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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Nostalgiac on May 08, 2010, 08:20:54 PM
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Hello,
shame upon me.. as I managed to partially destroy my A2000 keyboard. A number of key caps got torn off :/ I tried to glue them back on with superglue but with mixed results.
I wonder if I can transplant the actual keypad of an A500 (e.g. the keys on it's plastic board) onto the remainder of my A2000 electronics plate ?
any thoughts ?
tx
Tom UK
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Yes, only minor modifications needed.
Have fun replacing all the metal springs with rubber cup springs.
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Yes, only minor modifications needed.
Have fun replacing all the metal springs with rubber cup springs.
eeek - you're kidding ? Gluing the keys back partially failed because of how fiddly those things where :( You just killed my plan :/
Tom UK
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Yes, only minor modifications needed.
Have fun replacing all the metal springs with rubber cup springs.
My A2000 keyboard has rubber cups same as the A500 I broke for parts.
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What has gluing got to do with this?
If your A500 keyboard is still intact (ie, no-one's broken the plastic in any keycaps or stems), the keycaps just snap on to the stems. It's not difficult to replace the springs with rubber cups, just tedious.
And if you don't care either way, don't even replace the springs. It makes no difference to the functionality of the keyboard. :-)
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sounds better - migth be just me who was confused :) my A2000 keyb has rubber cups. The break was the caps breaking in two... top part + a small part staying stuck in the stems. The gluing problem I had/have is to get the caps back on without messing up the cups or any other bits (I have big fingers... so slightly clumsy)
All in all might be worth a shot buying a cheap/broken A500 (pm if you have one, I'm in the UK..., obviously any offers for a full A2000 keyb are welcome to)
tx
Tom UK
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sounds better - migth be just me who was confused :) my A2000 keyb has rubber cups. The break was the caps breaking in two... top part + a small part staying stuck in the stems. The gluing problem I had/have is to get the caps back on without messing up the cups or any other bits (I have big fingers... so slightly clumsy)
All in all might be worth a shot buying a cheap/broken A500 (pm if you have one, I'm in the UK..., obviously any offers for a full A2000 keyb are welcome to)
tx
Tom UK
I seem to remember a few years ago I looked into this and there are text files on Aminet or elsewhere explaining the differences you need to take into account with the connectors.
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sounds better - migth be just me who was confused :) my A2000 keyb has rubber cups. The break was the caps breaking in two... top part + a small part staying stuck in the stems. The gluing problem I had/have is to get the caps back on without messing up the cups or any other bits (I have big fingers... so slightly clumsy)
All in all might be worth a shot buying a cheap/broken A500 (pm if you have one, I'm in the UK..., obviously any offers for a full A2000 keyb are welcome to)
tx
Tom UK
I've removed broken key stems before by drilling into the centre of the stem (no more than 2 mm) with a fine drill bit, 1mm, in a low speed rechargable drill, and then screwing a fine screw into the hole. Once the screw is inside the stem nice and tight you should be able to carefully pull the stem out with the tighly lodged screw using a pair of plyers.
Don't drill too deep or you will stuff the keyboard totally. To see how deep you can drill pull out an unbroken key to see how deep the key stem is. Use some tape on the drill bit at the right depth to make sure you don't go too deep. The screw has to be a nice snug fit in the stem hole. If it's too big it will cause the stem to swell/stretch and you will never get it out.
Cheers
Gertsy
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sounds better - migth be just me who was confused :) my A2000 keyb has rubber cups. The break was the caps breaking in two... top part + a small part staying stuck in the stems. The gluing problem I had/have is to get the caps back on without messing up the cups or any other bits (I have big fingers... so slightly clumsy)
Yep, as you noticed, using glue to repair these is an excercise in futility.. No amount of finger dexterity will help here. :-)
If you end up having to remove a keycap and want to be able to attach it again, it must be pulled directly upwards from the keyboard.. No twisting, no bending. The plastic stem in the middle can't handle much abuse.
Reassembly is just fitting the rubber cup or metal spring to the keyboard base and snapping the keycap back into the white or black stem that's in the keyboard mechanism.
I seem to remember a few years ago I looked into this and there are text files on Aminet or elsewhere explaining the differences you need to take into account with the connectors.
Best forget electricity and focus on swapping the black plastic that holds the mechanism instead.
One thing I didn't mention before is, that the keyboards must both have the same shape return key and left shift. Else the contacts won't line up.
I've removed broken key stems before by drilling into the centre of the stem (no more than 2 mm) with a fine drill bit, 1mm, in a low speed rechargable drill, and then screwing a fine screw into the hole.
Or just take a small jeweller's screwdriver (phillips head), insert it from beneath and push the piece of plastic out.
Naturally you need to dismantle the keyboard for this, but in my experience, this is much less frustration in the long run.
