IBM Cherry clicky clacky

[Bunsen]

Picked up a really nice keyboard from the dump shop recently. It's a black, IBM branded ex-bank teller USB keyboard made by Cherry, with a mag stripe card reader at the top. Built like a tank, and like the old Model M - individual scissor action keyswitches Typing on it is a joy. Also has a two port USB hub on the back.

I might use the space at the back taken up by the mag stripe reader now, to add ... something.

$5

 

[LCGuy]

Does the computer recognise the magnetic strip reader? I wonder if you could....do something with that....

 

[Bunsen]

Presumably. Cherry have Windows drivers and JavaPOS for Linux for download. I took the kb apart last night and the magstripe reader is just a standard cassette head wired directly to the main logicboard - all the decoding must take place there. There's only one apparent CPU on it.

I was thinking of mounting a USB trackpad or board on the right above the numpad, and maybe a status LCD or something on the right. Maybe a dock for my netbook when I get around to tabletizing it. Right now, because of the failing keys on the netbook, I'm using the IBM kb on it - and it's four times the size

My brief look around the Cherry support site turned up some utility for reprogramming some of the keys (39?? presumably the numpad and F keys), including adding macros.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

You lucky 8@$^@ . . . uhhhh . . . erm . . . esteemed comrade in oz. :I

My Cherry Branded MagStrip KBD doesn't even have those cherry clickety-clackers on board! :-/

Post piccies please! :approve:

 

[techknight]

ohh the magstripes. those were fun to mess with, 3 tracks, only track 2 is commonly used.

use to reload gift cards back when it wasnt server based. theres a couple that still are not, but i forget which one that was.

most of the stuff is published on the net now, how to do it, etc..

 

[mcdermd]

I used to manage ATM, Debit and Credit card software for a major Credit Union software house. The amount of compromises is staggering and usually seems to be caused by human error, not hacking.

 

[Bunsen]

I'm not much interested in magstripe hacking myself, at least as far as nefarious purposes go. The head might come in handy for certain other ideas later on.

 

[LCGuy]

I'm thinking it may come in handy if you can program it for your own purposes...for example - I wonder if you could rig something up where everyone who uses the system has their own card, which you swipe when you go to log on, instead of typing a password. Pointless, yes. But cool.

 

[Bunsen]

Hmm interesting - I wonder if the CPU just passes the data from the stripe as keystrokes - that would make a passcard like you suggest very easy.

Tangentially related:

Yamaha PC-100

The musics to be learned are stored on so-called PlayCards, those show the musical score and have a strip of magnetic tape on their lower edge that stores the music data, much like nowadays MIDI files.
To read the data, the card is simply moved by hand from right to left through a slot on the instrument top, which only takes a second (extremely fast in comparison to that time's homecomputer datasette tapes and diskettes)

 

[redrouteone]

Most of the mag strip readers I have seen just sit inline with the keyboard. The data is passed through as a normal key press, so no drivers are required.

 

[Bunsen]

Gee, that sounds ... secure :?: