Keyrah and C128

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.

    dear commodore friends, where i can buy a keyrah v3? It's there something for interfacing real tape and disk drive?

    Keyrah is for keyboards: Retro keyboard to modern PCs with a USB port (Linux, Apple, Win). It has nothing to do with tape or disk.


    Jens

    I wonder if I can ask a small slightly offtopic question but a little relevant to the Keyrah solution?
    (Skip to the bottom for a TLDR; and ideally read the rest after with question nr 1 in mind.)


    Here goes;

    I just got two C128s, which both exibit problems - One was initially fine but went into unspecified function and display faults, but had a good functioning keyboard, I now tried that on the other that had a keyboard which had SOME keys when combined with C= or left or right shift does not give PETSCII.

    Unfortunately I experienced the same problems when putting the supposedly functioning keyboard on this C128.
    I was hinted on LEMON64 that I could check U1 or U4 for heat, (I read U1 handles the keyboard). However I THINK I notice a slight damage on the keyboard connector on the C128 motherboard, lacking in technical skill and bravery I have not yet tried to look under the motherboard.

    - NOW the question number 1 - IS there a way to know if the keyboard connector pins on the mobo side has damage relative to what key combinations dont work ? I mean, could I know if a pin was awry if this and this keys fail ?

    - TWO; CAN you make a special Keyrah 3 WITH the C128 (wedge machine) connector already modded and soldered for a technical support fee ?
    (in that case I could use the C128 cases with keyboards atleast for emulators until I get the motherboards fixed :-(

    Thanks for your time.
    Cheers
    DAG E JACOBSEN

    ---

    Best regards
    Dag Jacobsen
    Norwegen

    Quote from dbugster

    IS there a way to know if the keyboard connector pins on the mobo side has damage relative to what key combinations dont work ? I mean, could I know if a pin was awry if this and this keys fail ?

    Yes. The keyboard is organized in a matrix (just a fancy word for table), and the wires are the rows and columns of that table. A bad contact will make the whole row or column fail. There's a number of pages that document the exact layout of that matrix.


    Quote from dbugster

    CAN you make a special Keyrah 3 WITH the C128 (wedge machine) connector already modded and soldered for a technical support fee ?

    That would exceed the price of a Keyrah V3 by far. It's really better if you do it yourself, or have someone with basic soldering skills do it for you. The connector is impossible to find, as it was a custom part made for Commodore back in the days, so you have to re-make it from single pins.


    That said, your description sounds like you don't have a keyboard or connector problem with that machine, I think it's a power supply problem, and you need a few new electrolytic capacitors in your C128 supply. DO NOT buy a new PSU, as none of the units that are offered on the market (eBay, Amazon, certain people offering it, because their name is associated with good software). Do repair the old one, that's the least amount of risk you can have.


    Jens

    Luckily I found a couple of working C128 PSUs ! But still a good NEW PSU is highly wanted as I can't service my own :-(
    But the problems with the C128s might be due to late effects of the inital shock debacle :-/

    ---

    Best regards
    Dag Jacobsen
    Norwegen