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sounds better - migth be just me who was confused :) my A2000 keyb has rubber cups. The break was the caps breaking in two... top part + a small part staying stuck in the stems. The gluing problem I had/have is to get the caps back on without messing up the cups or any other bits (I have big fingers... so slightly clumsy)
All in all might be worth a shot buying a cheap/broken A500 (pm if you have one, I'm in the UK..., obviously any offers for a full A2000 keyb are welcome to)
tx
Tom UK
I do have a spare working A2000 keyboard. Was saving it incase I ever see a cheap enough 4000D because they're great keyboards but I'm sure I could be persuaded to part with it :)
(and yes I'm also in the UK)
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Hi,
I have a spare A500 keyboard I use for spares with most of the keys left. I think it has all except Esc, F1 and F2. A few have some minor heat damage to the caps, but not many (can't remember which they are offhand). If you'd like to restore your keyboard, let me know what keys you need. I think the A2000 keys are a slightly different colour from the A500 though - mine are slightly lighter (and not due to yellowing - that's just the way they are made).
Also, if you get a new A2000 keyboard and end up with any spare rubber cups, I would be interested in a few since I've swapped keys into my A2000 and A4000 keyboards and had to use springs instead of the lost cups and they feel a little different.
John
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The biggest differences here are that the A500 keys are shiny and the A2000 keys are matte. Also the metal spring vs. rubber cup difference is quite evident.
Make sure to keep the keycap and plastic plunger as a pair when swapping them. If the plunger was black, the keycap won't fit in a white plunger. The keyboard base will take any colour plunger, but the key caps will not sit flush if you have the wrong combination.
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Or just take a small jeweller's screwdriver (phillips head), insert it from beneath and push the piece of plastic out.
sounds worth trying indeed
tx
Tom UK
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I do have a spare working A2000 keyboard. Was saving it incase I ever see a cheap enough 4000D because they're great keyboards but I'm sure I could be persuaded to part with it :)
(and yes I'm also in the UK)
pm me a proposal :)
(I do have a spare german keyb if anyone is interested ?)
tx
Tom UK
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Also, if you get a new A2000 keyboard and end up with any spare rubber cups, I would be interested in a few since I've swapped keys into my A2000 and A4000 keyboards and had to use springs instead of the lost cups and they feel a little different.
John
if I get lucky, you're on
ta
Ton UK
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I have the exact same issue...in that a few of the keys on my A2000 keyboard are shot and I was thinking of transplanting an A500 keyboard into the A2000 keyboard case. Nostalgiac - if you go ahead with this please let me know how it goes...
I was also thinking of using a PC keyboard but I understand a converter is required as the signals are different? does anyone know if its possible to easily make a converter?
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I was also thinking of using a PC keyboard but I understand a converter is required as the signals are different? does anyone know if its possible to easily make a converter?
Either buy one (Lyra) or build one (http://aminet.net/docs/hard/ATkeyboard.lha)
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I need some help please ;-)
My A2000 keyboard has broken keys so I bought an A500 keyboard of ebay to try and repair it. Before recieving the keyboard I had 2 possible plans of attack
in mind. 1) was to just replace the broken keys with good ones from the A500 or 2) was to fit the A500 keyboard into the A2000 keyboard case and rewire
it some how so it could can be used with the A2000's pin din connector.
Since recieving the A500 keyboard I've found that option 1 will be out of the question as the A500 keyboard has spings and different plastic plungers
that will not fit through the holes of the A2000 keyboard frame (my A2000 keyboard uses rubber cones rather than springs).
I also thought about just fitting the black keyboard frame (along with keys) onto the A2000 PCB but it doesnt appear as though the keys
will line up with the contacts on the PCB.
So I feel my only option is to fit the entire A500 keyboard (by that I mean the black keyboard frame and PCB) into the A2000 keyboard case. I havent studied it but
it looks as though it would fit or could be made too. My only concern is converting the A500's keyboard interface into a standard Pin din connector. Has anyone done this before? or
even know if its possible? The A500 keyboard looks like it has a keyboard controller chip the same as the A2000, the only difference is the A500 keyboard has
Power and floppy LED's built onto the PCB which I assume is why the interface has more wires than my A2000's pin din connector.
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks ;-)
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Searching has revealed this link http://www.mylinuxisp.com/~jdbaker/oldsite/images/A5h_A2k_CDTV_kbd.gif
Which could be useful.
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Ugh.. this sucks.. I feel for the OP. I'm always looking for A4k keyboards in case mine break. Good Luck!I'd probably get a PS/2 adaptor and an old IBM keyboard... would feel about right!
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I would do but PC keyboards wont work due to different keyboard protocol :confused:
I've found the Pin outs for A2000 and A500 keyboards so I'll try connecting the A500 keyboard to my original A2000 5pin din plug and see how it goes.