IDENTIFY THE KEYBOARD thread

[Red_Machine]

Just got a Chicony KB-5192. Was really hoping for Futaba switches, but I've got switches that don't appear in the list of known switches for this board. Can someone help me identify this?

[Muirium]

Looks like "Type 2B" of this to me:



MX clones, obviously. Probably made by Aristotle.

[Red_Machine]

Then someone needs to add that photo to the Aristotle Cherry MX clone page, because the photos on that page all have white shafts.

Ah well, back to hunting for a Futaba board. Closest I've gotten so far is a Sejin with Futaba-style membrane switches.

[Muirium]

Well, it's a wiki. "Someone" could be you if you'd like to step on up.

That pic's already in the wiki, so shouldn't be much work to include. I found it there just now myself, by starting from the page for your Chicony model, to answer your question.

[Red_Machine]

Fair enough, I added the entry myself.

[Muirium]

That's the spirit!

[Palatino]

This encouraged me to make my first wiki edit too just now. Is it really worth posting the eBay link I got the evidence from when it'll just expire in 90 days? (I've downloaded the relevant pictures from ebay and reuploaded them to the wiki for longevity.)

[Red_Machine]

This Chicony board really is a piece of junk. You can see the PCB between the keys, the plastic is so thin that it flexes like nobody's business (it's actually warped and I can't get it to bend back), and it just feels... cheap. Wish I'd never bought the thing now.

[hellothere]

I've got two with inverse + mounts, one good to go and one needing repair ... but I'm in the US.

[timw4mail]

This Chicony board really is a piece of junk. You can see the PCB between the keys, the plastic is so thin that it flexes like nobody's business (it's actually warped and I can't get it to bend back), and it just feels... cheap. Wish I'd never bought the thing now.

I think that about describes most of the Chicony keyboards I've encountered. They aren't very high quality boards, but they do seem to hold up anyway.

[hellothere]

I can't grab it, at the moment, but I've got a Chicony with a beefy case that looks kinda like a Dell bigfoot case. It's not ... terrible. On the other hand, I have another Chicony with SMK 2nd gen switches that I just went and replaced the case on. The tall mounting pegs for the keyboard assembly kept breaking off the old one.

[Sinnerman]

https://www.avito.ru/nizhniy_novgorod/t ... 2183792727

Big list of keyboards to identify . Sadly, number 12 (appears to have Blue Alps) has already been sold. I am currently most interested in numbers 8 (could be SMK 2nd gen Cherry MX mount) and 15 (White Alps or clones?; seems to have legends above the keys similar to Ortek MCK-101).

Relax. I have already taken everything that is possible from there.

12 - Acer KB-101A (Blue ALPS)
15 - Ortek MCK-101 (White ALPS)

[-Space-NATO-]

Anyone know what switches are in this board?

[thefarside]

This Chicony board really is a piece of junk. You can see the PCB between the keys, the plastic is so thin that it flexes like nobody's business (it's actually warped and I can't get it to bend back), and it just feels... cheap. Wish I'd never bought the thing now.

I have a Sejin board with Futaba Mount switches that I’m going to part with (doesn’t have any keys). Send me a PM if your interested.

[prigtopia]

I purchased this OmniKey 102 on eBay a few months back. It only has 5 DIP switches instead of the normal 8.

Top

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Back Ports

back ports (1).png (423.82 KiB) Viewed 8126 times

Backplane

backplane.png (1.36 MiB) Viewed 8126 times

Backplane zoom

backplan2.png (2.05 MiB) Viewed 8126 times

The control board looks a bit odd as well

Top Controller Board

control 1.png (1.31 MiB) Viewed 8126 times

Back of Controller board

controller back.png (1.88 MiB) Viewed 8126 times

The listing mentioned they had done some research and concluded it was an original Northgate mixture between unsold OmniMac boards with an OmniKey 102 top. This sounds plausible considering the model numbers line up sequentially between the controller and backplane.

Anyone have some knowledge to drop on me? I can't find much detail on the OmniMac. I'm interested in the history and whether there's a manual somewhere.

[Polecat]

I purchased this OmniKey 102 on eBay a few months back. It only has 5 DIP switches instead of the normal 8.

The control board looks a bit odd as well

The listing mentioned they had done some research and concluded it was an original Northgate mixture between unsold OmniMac boards with an OmniKey 102 top. This sounds plausible considering the model numbers line up sequentially between the controller and backplane.

Anyone have some knowledge to drop on me? I can't find much detail on the OmniMac. I'm interested in the history and whether there's a manual somewhere.

I didn't understand why Northgate info is so hard to find...until I started trying to document them myself! I have almost 600 on record now, and it's still far from a done deal. Assuming yours has a serial number of 913686 I saw it when it was on ebay, and wrote down a few notes. The inside photos are interesting, because they show a version of the PC board and controller board that I haven't seen before. The date code (8904) suggests it's a very early Gen2 model, which means it's a transition model before the OmniMac came out, rather than something built from leftover parts after the OmniMac went away.

