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Stowaway keyboard
Stowaway keyboard

New MessageStowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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anyone thought of the possibility of using one of these? Think Outside

it would be great if it was possible to modify these, through a cable connector probably, to work with the ePods...any ideas? anyone tried it?

06-13-2001 10:35:13

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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looking through the Think Outside site i found the keyboard uses a serial connector...i have no idea if it is possible to make an adapter cable to hook it to the serial (or better yet USB)...then there is the software needed, which i know they have for ce 3.0, though i'm not sure if it available for 2.11
06-13-2001 11:00:19

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) Holodeck2
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I made one... it's pretty simple.
Buy a cheap USB keyboard and rip out the controler chip and cordes and just remap all the keys to the foldable keyboard
06-13-2001 12:17:11

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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so how would you connect the guts of the USB keyboard to the stowaway? i have never looked at the guts of either so i wouldn't know where to start...it may be somewhat simple, but your description sounds oversimplified
06-13-2001 12:27:51

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) SiliconIce
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Holodeck:
Wow, could you post some pics and a procedure maybe?
06-13-2001 16:46:52

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) Augur
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That's a mighty big leg you're pulling, Holo...

Augur

"The emperor has no style..."

06-13-2001 19:43:33

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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so...we gonna get an answer? or are you full of it? like i always say, put up or shut up
06-14-2001 11:26:58

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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that's kinda what i thought...

now, does anyone else have anything they can actually contribute?

06-16-2001 07:49:20

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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Newton with a Stowaway

this may be of some use to anyone who can tackle this issue

06-19-2001 10:46:07

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) Holodeck2
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LD37, I'm NOT pulling your leg or anything.
I don't frequent this BBS anymore because My E-pod died.

OK, all keyboards work about the same way, take all the key presses and then shove them through a serial, PS2, or USB connection.
When you press down on a key on the keyboard what you are actually doing is completing a circuit to the keyboard controller. Then the controller registers a key press and sends it to the computer.
Now here's where the fun begins.
The USB keyboard and the stowaway are mapped differently.
Example hitting the "F" key on the usb keyboard completes the circuit to pins 1 and 2, but hitting "F" on the stowaway completes the circuit to pins 4 and 6.
So what you have to do is map what pins a key press activates on the USB keyboard and then what pins it activates on the stowaway. And just rewire it.
That is the hard wired way.

Option 2 (haven't tried this)
The stowaway keyboard outputs all keystrokes to the serial connector. You can wire a serial connector to the E-pod and then get the developer's kit from think outside and try to write your own driver.

I would put some pics of the procedure but my access to a digital camera is limited


I mod anything I can get my hands on!
06-23-2001 13:17:49

New MessageRE:Stowaway keyboard (modified 0 times) LD37
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so here is my current line of thinking (granted, i know exactly crap about this stuff)...i am thinking you could connect the keyboard with a sync cable...for example, the Visor USB sync cable...the problem is you need some sort of gender changer...then possibly port one of the current drivers to CE 2.11 on a mips machine...sound logical at all? or am i way off?
07-05-2001 16:54:07

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