19 Aug
2008
19 Aug
'08
8:33 p.m.
Ethan Dicks wrote:
Thanks for the writeup. I look forward to trying this
out on my LPFKs
when I get home.
The protocol you describe is radically different from the one that
codeninja describes at http://codeninja.de/lpfk/ My first guess
is that there are two versions of the firmware running around, but is
there any way to confirm that? Minor variations in IBM part numbers or
what the keyboards were intended to attach to?
I don't know where the codeninja guy got his information. After all of
the research that I've done I don't think that he has a normal LPFK.
His came from an engineering department and may have been modified, just
like Dave & the guys here were talking about modifying theirs.
In terms of usage, were there overlay cards for different applications, or
how did you tell what keys meant what? Were the LEDs used in practice
to light up to confirm keypress, or were they used to indicate which
functions were enabled, or what?
I have a blank overlay and a CADAM overlay that labels the keystrokes.
I will probably scan the blank shortly so that people can download and
make their own.
I think in practice the LEDs were used to indicate functions that were
toggled on. And as you mentioned, they could also be set to show you
what functions were legal/available to select.
The only real wrinkle with this protocol is that the host has to
'confirm' each keypress by relighting the entire keyboard. (Their is no
way to change just one key - you have to send the entire bitmap down.)
It makes sense though - selecting one key could often have a side-effect
on what other keys/functions would be available.
I've used dialboxes with graphic workstations in the past, but I've never
worked with a keypad like this. I'm just trying to get a handle on how
it was used. I have my own ideas about what to use one for (LCDproc, an
open source project I work on, for example), but I'm just curious why
this keypad has the features it does and how it was originally used.
Thanks!
-ethan
I decided to be painful to myself and I fired up the PCjr and Zbasic, a
crufty old BASIC compiler. Zbasic is nice because it supports a
primitive form of structured BASIC, but it's definitely got some bugs in
the COM handling code. The PCjr is only spec'ed to handle up to 2400
bps, but for single character transmissions like this it is doing fine.
I'm looking forward to running a telnet BBS on it and using the keypad
as a combination status indicator/input device. That way I can know how
busy the machine is an interact with it in a limited way without turning
the monitor on.
Evil grin .. each lit button represents a connection to kill. :-)
Mike