deskthority

Operating system: Windows 11
Keyboard: IBM 5251 beam spring (1980)

Hi!

I have an IBM beam spring 5251 in excellent condition and I would like to convert it to USB. For this, I bought a controller from Joe (Model F Labs LLC) on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/324956507598?m ... media=COPY.
I removed the old controller from my 5251 and connected the new one. Additionally, I grounded and connected the cable to my PC. As this is my first time doing this, I tried launching the "ibm_capsense_usb_util.exe" (version 0.9.0) utility to configure the keyboard, but I came across the "No controller found" error. I talked to Joe and he said I needed to read the manual (https://www.modelfkeyboards.com/manual/) and gave me a few instructions.
I read the entire manual but I'm confused. First, I ran "pandrew-util-for-vial_r5.exe" and entered the bootloader (following the instructions in the manual). After that, I installed Atmel FLIP 3.4.7, opened the device manager, located "ATMEGA32U2" and installed the drivers manually from the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Atmel" directory. Then the manual asked to run a batch file to write the firmware to the controller, but I didn't find this BAT for my keyboard model in the files provided in the manual.
After that, there were several hours of trial and error: I tried to download the firmware "xwhatsit/ibm/5251/xwhatsit_rev4" in QMK Configurator (http://35.164.28.200:5000/#/xwhatsit/ib ... v4 /LAYOUT) and writing on my controller via FLIP (I was careful to select the correct MCU) and although the writing was successful, the keyboard does not appear on the Vial and I still cannot run "ibm_capsense_usb_util.exe".
I also tried downloading and installing "xwhatsit/ibm/5251/universal" and "ibm_capsense_usb_beamspring_rev4_0.9.0.hex" (direct from Tom's website), but the keyboard still doesn't work.
I also tried writing using "dfu-programmer.exe" but I still couldn't use the keyboard.
I don't know what to do next. Can someone help me?

The QMK beta website link you used is correct. That QMK project is not compatible with Vial, so Vial will not work with it. The keyboard will not be detected there.

With QMK, you configure the keyboard directly on that web site and then flash the firmware with Atmel flip as described in the manual. To update the configuration you would need to visit the web site again, reconfigure, and flash the updated firmware again.

The pandrew utility linked to in the manual will recognize the keyboard, so you can test keys using the Signal Level Monitor button in the utility, for example, or you can use the utility to enter the bootloader.

I finally managed to use the keyboard (I'm actually writing this reply using it). The next step is to configure the solenoid.