Getting G3 Whisper Perch USB working

[croissantking]

I see, you want beige, but also for it to be USB and have a power on key. I have a feeling that most USB PC keyboards are going to be black as it took a relatively long time to transition away from PS/2, and by that point the x86 world had mostly moved over to black and silver. But, look forward to seeing what you come up with. A power key could be modded in.

 

[Trekintosh]

Alright, here’s what I’ve done. I ordered a MacAlly iKey. I noticed they’ve had a whole bunch of keyboards with power buttons but I believe only the original iKey series and the iKey slim are configured to actually activate a Mac soft power circuit. Later ones seem to just do a ctrl+eject.

It seems to use Alps style sliders on a rubber dome membrane, so I’m gonna try ordering some beige alps keycaps with Mac legends. I think the beige keys on translucent plastic will set off the Molar Mac nicely. Fugly on fugly.

Also my Wings card showed up, so that’s fun. Anyone want a USB whisper card with a mediocre port opening?

 

[GorfTheChosen]

Macally iKey - Only full sized USB keyboard with power key?

microCONNECTORS "Strong Man" SMK-8112JU keyboard ... with actual Alps SKBM Black mechanical switches (with the exception of the Power button)



Strong Man SMK-8112JU

Original owner, bought new back around 2000 or so IIRC.

Has a couple of dead keys on it which I haven't gotten around to fulling investigating/troubleshooting ... but it recently got a complete disassembly and deep cleaning ... which it sorely needed.

Absolutely love(d) it, was my go to keyboard ... until I got the das 4 years ago.

 

[Trekintosh]

microCONNECTORS "Strong Man" SMK-8112JU keyboard ... with actual Alps SKBM Black mechanical switches (with the exception of the Power button)

View attachment 84361

Strong Man SMK-8112JU

Original owner, bought new back around 2000 or so IIRC.

Has a couple of dead keys on it which I haven't gotten around to fulling investigating/troubleshooting ... but it recently got a complete disassembly and deep cleaning ... which it sorely needed.

Absolutely love(d) it, was my go to keyboard ... until I got the das 4 years ago.

I saw one of these on eBay. Blue with Japanese characters. Really pretty looking thing.

 

[GorfTheChosen]

I saw one of these on eBay. Blue with Japanese characters. Really pretty looking thing.

Mine has held up surprisingly well ... considering ...

Had I gotten the spilt coffee out a tad sooner all the keys might still be working.

 

[adespoton]

I've still got a spare one of these:

While not quite "full-sized" it gets pretty close.

 

[croissantking]

I’ve been tinkering with the power switch circuit that’s onboard the USB footprint. It’s the high reliability way of ensuring over-current protection, as opposed to an el cheapo fuse.



Apple’s layout follows the design recommendation in the CMD 0670 datasheet on page 63. A badly drawn but still useful schematic.



I can’t get it to work as intended. There seems to be a kind of deadlock - basically, the 3912 chip puts out a fault signal whenever it’s in shutdown mode. But the USB chip sees this and thinks there’s an overcurrent fault. So it never sends the startup signal to the 3912, which stays shut down with its fault signal on.

I have identified two ways to work around this - one is to hold the shutdown pin high through a pull-up resistor (but then the USB chip can’t control power to the 3912). The other is to disable the fault pin by lifting it away from the PCB (but then the USB chip won’t receive any notifications if there’s an actual over current fault).

 

[Trekintosh]

Ok so I got my Macally in and I can report that the soft power circuit is working fine.

Sadly the AEK II caps aren’t quite compatible with the Macally, mainly the command and control keys are too wide and the shift keys use two sliders on the Macally while the AEK II uses a single switch and traditional stabilizer bar. Still, it’ll be nice to have this keyboard so I can use the AEK with my 5400.

 

[Trekintosh]

Okay I've got my Wings card populated. It was a lot more work because it had SMD on both sides of the board, hunting for R182 and R183 in particular was a bear. Haven't tested yet but I see no reason it wouldn't work.

I don't suppose you'd happen to have a schematic for the 5xxx front panel board section of the Wings card, do you? I'd love to be able to change the channels with a remote.

Also slight note for the github: The pullup capacitors in the Mouser order are about 2 or 3 short. No worries because I had tons from the work stocks.

EDIT:

Ah, some research tells me that's the tv tuner portion, my Wings doesn't have the front panel connector pads at all. Still, if you've got any schematics for it I'd be grateful.

 

[croissantking]

Okay I've got my Wings card populated. It was a lot more work because it had SMD on both sides of the board, hunting for R182 and R183 in particular was a bear. Haven't tested yet but I see no reason it wouldn't work.

Nice work! And yes, it took me quite a long time to work out the parts list and schematic.

I don't suppose you'd happen to have a schematic for the 5xxx front panel board section of the Wings card, do you? I'd love to be able to change the channels with a remote.

Afraid it’s not something I’ve looked into.

Also slight note for the github: The pullup capacitors in the Mouser order are about 2 or 3 short. No worries because I had tons from the work stocks.

Oh, thanks for the heads up - I’ll double check and revise accordingly.

I recently made a few changes, including specifying a fuse which is more appropriately sized for the pads.

 

[Trekintosh]

Just an update - both the Whisper and the Wings seem to be working perfectly in 8.6 with the 9.2 USB extensions. Soft power with my iKey and all. Funny seeing a computer this old call a modern gaming mouse by name (my g400S). Thanks for all the assistance. If anyone wants a finished Whisper with a mediocre USB cutout, just let me know!

 

[croissantking]

Just an update - both the Whisper and the Wings seem to be working perfectly in 8.6 with the 9.2 USB extensions. Soft power with my iKey and all. Funny seeing a computer this old call a modern gaming mouse by name (my g400S). Thanks for all the assistance. If anyone wants a finished Whisper with a mediocre USB cutout, just let me know!

That’s good to hear!

BTW I recently combined the BOMs for the base mod and the startup circuit — did you use that when you ordered the parts for the Wings? I just wanted to check I didn’t introduce any errors.

 

[Trekintosh]

That’s good to hear!

BTW I recently combined the BOMs for the base mod and the startup circuit — did you use that when you ordered the parts for the Wings? I just wanted to check I didn’t introduce any errors.

I used the Mouser cart link, of which there was only one for the Wings, so I'm assuming that's the combined version.

 

[croissantking]

I used the Mouser cart link, of which there was only one for the Wings, so I'm assuming that's the combined version.

It is - I previously had two Mouser projects for each card. That’s good to know