A500 keyboard to raspberry pi

Glen M · 03 October 2018, 14:21

I've been working on a wee project in the background for a while on and off. Mostly in my head for now but one thing I'm coming up against is that I need to connect an A500 keyboard to a or more accurately 2 raspberry pi's.

If I get one of those A500 to USB boards will that work on the PI? I think i can just use a simple usb switch for connecting to the 2 pi's, don't need to control them at the same time but before I go splashing out money on a USB adapter for the keyboard will it work?

deimos · 03 October 2018, 14:41

There are also lots of open source projects based around arduino boards that will so this. I built one using a Teensy 2.0 to convert a 1000 keyboard to USB.

The most likely issue I can think of is whether the Pi USB port can supply enough current for the interface board + the A500 keyboard.

Glen M · 03 October 2018, 15:41

I was considering powering the keyboard separately and just cut those power lines in the USB cable.

Since I want to connect it to 2 Pi's i thought it would be better to switch the data lines only rather than also switch the power each time I change over.

Arduino might be the cheaper option but I'm a complete newb when it comes to those things. More research is required I thinks.

deimos · 03 October 2018, 17:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen M

Since I want to connect it to 2 Pi's i thought it would be better to switch the data lines only rather than also switch the power each time I change over.

A Teensy per Pi maybe? Connect them together and have the software decide whether to send the HID events to the connected computer or to the other Teensy?

project23 · 13 October 2018, 04:20

I don't mean to hijack a thread here - but does anybody have any info on lag?

I wanted a similar sort of project at one point... basically an arduino catching the keypresses and sending them either to a USB module or the Amiga based on a switch - so I could have the amiga on my main desk and switch it between keyboard and actual machine.

The thing that bothered me was input lag, and i meant to try to work out some calculations but never did.

Would be cool though, right? Could even have the same switch handle the feed to your monitor!

deimos · 13 October 2018, 16:38

I know that many of the open source projects incorrectly use milliseconds instead of microseconds for the amount of time to hold the KDAT line low for when acknowledging a keystroke. This causes a noticeable delay. With that done correctly I never noticed any input lag on my Teensy based project. But I’m not a gamer, so maybe I wouldn’t notice.

project23 · 13 October 2018, 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by deimos

I know that many of the open source projects incorrectly use milliseconds instead of microseconds for the amount of time to hold the KDAT line low for when acknowledging a keystroke. This causes a noticeable delay. With that done correctly I never noticed any input lag on my Teensy based project. But I’m not a gamer, so maybe I wouldn’t notice.

Thanks for that dude, i'm not really a gamer either (except on the Amiga but even that is only occasionally!), but i'm envisioning a sort of 'pass-through' switch of some sort so the Amiga side would be standard. You could even have both selected at the same time I guess, in the absolutely 100% never going to arise need that you would want to type the same text to the Amiga as you do the PC.

...Legitimately, that is, haha - but who is using an Amiga for sensitive information in 2018 anyway.

John

kipper2k · 14 October 2018, 00:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen M

I've been working on a wee project in the background for a while on and off. Mostly in my head for now but one thing I'm coming up against is that I need to connect an A500 keyboard to a or more accurately 2 raspberry pi's.

If I get one of those A500 to USB boards will that work on the PI? I think i can just use a simple usb switch for connecting to the 2 pi's, don't need to control them at the same time but before I go splashing out money on a USB adapter for the keyboard will it work?

mabbe this will help ?

http://www.kipper2k.com/cherrymx/cherrymx.html

project23 · 14 October 2018, 02:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by kipper2k

mabbe this will help ?

http://www.kipper2k.com/cherrymx/cherrymx.html

(This is completely irrelevant but oh my god do I love those yellow keycaps on the A1200 in the video on that page. I have a thing for selectively coloured keycaps like that - you know like on the acorn Archimedes etc? Anyway... back to the thread)

03 October 2018, 14:21	#1
Glen M Registered User Join Date: May 2017 Location: Belfast Posts: 750	A500 keyboard to raspberry pi I've been working on a wee project in the background for a while on and off. Mostly in my head for now but one thing I'm coming up against is that I need to connect an A500 keyboard to a or more accurately 2 raspberry pi's. If I get one of those A500 to USB boards will that work on the PI? I think i can just use a simple usb switch for connecting to the 2 pi's, don't need to control them at the same time but before I go splashing out money on a USB adapter for the keyboard will it work?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
How to: Convert an A500/A500+ Mitsumi keyboard to an A4000 keyboard.	Turran	Hardware pics	10	15 September 2017 22:46
A500 Keyboard as an external keyboard	Glen M	support.Hardware	1	09 June 2017 15:28
Any tutorials on building a Raspberry Pi A500?	appiah4	support.OtherUAE	6	30 October 2015 17:18
3D printable A500 Raspberry Pi case	ali-b	Amiga scene	9	11 March 2015 14:12
A500 keyboard	Ned	support.Hardware	2	01 July 2009 19:35

03 October 2018, 14:41	#2
deimos It's coming back! Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: comp.sys.amiga Posts: 762	There are also lots of open source projects based around arduino boards that will so this. I built one using a Teensy 2.0 to convert a 1000 keyboard to USB. The most likely issue I can think of is whether the Pi USB port can supply enough current for the interface board + the A500 keyboard.

03 October 2018, 15:41	#3
Glen M Registered User Join Date: May 2017 Location: Belfast Posts: 750	I was considering powering the keyboard separately and just cut those power lines in the USB cable. Since I want to connect it to 2 Pi's i thought it would be better to switch the data lines only rather than also switch the power each time I change over. Arduino might be the cheaper option but I'm a complete newb when it comes to those things. More research is required I thinks.

13 October 2018, 04:20	#5
project23 Used Register Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Liverpool Age: 41 Posts: 437	I don't mean to hijack a thread here - but does anybody have any info on lag? I wanted a similar sort of project at one point... basically an arduino catching the keypresses and sending them either to a USB module or the Amiga based on a switch - so I could have the amiga on my main desk and switch it between keyboard and actual machine. The thing that bothered me was input lag, and i meant to try to work out some calculations but never did. Would be cool though, right? Could even have the same switch handle the feed to your monitor!

13 October 2018, 16:38	#6
deimos It's coming back! Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: comp.sys.amiga Posts: 762	I know that many of the open source projects incorrectly use milliseconds instead of microseconds for the amount of time to hold the KDAT line low for when acknowledging a keystroke. This causes a noticeable delay. With that done correctly I never noticed any input lag on my Teensy based project. But I’m not a gamer, so maybe I wouldn’t notice.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)