Broken X key on A1200

[AmigaBruno]

I hope this shouldn't be too complicated to repair. I bought an original copy of John Madden American Football, dated 1992. I have only played an online version of this before on AOL years ago. I read some of the manual which seemed quite complicated, then I managed to get both teams to be controlled by Madden, so it was in a kind of demo mode, to get more of an idea of how the game worked. The screen for selecting games controls seemed quite complicated. I selected some teams where I knew which colours they used, such as red for Washington or New England, so I could tell the teams apart more easily. Only the names of cities are listed, not the actual team names, so these can and do change whenever a team abandons their home city and moves somewhere completely different, which has happened in the past and has probably changed since 1992. I then found that it seemed I was unable to control my team using either of two joysticks which I plugged in one after the other with the mouse still occupying its own port, so then I switched to using keyboard controls, which are automatically enabled, then it turned out that my team was the other team instead of the one I thought I was controlling. I had to use the keys Z, X, #, /, and ENTER. I didn't think I was hitting the keys very hard, but after a few minutes the X key broke when it suddenly collapsed and came loose! I picked it up off the keyboard and as I hope some of you know, I found a kind of telescopic post which it seems has collapsed. I tried pulling it up again, as well as twisting it, but this didn't fix the problem. I also found that the A1200 now often thinks I'm holding down the X key, which causes lots of Xs to be printed onto the screen during bootup and also affects gameplay in Civilization, where screens of information disappear or choices can be made whenever a key is pressed. Obviously, I need to know how to repair or replace this component, or what else could be done to fix the problem. I don't think changing keymaps will work in this game, which is designed to boot from two floppy disks.

[AmigaBruno]

I'm sure it's fixable.  If you posted a picture of the broken part it would probably go much further towards fixing it than a million words.  However if you don't feel like hunting down repair parts it looks like AmigaKit has replacement A1200 keyboards in stock for $27:

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=336

OK, I'll post a couple of pics from different angles ASAP. In the meantime, I can say that when it broke nothing seemed to fly out from under the key. I've looked on the floor and can't see anything that may have been underneath it.

Interestingly enough, I've just looked on http://www.amigakit.co.uk and only found an A1200 keyboard with an Italian layout, but your link shows one with a UK layout.

As for the actual team names which aren't used in this version of John Madden American Football, only what cities they're based in, I've just been amazed to find out that various teams were based in Los Angeles, but at this moment there's no NFL team based there at all! In this game, I think that the team from Los Angeles plays in a blue strip, though.

[AmigaBruno]

I believe this is what you're looking for. It needs some retrobrighting but better than nothing! I'm in the UK so if you're across the pond, postage would be about £3 (about $5), I reckon.
Just let me know if I can help.

Actually, that looks nothing like what's underneath where the key was. There's no sign of a spring either. I suppose the membrane underneath may have been damaged. I'm in the UK. I'll post some pics of this key and its base later today.

[AmigaBruno]

I assumed you were in the US because you mentioned American Football and AOL. Saves on postage though!

You probably have the type with the squidgy rubber then. Are you able to take a photo of another key? You can remove them just by pulling them off, but be careful to pull it off perpendicular to the keyboard or you can break the post it's on.
If you can get a close-up picture of the keyboard where the key was, and the back of the key, I can see what I have... but best would be the back of a different (non-broken) key, the key post and the spring/rubber underneath it.

This game was widely sold here, it mentions Electronic Arts UK, and in the loading stages features a female voice with an English accent, but in the USA it was probably called just “John Madden Football”. AOL was an ISP in the UK, which I joined because they were first to offer cheap calls for Internet access here, but has since been bought and sold lots of times. In the USA they were called America On Line, though.

Here are some pics of the situation with my X key now. I hope this means more to someone out there than it does to me! Just after it broke, I was able to pull up and even twist that white plastic component up, but now I can't even do that. Of course, there are two keys which aren't marked with any characters at all, but I haven't yet felt like taking the plunge and removing them. They may have some use and I prefer to keep my keyboard intact if I can.



I've checked that this game is compatible with other Amigas, so I should be able to run it on my A500 Plus at least for the time being. I really wish there was a hack that could prevent most of the normal stopping and starting in the game, which is the same as in the real thing!

[AmigaBruno]

Somebody with the replacement key should be able to get you fixed right up. Of course you will need to remove the broken bit of "shaft" from down inside the keyboard. Tweezers or needle nose pliers should work fine for that. Also, you're missing a piece - the mushy rubber "spring" described earlier. I think yours should look something like this pic of one of mine (attached pic). Of course this is an A2000...

OK, I see. I don't think I'm missing a part. I think my keyboard is probably made differently from the A2000 keyboard. I think I'll have to carefully remove one of the two blank keys to see what's underneath it. Which one should I remove and how should I do it to avoid losing or breaking any parts?

[AmigaBruno]

You are definitely missing a part... without a spring or rubbery thing, the key will stay down and won't come back up. You will also need to open the keyboard and remove the remnants of the old post (you can't get it from the front), and put a new post in its place.
Prise off the C key very carefully - remember to pull it off directly away from the 1200, don't bend it's plastic post or it'll break too. It's not attached, just held on to the post by friction. Make sure you don't lose the springy bit, and take a photo of the back of the key and the springy thing.

Why should I prise off the C key instead of the blank key to the left of the Z key, or the blank key right of the # key?

[AmigaBruno]

Because there's a gap where the 'x' key is - it's easier to get a key off if you can see what you're doing better, which that gap will help with.

I think I'll remove one of the blank keys instead.

