30 Jul
2007
30 Jul
'07
3:12 p.m.
Has anybody come up with a easy to implement solution for connecting
an ASCII keyboard (or, specifically, an Apple //e keyboard) to a
modern computer system? I'm just beginning to try to wrap my head
around this problem, and it seems... non-trivial...
I thought, from the Apple //e Technical Manual, that unlike the older
Apple ][s, the keyboard on the //e was just a matrix of switches and the
encoder chip was on the mainboard. So it's not strickly an ASCII keyboard.
The goal would be a USB-compliant HID device that would allow a //e
keyboard to be used on a modern computer.
I've not done _anything_ with USB (mainly because none of my computers
have that interface). but I keep on reading about microcontorllers with
USB 'slave' interfaces. It should be possible to use one of those to
either accept ASCII+strobe from an encoded keyboard (e.g. an Apple ][
one) or to scan a matrix of switches.
Note I am not saying it's trivial.
-tony