Blue Alps Packard Bell Keyboard, not sure which model

[FionaBlaze]

Hello All

The Keyboard Itself

20210331_091052.jpg (4.98 MiB) Viewed 2406 times

This is a keyboard I had recently acquired, I have looked around this site, and many others to try and see exactly which model it is.
This keyboard is identical to the Packard Bell T9102, however, there is only one remaining sticker on the back that reads "T9104"
I'm unsure exactly how much of a difference there is with the two keyboards, although It could just be an updated circuit or something

If anybody has any information, please let me know
Thank you

~Fiona

[Palatino]

Nice keyboard! I can't add anything useful, sorry - but the slider does look quite a vivid blue, similar to blue alps copies rather than genuine. Could just be the lighting in your picture though.

[//gainsborough]

That is indeed a genuine blue alps board, i believe the T9102 vs t9104 vs t9103 (I think there might be a t8 number as well) are just some kind of factory code, but they seems to all be extremely similar. Some come with white alps, some come with pad printed caps, some come with doubleshots - ideally you get both blue alps and doubleshots (which I think is what yours is) - so nice get!

[motoko]

Nice find. The tint of blue does look rather off and similar to a clone; might just be the photo.

[Raj.Key.Mari]

That is indeed a genuine blue alps board, i believe the T9102 vs t9104 vs t9103 (I think there might be a t8 number as well) are just some kind of factory code, but they seems to all be extremely similar. Some come with white alps, some come with pad printed caps, some come with doubleshots - ideally you get both blue alps and doubleshots (which I think is what yours is) - so nice get!

seconded. those are real blue alps. rest assured.

[E3E]

Can you check and see if these have NKRO? I recall some models seeming to have positions for diodes, but they are either not utilized and/or the IC has blocking.

Also, this model is based on the FDA-102 from Forward Electronics, rebranded for Packard Bell.

[FionaBlaze]

Can you check and see if these have NKRO? I recall some models seeming to have positions for diodes, but they are either not utilized and/or the IC has blocking.

Also, this model is based on the FDA-102 from Forward Electronics, rebranded for Packard Bell.

Thank you all for your help.

This keyboard does not have NKRO
It's kind of frustrating sometimes, as certain games need me pressing many keys at once, and this keyboard will not let me
Do you know of some kind of way to enable this feature? as a lack of NKRO is what is keeping me from fully switching over to this board

[FionaBlaze]

Everyone, thank you for all your help :]

[XMIT]

I have a version of this board that has Orange Alps. I don't know if they were swapped out in the past or what.

The only way to get NKRO on a board is to replace the PCB, a major operation that's about as labor intensive as swapping out the mainboard in a laptop.

[FionaBlaze]

I have a version of this board that has Orange Alps. I don't know if they were swapped out in the past or what.

The only way to get NKRO on a board is to replace the PCB, a major operation that's about as labor intensive as swapping out the mainboard in a laptop.

Well that sucks, I might do a PCB swap if I were to find a replacement that could fit within the board's case. However, I don't think that is very likely.
Soldering is also an issue, I really don't have the tools or experience to resolder all the electronics, but I could always try
I also don't want to destroy such a beautiful board, but if I were to find one that is in horrible shape, that could be a future project.
Even without NKRO, this keyboard is the best I have ever touched, I guess that is why there is such a large community around keyboards.

[XMIT]

I might do a PCB swap if I were to find a replacement that could fit within the board's case. However, I don't think that is very likely.
Soldering is also an issue, I really don't have the tools or experience to resolder all the electronics, but I could always try
I also don't want to destroy such a beautiful board, but if I were to find one that is in horrible shape, that could be a future project.

It would be a big project for sure, but, there are some pretty mature KiCad workflows for generating circuit boards for Alps and other keyboards.

Certainly keep it! If you ever decide to go down that rabbit hole, please post photos.