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Thread ID: 76185	2007-01-24 02:52:00	AT keyboard.	Murray P (44)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
518782	2007-01-24 02:52:00	My son is putting together a machine from old bits and pieces. He's struck a little problem getting a keyboard (and therefore boot up) to work. The board is an Asus mini AT with serial and 5 pin DIN for the keyboard. A serial to PS/2 adapter doesn't do the trick, so I thought a 5 pin DIN keyboard would be a goer. Unfortunately we don't such a beastie, so I was wondering if there was anyone in the greater Wellington area who had one going spare. TIA.	Murray P (44)
518783	2007-01-24 03:25:00	There are adapters to convert between the 5-pin DIN and 8-pin miniDIN connectors (I have seen adaptors for both ways). Unfortunately, it will probably be difficult to find one of these too. ;) Does Wellington have an organisation like Molten Media in Christchurch which recycles old computers? At the worst, they are standard connectors and you could make an adapter ... the DSE catalogue will have the pinouts , as well as many pages on the Internet.	Graham L (2)
518784	2007-01-24 03:41:00	Graham, both DSE and Jaycar sell the adapaters, 10 and 8 dollars respectively. I was trying to do it on the (relative) cheap. Naturally, we've just had a clean-out, amongst which was an old old keyboard with a 5 pin connection. On a slightly different tack, I can't remember whether there is a BIOS setting to change ports (there are no jumpers), though I thought the board being a 98 model would have plug & pray. We've got various I/Os lying around (saved from the bin man) with serial and PS2 connections, but none seem to work (I suspect a fault or BIOS) and it has on-board USB, but no USB keyboards (and I doubt the BIOS has that option, though I'd be happy for a correction).	Murray P (44)
518785	2007-01-24 03:46:00	Does Wellington have an organisation like Molten Media in Christchurch which recycles old computers? . Yes, it's called PCRC (PC Recycling) and it's in Naenae.	pine-o-cleen (2955)
518786	2007-01-24 03:50:00	The BIOS will probably just know about the hardwired port on the motherboard, with no option for changing it. I've never seen an I/O board with a PS/2 keyboard connector (though I have seen "Bus Mouse" cards which use a similar connector). You could change the plug on the cord of a PS/2 keyboard. ;) A 5 pin DIN connector would only be about $2. Just be sure to leave enough cord on the PS/2 plug so you can strip it and work out the pin each wire goes to ... the plug will be moulded on.	Graham L (2)
518787	2007-01-24 04:04:00	The BIOS will probably just know about the hardwired port on the motherboard, with no option for changing it. I've never seen an I/O board with a PS/2 keyboard connector (though I have seen "Bus Mouse" cards which use a similar connector). You could change the plug on the cord of a PS/2 keyboard. ;) A 5 pin DIN connector would only be about $2. Just be sure to leave enough cord on the PS/2 plug so you can strip it and work out the pin each wire goes to ... the plug will be moulded on. These are not boards, but just the I/O connectors with a cable(s) to connect to the motherboard, they slot in to the same case I/O bays as ISA and PCI cards. The original keyboard and mouse are on one such add-on (the DIN 5 is hard wired though) NB: I've taken my son's say so that mouse & keyboard were stamped on the case next to the serial and PS2 I/O. He plans to mount the guts in something novel. I'm trying to convince him that turning it into a Nix router or server would be fun, rather than loading boring old win 95/98 on it. BTW. it's K6 11 processor, not sure how much (SD) RAM he's got tucked in there, but it takes either or as they tended to do then. Looks like the board might clock ok too. Ta for the tips so far. The little sod could walk to Nae Nae from our place.	Murray P (44)
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