Date : Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:11:53 -0800
From : conrad.russo@... (Conrad Russo)
Subject: Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a BBC Question But...
Thank you nicola, thursday next week I should be able to get to my Beebs.
Can you please send me some code to start out with?
Chris, I'm not looking for someone to do it for me, but someone who is
willing to work together with me. I would be willing to pay to compensate
anyone for their time. I am just not experienced enough with coding to get
it done without help. The information I have is what is sent to the
computer when each key is pressed. I found a japanese blog where someone
took the first steps on this project, because they have a keyboard. From
what I understand they hooked up the keyboard to power, then recorded the
activity on the keyboards data line when they pushed each key, and also how
it behaves when they push multiple keys. I don't have any images from an
oscilloscope or logic analyzer. I do know someone who has a keyboard, I
might be able to buy an arduino and load the oscilloscope sketch into it,
and send it to him to confirm the data rate and serial codes. In the
meantime, I can try to feed the computer serial codes from a beeb as soon
as the computer arrives. I am so glad you guys are giving me so much help
with this.
Conrad
On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 10:25 AM, Chris Thornley <
C.J.Thornley@...> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> You mention a "uC/Arduino/(C)PLD based solution could really help" but this
> method might be considerably more expensive/complex than say using a 8051
> or
> PIC 16C84 or a BBC port and a few chips.
>
> It seems you are looking for someone to do this project for you?
>
> Are there any photos of the internal workings of a suitable keyboard?
> Do you have any oscilloscope or Logic Analyser traces of the signals sent
> from a working keyboard?
> Just wondering if the data is pure serial bits say from a shift register or
> has stop bit and start bits embedded.
> Is it definitely 10Kbps data rate or about this so might be 9.6Kbps
> instead?
> Does the keyboard send any strings to the computer when powered up to
> identify that it has been connected?
> Are there any keys which when pressed in combination send out a different
> codes?
>
> The Keyboard Babel website has a lot of information on how to get keyboard
> to talk to other machines and might prove useful http://www.kbdbabel.org/
>
> Some sort of simple serial (ASCII) to keyboard interface might be initially
> useful to test if things are working as expected before figuring out how to
> get an AT or other keyboard to talk to the machine.
>
> The 40bit codes seem to break down to 4 repeating nibbles :-
>
> 0011
> 0100
>
> 1011
> 1100
>
> This should make a lookup table easier.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
> /> Christopher J. Thornley is
> c.j.thornley@...
> ( //------------------------------------------------------,
> (*)OXOXOXOXO(*>=*=C=J=T=-=-=-=*=--------- >
> ( \\------------------------------------------------------'
> \> Home Page :-http://www.coolrose.fsnet.co.uk
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: bbc-micro-bounces+c.j.thornley
> coolrose.fsnet.co.uk@...
> [mailto:bbc-micro-bounces+c.j.thornley
> coolrose.fsnet.co.uk@...
> uk] On Behalf Of Conrad Russo
> Sent: 06 January 2012 7:03 AM
> To: bbc-micro@...
> Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a BBC Question But...
>
>
> Yeah, what I'll try to do is to send some of the 40 bit serial code from
> the
> userport of my master to the FM77 at the proper rate and see if it
> recognizes it as keypresses. If that works, I'll move on from there. I
> might
> go another route though because both my beebs are in a room that is
> completely inaccessible right now due to renovations :(. I have two awesome
> beebs (and an Archie) that I haven't been able to use for a while now, it's
> upsetting! But back on topic, I have asked around on two keyboard forums to
> see if anyone can help out a bit with the practical side of things. There
> are so many people out there who have an FM77AV machine without a keyboard,
> a uC/Arduino/(C)PLD based solution could really help some people. I thought
> maybe of an Arduino Mini (the ones in a DIP formfactor) inserted into a
> small board with the appropriate connectors. I know lots of boardmaking
> houses offer a really good deal on small boards of a set size.
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 5, 2012@... PM, Rick Murray <rick@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Sorry, mental hiccup, forget the PS/2 stuff. You want *something*
> that the FM77 thinks is a keyboard. You could try bit bashing on the user
> port (re. my previous message, just read FM77 where I wrote PS/2...).
>
> Thing is to connect *anything* to the Japanese box is likely to
> require programming (the Arduino needs to know what to do, right?). If you
> can get the Beeb keyboard working, you're halfway there. If you can read a
> PS/2 keyboard and output FM77 on the Beeb, you'll have all the code ready
> to
> port over to the not-quite-C++ language the Arduino platform uses.
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Rick
>
> (sent from my mobile)
>
>
> -----Original message-----
>
>
> From: Conrad Russo <conrad.russo@...>
> To: Rick Murray <rick@...>
> Sent: Fri, 06 Jan 2012, 07:36:42 CET
> Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a BBC Question
> But...
>
>
>
> I think you misunderstood what I want to do, I want
> to hook up a PS/2 keyboard to an FM77AV, not the other way around. Forgive
> me if you already knew that, it's just that the way you described it
> (keyboard to microcontroller, microcontroller to PS/2 lead) sounds like you
> think I want to hook up a foreign keyboard to a PS/2 port. I think such
> things as PS/2 keyboard debouncing are well known. So all that would have
> to
> be done is read the PS/2 keyboard, convert PS/2 codes to 40-bit FM77 serial
> stream, send to FM77. I think it's a little bit simpler then the other way
> around.
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 10:29 PM, Rick Murray
> <rick@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>
> Arduino looks kinda cool. I might get myself one to
> play with (Farnell lists the Uno for ?20, but the spec is quite low, there
> is an ARM Olimex for ?24, or a Cortex-M3 with LCD, four buttons, serial,
> plus a fine spec for ?35. Not a RPi, but not a bad little mcu dev board.).
>
>
> But note, you still have to fiddle with hardware
> (keyboard to microcontroller, microcontroller to PS/2 lead) and software
> (scan keys, debounce, convert to PS/2, bitbash PS/2...) so for a quick fix
> you might as well wirea PS/2 plug to the User Port and try that first. If
> you can't get that going, give up on using a microcontroller, it won't be
> as
> easy to poke as BASIC!
>
> As for the keys and the Beeb's lack of them, there
> is always Ctrl key options.
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Rick
>
> (sent from my mobile)
>
>
> -----Original message-----
>
>
> From: Conrad Russo <conrad.russo@...>
> To: "bbc-micro@..."
> <bbc-micro@...>
> Sent: Fri, 06 Jan 2012, 00:03:01 CET
> Subject: [BBC-Micro] Fwd: Re: Not Exactly a
> BBC Question But...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>