Keyrah v2 + Commodore Plus/4

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hello.


    I bought a Keyrah v2 to use with an old Commodore Plus/4 keyboard and Raspberry Pi.


    The Plus/4 keyboard has a flat ribbon connector, but there's nowhere to plug this into the Keyrah, am I missing a part?

  • The Plus/4 keyboard has a flat ribbon connector, but there's nowhere to plug this into the Keyrah, am I missing a part?

    Keyrah is not advertised to have that plug. However, it comes with preparations for making an adapter: The "tail" of the circuit board has the required circuit, and you can solder an FPC connector on that part. Then you cut off the tail and either solder it on the C16 connector, or you solder a female header on the adapter and plug it to the C16 connector.

  • OK, thanks for the info. I'm a bit new to all this, but I'm happy to solder. Can you suggest more clearly what parts I need, and perhaps just a little more detail on the process...?

  • I’m in exactly same situation as the OP. Looking for recommendations for parts needed to solder to Keyrah 2 to make it accept 4/plus keyboard ‘cable’.

  • I don't suggest use on the plus 4 the ribbon cable is a nightmare. And once you do the keyboard emulation is less then desirable. Just get a working plus 4 and future proof it. Heat sinks. Ect..

  • Two questions:


    1) I am looking at keyrah v2 and it's not obvious which of the connectors (that need to be soldered) is for Plus/4. Is it the one that is next to 'Amiga' text, or the one by the edge of the PCB and has plus/4 sort of printed below it?


    2) Where is pin 1 on the plus/4 connector? And where is pin 18? Or more precisely, what's the pinout of the connector? (plus/4 keyboard has 18 pins, and connector on keyrah v2 for plus/4 has 25 pins).


    Would really appreciate if someone can help here.

  • 1) I am looking at keyrah v2 and it's not obvious which of the connectors (that need to be soldered) is for Plus/4. Is it the one that is next to 'Amiga' text, or the one by the edge of the PCB and has plus/4 sort of printed below it?

    For plus/4, you ultimately use the C16 keyboard connector. Part of the PCB contains an adapter board: The long thing that sticks out under the joystick ports is the adapter. While it only serves a mechanical purpose in a C64 case, it will serve the "adapter purpose" for the plus/4: You cut it off at the marked line and solder in the components (or solder it directly to the C16 connector if you want to save the female header).

    2) Where is pin 1 on the plus/4 connector? And where is pin 18? Or more precisely, what's the pinout of the connector? (plus/4 keyboard has 18 pins, and connector on keyrah v2 for plus/4 has 25 pins).

    The 25-pin connector is NOT for the plus/4, but for the C128D keyboard. Pin#1 of each connector is marked with a square pad, where all other pads are round. The connector-places on the adapter-part of the Keyrah board are clearly written with the designators "C16" and "C116/plus4", so there really should be no doubts about how to use it.

  • Use a C16 keyboard, Keyrah is more than confusing as it clearly state plus/4 on the board and it is not compatible with the Keyrah until you spend lots of money and rework the product.


    I am also gutted that there is no direct connection to the plus4 but I highly recommend going with a C16 keyboard, a C64 breadbin or C64C case and spraying it black.


    I have just completed a mapping file with the creator of BMPlus4emu for the C16 keyboard so if this is your route you are taking then I can tell you that you will having a working map for the C16 keyboard.

  • The C116/plus4 FPC connector is 18-pin and 2.54mm raster - probably available from hundreds of vendors. We have them in stock, I just never took the time to put them up in the web shop. I can put that on the 2do list for the weekend, as I have panned to do an extra shift for adding a new shipping carrier.

  • This is ideal, I would have orderd the connector as a checkout option if it was made available at order time. Due to the undesirable status of the Plus4 it actually is available in the second hand market and makes the perfectly styled retro case and is a great conversation starter. I am not the technical type now that I have recieved my Keyrah and am happy to do the work have you an order link to a vendor in the USA for such a connector. I don't plan on orderig additional items from ICOMP at the moment. Thanks!

  • Sorry, no order link for a US vendor - I don't buy from DigiKey or the like, as they are simply too expensive for a manufacturer like us. We deal with the Asian manufacturers directly - otherwise we would not be able to offer our products this cheap.

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.