?..

[daemonspudguy]

Also, good lord are F122 boards rare and expensive when you do find one. That's another benefit to the Model M: they're much more common and still being made commercially.

[Maledicted]

I don't use Windows, and just having a single print screen key is more convinient anyways. I also think that Big-ass enter plus 1 unit backspace is almost useless, and I had to use that layout for a long time because a lot of cheap keyboards have it for some reason, so the AT layout is definitely not my thing. The XT layout is an affront to humanity.

None of this is a problem with anything bigger than an F62 and not an F AT or F XT. AT can be ANSI modded though as well, although I'll never do it to my boards.

I don't know that F122 is really that rare, they just shot way up in price, maybe because of their layouts.

Unicomp and/or Ellipse need to make a more budget-oriented modern capacitive buckling spring board or boards with a modern layout.

[daemonspudguy]

Another use for Print Screen everyone here isn't considering: on Linux systems the way you reboot when the computer locks up is with the SysRQ command REISUB, and SysRQ is alt+print screen.

[Maledicted]

There are only a handful of Fs that can't easily have dedicated print screen keys if you want them. All of my Fs do. There's not much to consider there. How much do your Linux systems lock up? I don't use it as much as Windows, but it is usually exceedingly stable.

[daemonspudguy]

There are only a handful of Fs that can't easily have dedicated print screen keys if you want them. All of my Fs do. There's not much to consider there. How much do your Linux systems lock up? I don't use it as much as Windows, but it is usually exceedingly stable.

It is a useful thing to have, especially when you're a weirdo who messes with custom kernels.

[depletedvespene]

I press the arrow keys surely hundreds of times a day. And yet they're not dedicated keys. Spooky, eh?

I learned on Atari 800XL keyboards, where the arrows where on the CTRL layer; things got worse with the M0110 keyboard, which expected you to use the stupid™ mouse. Getting dedicated arrow keys when I first started using a PC. was incredibly liberating.

And later, I discovered the extra functionality that the arrow keys had with Ctrl and Shift. Getting the arrow keys back to an auxiliary layer is an objectively inexcusable sin (YMMV).

[Muirium]

Next time you need to move the text cursor around, note the little trip you make past the 60% block and off down to the right where the arrow cluster lives.

I’m already back on home row, typing in the addition. My arrows are right there where I am when I need them.

[davkol]

And I'm in the terminal enough times that not having arrow keys is not an option.

What terminal are you using? cmd.exe? whatever shipped with AIX? Probably not.

So I invite you to learn GNU Readline bindings or whatever modern shells offer.

[daemonspudguy]

Yeah, that's great and all until you open up a text editor like Nano. I'm sticking with the arrow keys because I don't use a crippled keyboard.

[davkol]

And while at it, you can get a proper text editor.

[Muirium]

A “cripple” keyboard, which many of us find faster than roving around a full-size carbuncle, and yet an evidently… limiting text editor.

(Not a great word, by the way. Humans with actual disabilities are real, after all.)

[daemonspudguy]

I also use Emacs when I need something more advanced. I will not learn to use Vi because it hurts my soul.

[daemonspudguy]

I'm not judging anyone who uses a keyboard smaller than a full size. They are just unfit for purpose for me, because having to go into a function layer to use arrow keys or the numpad is not acceptable for my workflow. Especially the numpad, because overlayed numpads are just absolutely terrible.

[fohat]

You might really enjoy a 122-key terminal. All the usual stuff and more.

[Muirium]

I'm not judging anyone who uses a keyboard smaller than a full size.

Fair enough.

I don’t insist everyone should use 60%, either; I just respond to fighting talk. It’s a thing.

Numpad layers are generally pretty awful, I’ll agree on that.

[Ellipse]

Bolt mod process recommendations:

I bolt modded a number of IBM Model M keyboards many years ago (~2014), having learned what I've noted below from a fellow community member:

I used an inexpensive drill press found on Amazon to drill through the plastic rivets, a 0.07" drill bit, and 2/56 x 5/16 Stainless Steel Button Head Torx Machine Screws. No nuts were used. Try to drill where you feel the center of the rivet post is, instead of the center of the hole or the center of the large plastic part sticking out of the bottom inner assembly plate.

I did not separate the plastic top inner assembly from the metal bottom plate as that usually increased the risk of the old IBM plastic cracking. Sometimes it would have to be opened up if there was a problem inside. Also I made a jig to hold the parts together (not sure about its details after so many years).

Start with the weakest rivets/those rivets that have already fallen off, and then the middle rows. Do not drill out every rivet and then screw in all the bolts. Only drill out a few at a time before screwing in the bolts for those ones. The old plastic rivets should be removed before screwing in the bolts.

The bolts should not be screwed in so tight as there is no room for the inner assembly. This is an art more than a science. Increased bolt tightness may reduce key ping/noise while decreased tightness may do the opposite. I recommend backing up (unscrewing) each bolt about one turn of the screwdriver from a fully tight bolt.

Loctite or other material is not necessary in my experience as the bolts are tightly held in place in the plastic.

Make sure your torx T8 screw heads are in good condition so that you do not damage the bolts. Buy several of these as they will wear out over time.

Never bolt mod the bottom row as it is unnecessary and interferes with the keyboard.

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