Can i use a Mitsumi keyboard in place of a Samsung?

[Rissy]

Hey all,

Been back into the world of Amiga now for just over a month. Been making lots of progress in software, and hardware alike in that time.

With regards to hardware, I have my original Samsung keyboard, and now also an Ebay Samsung keyboard i bought last week. My original one is suffering one dead key, and the Ebay one is suffering 100% dead keys (that was a waste of £57!). I'm now slowly learning that the Mitsumi keyboards are much better supported in the modern day than the Samsung ones (a crying shame!). So this is what now brings me to the question:

Can i buy a Mitsumi keyboard and use that on my Amiga 500 without any modifications? This way i might stand half a chance of having all working keys, and be able to repair it going forward where necessary. I see there are a few for sale on Ebay right now, but I don't want to waste more money if i'm going to end up in another hole. My Amiga is a Rev 6 motherboard. Thank you.

[musashi5150]

Yes, to my knowledge they are fully interchangeable without any hassle

Also, it's worth having your original single-dead-key keyboard apart and giving the membrane and dead key plunger a clean. It worked for me recently (to my suprise) and you've got nothing to lose.

[Jope]

Yes yes a thousand times yes. Shelve the Samsungs, install a Mitsumi.

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by musashi5150

Yes, to my knowledge they are fully interchangeable without any hassle

Also, it's worth having your original single-dead-key keyboard apart and giving the membrane and dead key plunger a clean. It worked for me recently (to my suprise) and you've got nothing to lose.

Thank you for your reply. I've taken the back plate off the back of both keyboards, and visually, both are clean and free of anything i could suggest might be a reason for 1 or or all dead keys. The membranes seem to be pretty well held together, so does this mean i'de have to literally peel them apart? They're glued together in spots from factory, so to peel them apart fully (if this is what i need to do!?) would involve cutting away at the glue or something to free them up from one another....?!

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by Jope

Yes yes a thousand times yes. Shelve the Samsungs, install a Mitsumi.

Because Mitsumi is a nicer feeling keyboard anyway, yes?

[musashi5150]

Originally Posted by Rissy

They're glued together in spots from factory, so to peel them apart fully (if this is what i need to do!?) would involve cutting away at the glue or something to free them up from one another....?!

Yeah, probably don't do that (but again, what is there to lose if it's already broken). I probably just got lucky having mine out and giving anything a bit of a rub

[Rissy]

Originally Posted by musashi5150

Yeah, probably don't do that (but again, what is there to lose if it's already broken). I probably just got lucky having mine out and giving anything a bit of a rub

How do these things work? There are pressure pads which get "pushed together" when you press a key. BUT, they're already "pushed together" by the sheer lamination of them laying on top of one another. In the case of the keyboard with only one dead key, despite the fact that the membrane sheets are already "pushed together", does this suggest that the conduction between the sheets is not happening for that one pressure pad when actually pressed on by the key? If i gently peel them apart at the bottom left hand side (the dead key is the L.Alt key) and give the two halves of the pressure pads a rub with some alcohol, is this the most one can hope to try? I don't see any reason why the tracks should no longer be conducting because this keyboard has never been apart until i took the back plate off it the other day there. (I've had the Amiga from new)

In the case of the keyboard with 100% key failure (LEDs are working, but CTRL light is not working (now. Was working before i opened it up and put it back together again) I realise this might be a controller board failure?!

[Jope]

Originally Posted by Rissy

Because Mitsumi is a nicer feeling keyboard anyway, yes?

And practically: spare parts are a cinch to find, be it a new membrane or mechanical bits.