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My new keyboard is nearly as old as I am!
In this exciting episode of Veronica Explains, I share my most recent vintage computing find, an actual factual IBM Model M keyboard!
This keyboard - an IBM Model M 1390131 to be precise - is a legend for excellent feel and longevity- this one is from 1986 and feels (and sounds) like a dream.
It’s not just show-and-tell in today’s episode, though- I’ll be going into how I got it set up with my modern USB-only computer using a Soarer’s Computer- an excellent adapter which lets me remap keys, program macros, and other fun stuff.
It’s super neat and I hope you enjoy it!
Links referenced in the video:
eBay store where I bought the converter: https://www.ebay.com/str/barcodemaverick Very helpful website which explains how the Soarer’s Converter works: https://sharktastica.co.uk/guides/soarers_1 Geekhack with Soarer: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=17458.0 GeekHack wiki bolt mod: https://wiki.geekhack.org/index.php?title=Modifications:IBM_Model_M:Nut_and_Bolt_Mod Sharktastica.co.uk, an awesome keyboard website PJRC’s Teensy adapter: https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensy.html PJRC’s HID Listen: https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/hid_listen.html Adafruit pinout for AT connector: https://learn.adafruit.com/convert-your-model-m-keyboard-to-bluetooth-with-bluefruit-ez-key-hid/code
Commands:
Packages needed for Linux users:
Fedora: sudo dnf install libstdc++.i686 libusb-compat-0.1.i686
Ubuntu: sudo apt install libusb-1.1-4:i386
Soarer’s Converter tools format:
First, create a binary with ./scas [layout file] [target binary]
Second, flash the binary with ./scwr [binary created with scas]
Chapters:
00:00 Introducing my Model M 00:46 History of the Model M 04:34 Price and comparison with Unicomp 05:54 How’d I get my Model M? 09:48 Cleanup Montage 11:12 Why use a Soarer’s Converter? 14:41 Remapping keys with the Soarer’s Converter 21:06 Is the Soarer’s Converter worth it? 22:32 Ask Veronica
#retro #retrocomputing #keyboard