More on the serial number - this is one of four I've seen with a 9xxxxx serial number format. The first two, 912591 and 913320, have Gen1 features, including an attached cable and XT/AT switch. Yours (presumably 913686) has the 5 gang dipswitch and Gen2 case. The fourth, 941559, has an 8 gang dipswitch and a normal Northgate label, and only a PS/2 connection. Yours is the only one of the four with ADB connectors and a 5 gang dipswitch. In fact it's the *only* Northgate I've seen with a 5 gang switch. Some eatrly Gen2s had an 8 position switch, but with slots in the case making only 3 switches accessible. Later Gen2s had all 8 switches exposed. I had previously speculated that a couple of these could have been refurbs or warranty exchange units, and that's still a possibility.

Again, the controller board on this one is different than either of the two "normal" versions I'm used to seeing. The Vendor 222 (early) Gen2s had one version of that board, while the Vendor 333 and 777 Gen2s had a different type. Both had ADB connections (unpopulated on the 102 models), and were presumably shared with the OmniMac. I haven't yet seen inside a Vendor 222 Plus model, so that one is still an unknown. The Vendor 222 102 does not have ADB connections, while the Vendor 222 Plus does. Possibly the 102 did not have the ADB-specific parts populated, which is what was done on the 333 and 777 102 models.

Dates are as follows for the Gen2s. The earliest Gen2s on record so far have a date code of 89/07 (July 1989). Those are the Vendor 222 ones, which ran until January 1990 or so. Around that time the Vendor 333 and 777 Gen2s appeared, and those ran through about April 1991, when the Gen3s came out. *Lots* of changes and odd variations throughout the Gen2 period!

edit: p.s. - I'm still looking for an OmniMac manual myself. So far I haven't found one, online or in person. I would expect there to be more than one version, since the dipswitch functions differed between Vendor numbers and revision levels on the Gen2 Northgates. The OmniMacs I've seen have all had 8 dipswitches, and the settings for those have been posted here in the past.

[madrobby]

What's this board from a recent eBay listing*? I find the legends on the keycaps quite interesting. Note the unusual F13-F16 keys.

Screen Shot 2021-10-04 at 11.21.34 AM.png (2.5 MiB) Viewed 7998 times

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*https://www.ebay.com/itm/313698517001?h ... Sw2DdhW0S4

[Lucid]

Looks like KeyTronic keycaps

[Benjamin Shkuraka]

Hi, I am new around here) Found this keyboard and do not know whether it is worth cleaning up. Cannot find enough information on it in internet. I know it is MY switches, which are bad, but what about the keycaps? They are in a good shape, pretty much just dirty.

[timw4mail]

If you like lazered keycaps, the caps are fine, they just aren't sought-after like the double-shot caps.

[Findecanor]

The keycaps are made of PBT and are durable. I've used similar ones on my daily driver for years. That set will not fit that many other keyboards though: the winkeyless G80-3000 (looks exactly the same but has Cherry MX switches) and some custom PCBs. Luckily, compatibility with Cherry's original keycaps and a large space bar is still common in the custom keyboard scene.

[jejex]

Any info about this keyboard? Looks very simmilar to a Datacomp DKF515, but there are some differences, like the arrow keys layout, or the legends on the keycaps - any input highly appreciated. Thanks in advance, and have a great day guys!
Pics below:

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back.jpeg (177.98 KiB) Viewed 7704 times

[hellothere]

If you can get the FCC ID off that label, that'd help. Otherwise, I don't have any problem with calling it a Datacomp.

[jejex]

If you can get the FCC ID off that label, that'd help. Otherwise, I don't have any problem with calling it a Datacomp.

Not really, tried to edit this picture to make it readable, but with no effect. I would just straight up buy it, but it's in Germany, while I'm in Poland, and the seller wants €100 for this board and an IBM M2. I have a friend in Germany that could proxy it for me, but still, the price is a bit high considering the condition and the fact that it's a pig in a poke.

[TNT]

Do you have the option to contact the seller and just ask for more photos or whether he could remove a keycap for you?

[TNT]

I think it might be this board: wiki/Chicony_KB-5152

So you seem to be in luck no matter what. Also blue and green Alps

[inozenz]

If you can get the FCC ID off that label, that'd help. Otherwise, I don't have any problem with calling it a Datacomp.

Not really, tried to edit this picture to make it readable, but with no effect. I would just straight up buy it, but it's in Germany, while I'm in Poland, and the seller wants €100 for this board and an IBM M2. I have a friend in Germany that could proxy it for me, but still, the price is a bit high considering the condition and the fact that it's a pig in a poke.

I bought the keyboard. It has skcl greens.
I saw the listing way before you posted the pic, just wanted to let you know

[jejex]

I bought the keyboard. It has skcl greens.
I saw the listing way before you posted the pic, just wanted to let you know

Fair enough, the seller didn't say it's already sold. I had to use Google translate, I guess no luck for me Great catch anyways, enjoy it! Still interested in the M2, if you could ask the seller about it's price in correct German, instead of Google's not-so-great translation I would be grateful

[Palatino]

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Who can uncover the secret of the Terryboard? Is it actually made of sapient pearwood? Will it snicker at you if you type weak prose? Can you set it to auto-write while you go and take a bath? We must know. We will know.

[absurd_logic589]

Can any one tell me anything about this intel keyboard?