[AmigaBruno]

Your choice, but you really should listen to what he's telling you, as it will be much easier.  FYI the blank keys are used for other keymaps, so they might be blank on yours, but for keyboards used in other countries they'd have characters printed on them.

In any case, given your limited technical skill I'd suggest you might be better off paying the $27 (19 EUR?) for a brand new UK-layout keyboard from AmigaKit.  That sounds like a heck of a deal to me, and there's videos on YouTube showing how to swap it out.

I just need to gently prise off a blank key without breaking anything. It would be good if someone told me the best way to do this.

Of course, the blank keys may be used for other keymaps, but I'm not sure which ones at the moment. I don't actually need to use those keys for word processing or anything else at the moment, because I have other computers which can produce any characters I need in other European languages I speak, meaning German, French, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Italian, and the artifical but mainly Indo European language Esperanto. The laptop I'm typing this on doesn't even have a key between # and ENTER, while the key to the left of the Z is marked \ and | . I may soon buy a copy of the German language political party game "1990" from Vesalia, so I think I should check what the German A1200 keymap is before deciding which key to remove. At the end of the day, I do need the C key, which is also C on most keymaps, but may not need either of the blank keys.

Of course, if I fail, then I can still buy the brand new UK Amiga A1200 keyboard from Amigakit for less than £19, but at the moment I'm learning about repairs, and you've got more money than me anyway. I already know how to unplug and plug in an Amiga keyboard, because I did this when I fitted my CF hard, as well as years ago when fitting a Kickstart ROM switcher board. I'm trying to avoid spending any money I can if there's something I can do about it, such as making or repairing something myself.

[AmigaBruno]

I've finally got round to/dared to remove my Amiga A1200 keyboard and managed to remove the blank key to the left of the Z key. I tried to unscrew the back plate, but although most of the screws came out easily with a large screwdriver tip, there were some I couldn't undo. I'll have to buy a quite small screwdriver ASAP to remove them. Here are the pics of what I found.

The first three pics show that although the blank key has an empty plastic cylinder underneath, the X key's cylinder is full of something. This is actually the remains of the broken post which forms part of all the keys, after I gouged out part of it with some screwdrivers and try to pull it out with tweezers and a bent pin. The fourth and fifth pics show on the left the blank key with its spring and the X key on the right with its post broken off and without a spring.

I plan to go and buy a very small screwdriver, like one for iPod repairs (which I've lost) in the next 24 hours to remove the remaining screws from the backplate. Meanwhile, I'd appreciate any advice anyone may have for me. I'm posting this at 23:14 GMT, which is my time zone.

[AmigaBruno]

You don't need to open the back. Its clear that the key post has broken off in the socket. A thin piece of wire that's not mild steal, such as a spring or hook, straightened but with a small bend in the end should allow you to snag the post and pull it out.

Unless you really want to open the whole thing up.

Thanks for this advice! I tried with a bent glass headed pin, but that didn't work.

[AmigaBruno]

Buying all these screwdrivers will probably wind up costing just as much as the replacement keyboard. Or just do what Gertsy said. IMHO.

I only need ONE screwdriver of the right size. Here's a whole set of them which is much cheaper than the replacement keyboard, though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-mini-screw-drivers-small-tiny-little-laptop-set-precision-screwdrivers-i96-/201041731064?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2ecf055df8

[AmigaBruno]

Here's an update. I finally removed the broken key debris from the X key position by gouging it out with a bent paper clip. It seems fairly clear now, but I'm not sure. It's just been lying around for a few weeks, because I'm not sure if all the key remains have been removed, or how to fit the spare spring and key top into that position. Can anyone tell me if the A1200 would now detect the blank key from left of the Z key being pressed down, although it's not defined in the keymap I'm using? Of course, the keyboard is over 99% working, so it would be a shame to discard it.

I'll upload a pic here ASAP. I need to make a decision on whether or not to buy a replacement keyboard in the next couple of days.

[AmigaBruno]

Sorry for the big delay in posting any more pics! The pics attached to this message show the current state of the keyboard. I don't know what to do next. I don't know what happened to the spring underneath the X key, or how to fit the spring from the blank key to the X key position. I hope to get some answers in the next one or two days, otherwise I'll have to buy a new keyboard. The whole point of not buying a new keyboard is to find out how to repair this keyboard and lots of other things which various people like to say are "not worth repairing".

[AmigaBruno]

Ummm... it's been over two months and you still haven't been able to fix this?  Didn't removing the other key make it pretty obvious how these things go together?  IMHO this repair might be beyond your current skillset, save yourself the trouble and buy a new keyboard.  :angry:

I didn't realise it had been over 2 months. Obviously, I need to do something quickly now. I've been thinking that the missing spring has been pushed down into the X key base, which is why that key just collapsed. All I can do is try to push the spare spring into that base and hope it lines up with the part which has collapsed and causes my A1200 to think I'm holding down the X key. I think that if I do this the spring may just slip and shoot off across my living room, never to be seen again. If I fail to fix this myself I may not be able to fix or make anything else.

[AmigaBruno]

I'm not sure what the problem is... it's very easy to fix a broken key.
1) unscrew back of keyboard
2) remove back.
3) remove broken key post
4) replace with new key post
5) replace and screw down back of keyboard
6) put spring on key post now sticking out the front
7) put key top onto post.

That's it!

I haven't actually removed the back of the keyboard, because I was told I didn't need to and none of my screwdrivers will fit those screws. What kind of screwdriver do I need? AFAIK the key post is part of the key itself, or isn't it? I don't understand what you're saying as stage 6. How is the key post sticking out of the front? What exactly do I put the key top onto in stage 7?