31 March 2018, 15:27 | #1 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Finland
Posts: 10
|
New wireless keyboard adapter for A500
I have created a wireless keyboard adapter for Amiga 500. See the
[ Show youtube player ] for a demo with a PS/2 keyboard. The adapter plugs directly into the keyboard connector in the main board.
The design documentation and code for the adapter are published in https://github.com/t33bu/wireless-amiga-keyboard. There is not yet further description of the project, as I have agreed to publish the details first in Finnish computer culture magazine Skrolli (forthcoming issue 2/2018). Last edited by t33bu; 31 March 2018 at 15:29. Reason: Added details |
01 April 2018, 09:38 | #2 |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Bristol/UK
Posts: 166
|
Nice work. The PS2 to Amiga keycode mapping tables are a bit limited at the moment though. It looks as though most PS2 keycodes with no corresponding physical Amiga key just get sent as PS2 codes to the receiver where they may produce strange results. Some physical Amiga keys have no corresponding mapping in the tables, numeric pad ( and ) and the Amiga international keys raw codes 0x2B and 0x30 for example. The ( and ) keys aren't much of an issue as I doubt much if an software insists on using the numeric pad versions (I'm assuming they are available from the main cluster somehow in all language layouts, if not maybe a key combination like a modifier+numeric pad / and * in either your decoder or the Amiga keymap files could be implemented). This mapping table also omits the numeric pad ( and ) http://wiki.amigaos.net/wiki/Keymap_...#Raw_Key_Table but includes many more mappings. The international keys are there but one of them clashes with your direct mapping of the PS2 \| legend key to the Amiga \| key, the Amiga \| key is not mapped by them.
There are lots of PC to Amiga keyboard adaptors around, it would be nice if they were more standardised. Some are reconfigurable, I like the option of swapping the windows and alt keys on the Lyra for example. I don't know if the MCU you are using can work the same way if not maybe a jumper for that option could be added to the transmitter board. With the vampire, terrible fire and other boards lots of people are adding internal CF hard drives to their 500's these days. Would a header for hard drive activity status on the receiver for controlling the third LED be worth considering? |
01 April 2018, 10:12 | #3 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Finland
Posts: 10
|
Thanks for the comments. I will fix the code issues at some point.
I wasn't actually aiming at full mapping between PS/2 and Amigas, as it would be significant work with all the standardized scancode sets and international keyboards. Basically, this code just maps (almost) all the keys that my Swedish layout Amiga 500 has, of which some I figured out by pressing the keys and observing the scancode. The scancondes are thus lacking in this respect. Due to limited RAM, I had to already put the scancodes in the MCU (ATtiny2313) program memory. Of course, you would have more memory with another MCU. Currently its using the third led for Caps Lock, but yes it could be more useful as hard drive led. My next step is to implement a switch that enables to change between internal keyboard and external wireless keyboard. |
01 April 2018, 11:36 | #4 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Bristol/UK
Posts: 166
|
Quote:
Do you need to "switch" between external and internal keyboards, could you just take input from both? Could be interesting/confusing I guess with conflicting caps lock states. |
|
02 April 2018, 07:54 | #5 | ||
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Finland
Posts: 10
|
Quote:
Additional leds in the transmitter enclosure would be helpful to indicate different states of the devices and communication link. Quote:
Intriguing feature would be cross-keyboard resets detected at the receiver side Last edited by t33bu; 02 April 2018 at 07:56. Reason: typo |
||
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
Thread Tools | |
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
RapidRoad USB w/Wireless Ethernet Adapter | mhoney | support.Hardware | 10 | 21 November 2018 07:01 |
New Wireless Keyboard Adapter | AwoLStill | Hardware mods | 7 | 03 April 2018 01:55 |
Wireless adapter for Amiga joysticks | Solo761 | Hardware mods | 25 | 22 March 2017 21:52 |
Tom Adapter Wireless Controller | scu98rkr | support.Hardware | 0 | 05 July 2016 08:40 |
Something for A500 freaks : PC keyboard adapter !!! | Effy | MarketPlace | 34 | 08 October 2005 15:26 |
|
|