Externall apple iic keybaord

[Macintoshguy1984]

I found a apple 5pin din to apb and wondered if i could hook up a apb to usb to connect a keyboard to it

 

[Gorgonops]

I assume you mean "ADB" when you say "apd"? It hardly matters because, no, you cannot hook an ADB keyboard to the IIc's 5 pin DIN serial ports.

My guess is the dingus you found is actually a 5-pin DIN to 8-pin mini-DIN serial adapter, not an ADB converter. The IIc's serial ports were unique while the IIc+ and IIgs used the same 8-pin DINs as Macs from the Mac Plus forward so I can certainly see a reason why such an adapter might exist.

 

[Gorgonops]

... although I suppose it's also worth noting that the IIc's serial connector is the same as an AT PC keyboard, so if you found some ultra-rare ADB to PC-AT adapter that's not going to work either even though the plug fits. (And in fact it would probably let the magic smoke out if you tried.)

 

[Gorgonops]

... or are you looking at an AT to PS/2 dongle, as I suppose it's also possible to mistake a PS/2 plug for ADB? Again, not going to work.

 

[Macintoshguy1984]

What is the keyboard button on the apple iic used for?

 

[Gorgonops]

On US machines it switches between QWERTY and DVORAK layouts; on European machines I believe it switches between the US layout and an alternate International layout.

 

[Machead]

I believe that button switches between QWERTY and Dvorak keyboard layouts. There's also a large reset key near the upper center of the keyboard.

 

[Macintoshguy1984]

oh, that makes sense