HP-HIL keyboards with PS/2 connectors

[Paul Berger]

On 2016-08-26 12:37 PM, Eric Christopherson wrote:
> Years ago I bought two HP 9000/715s. I've barely done anything with them,
> so I don't remember for sure if they even came with keyboards. That unit's
> keyboards are supposed to be HP-HIL, and I know there was a breakout box to
> use a PS/2 *connector* on such a keyboard; but I'm wondering about the
> particulars of that.
>
> I have run across one HP keyboard in my stash, which has a PS/2 connector.
> It only partially works on a PC -- certain keys don't register at all. What
> I'd like to know is: is it certain that this is just a broken beige box PC
> keyboard? The alternative I'm pondering is that it's really an HP-HIL
> keyboard with a PS/2 connector that just coincidentally seems to partially
> work on a PC. That's unlikely, I know, but I just want confirmation to rule
> it out.
>
It is probably just a broken PC keyboard the communication protocols on 
PS/2 and HP-HIL are very different.