj$r9a$1@nnrp1.deja.com>
References: <8p5a0h$65o$1@nnrp1.deja.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: 192.169.41.37
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp.hardware,comp.sys.hp.hpux
Date: Thu, 07 Sep 2000 07:52:57 GMT
rom: wocko@my-deja.com
Subject: Re: Problems with PS/2 keyboard emulation

In article <8p5a0h$65o$1@nnrp1.deja.com>,
  wocko@my-deja.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am currently working on a project which requires me to emulate
> keystrokes on a HP 712/60 running X using a RS-232 to keyboard
> converter. Also, this is a proprietary diskless workstation which boots
> from a central server, so we have no access to check or change any
> configuration files.
>
> For most key strokes it works perfectly. However, when I try to send
> CTRL or ALT sequences the keystrokes seem to be eaten. It is puzzling
> because when I connect the RS-232 to keyboard converter to a normal PC
> the CTRL and ALT sequences work fine. Also, when I just connect a
> normal PS/2 keyboard to the HP box, it works fine as well.
>
> The converter I am using is a BlackBox product (serial# IC812A) in
> ASCII translation mode. This means that I can send ASCII sequences to
> the box and they are translated into PC-keyboard scancodes.
>
> So to emulate CTRL-F I would send:
>
> Hex 81 (translated as "Make left CTRL")
> Hex 66 (translated as "F")
> Hex 91 (translated as "Break left CTRL")
>
> Any ideas on what might be going on here?
>
> Regards,
> Paul
>
> paul.watkins(at)clsa.com

Just a followup in case anyone is interested.

I set the Blackbox to raw scan-code mode and tried to send the bytes
for the keys in scan code set 2.

After a bit of experimentation, I discovered that the HP machine
expects scancode set 3, rather than set 2 which is what an MS-DOS/NT
box expects (which it then translates into set 1).

So it appears that in ASCII translation mode, the BlackBox only
supports scancode set 2.

All is good.

Regards,
Paul

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Dawn Rorviks' table of ANSI.SYS Key and Extended Key Codes  (2004 link)

    http://www.evergreen.edu/biophysics/technotes/program/ansi_key.htm

 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp.hardware
NNTP-Posting-Host: c-24-9-235-163.client.comcast.net [24.9.235.163]
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 11:35:28 -0500
References: <cqWdnXncc7q-5abcRVn-qA@comcast.com>
    <Vc75d.359$Rf1.0@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com>
Message-ID: <fbSdnYJOAexNcsvcRVn-sw@comcast.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 10:35:21 -0600
From: Robert Boudra <rboudra@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: HP Wireless Keyboard Drivers

"medman53" <medman53@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:Vc75d.359$Rf1.0@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
>
> "Robert Boudra" <rboudra@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:cqWdnXncc7q-5abcRVn-qA@comcast.com...
> > 
> > I have a hp pavilion a265c desktop.  For a variety of reasons, I recently
> > decided to perform a low-level re-format of my harddrive and install a
> > clean copy of Windows XP Pro, SP2.  I've managed to get drivers for nearly
> > all of my hardware, however, not my HP wireless keyboard.  For some
> > reason, HP says that the only way to get the full drivers for the key
> > board is to use my rescue disk to reinstall the original system
> > configuration (XP Home, plus lots of garbage software).  The downloadable
> > drivers on their we site also require that the original drivers be on the
> > machine be present.  Since I'm not using the original system
> > configuration, this is not an option for me. Any idea where I can download
> > the full driver set for HP's wireless key board/mouse?
> > 
> > Bob
>
> Hello all,
>
> I, too have this marvelous piece of HP technology. Since the unit was new,
> the programmable buttons (and the associated setup software) seem to have
> a mind of their own.
>
> They worked fine for a while, then suddenly the key assignments are blank,
> or even worse the "Buttons" tab is completely missing. I've downloaded and
> installed every set of drivers available and finally gave up. HP tech
> support's solution was to send me a new keyboard, which, as you might guess,
> did nothing to solve the software issue.
>
> A couple of weeks back, without warning, the programmables began working
> :) For 24 hours then stopped again.:(
>
> I've since upgraded to SP2.
> Anyone have any suggestions for a better fix?
> Thanx in advance,
>
> Steve



Steve:

The driver that craigm referred me to, in the message above for me,
did the trick in my case.

Bob


 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


