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Home / I-Opener Areas / I-Opener Technical Stuff POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... Anyone know how to hack one of these babies?

POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) D2tw4all Profile Hey all you hardware guru's, I've been wanting to mount the IO in the car, but won't until I find a viable solution for a keyboard. I found tiny ones on the net but they are rediculously expensive, and I thought I was outa luck till I saw a new keyboard for the PALM PILOT in Staples. This nifty little gizmo folds up neatly into four parts that are about the same size as the pilot, but when unfolded are larger than a standard laptop keyboard. Unfortunately they are set up for the palm, but I'm wondering if there might be a way to modify them so they work with a PC... Anyone want to take a crack at it? These would be SWEET for other uses too, they are just so small. Hundred bux though, while expensive it doesn't even compare to the ones I have found on the web... D2. 12-06-2000 22:19:29

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) ASPguy Profile | Email why would anyone want to pay $100 for a flimsy keyboard that folds which you'll have to unfold to use? just kidding. i don't think anyone here are going to hack that cause we can't afford the $100 and most of us consider palm to be like what apple is to windows. or windows is to linux.. as palm is to Pocket PC. I own a CAsseiopeda E11 and i can frankly say i don't use it, but i do like how cool it is though. for the palm i don't like it at all. it's like an overly priced organizer that should have sold for $60 and not $400. sure, it's the default of the industry but with it not being used to sync with one another and don't synch with pcs as much as the outlook programs on the pocketpc do sync, i don't see why you got to pay the extra dough for an organizer that isn't networked. anyways, i better stop before palm users start defending themselves. the only time i thought palm was cool is when linux was embedded in it (don't remember source). :X By the way, to answer your question, there are links going about on the post that dealt with a more usable interface for the iopener in the car. i guess it does depend on what you plan on using it for. people were checking out the touch screens and remote controls. 12-07-2000 02:28:59

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) ckbone Profile Take a look at the Dauphin keyboard....Works on the I-Opener as a sandard keyboard, using the ps2 splitter. It's small.....any smaller and it would become hard to use. You can find these for as little as $12. http://www.directron.com/dauphin.html 12-07-2000 04:17:16

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) D2tw4all Profile OK, you guys win, I didn't realize how small that dauphin is, anyone know where to get it for 12 bux? D2. 12-07-2000 11:42:19

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) ckbone Profile Do a search using Google....type in Dauphin keyboard. Here's one for $19....You can hack the case of the thing to make it even smaller. There's some pictures here: http://xcom.stores.yahoo.com/daupminkey.html 12-07-2000 15:44:25

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) UhClem Profile Since this subject has come up, anybody have recommendations for a similarly small sized unit but with some kind of built-in pointing device? Especially, of course, at a cheap price :) 12-07-2000 20:18:39

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) YouBecha Profile I've got this one keyboard with a mouse pad type device (like a pointy stick), it is small but with good sized keys... only problem is it didn't come with an ESCape key;) http://www.geocities.com/mr_bubba_zanetti/ 12-08-2000 07:52:04

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) brian Profile | Email OK, I'll admit it, I'm working on exactlly what you're talking about. I'm told the keyboards aren't compatible from palm III to palm V. I'm working on a Palm III keyboard. Yes, they ARE expensive, but what if you already bought one for your palm? I'm not done with my mod yet but I am making progress. This project will NOT be for the average I-Opener hacker. The data that the palm keyboard usus is serial the same as a regular keyboard but that's where the similarities end. The protocol is COMPLETELY different. I'm basing my design on the PIC 16F84 microcontroller. I can currently receive data from the palm keyboard and output the bits to 8 output lines. I'm almost finished with the lookup table to convert the palm keyboard codes to those of an AT keyboard. Then comes the hard part of communicating that to the PC. I've got some info on this but never done it before. Anyone know how to talk keyboard language to a PC? Does anyone have info on this? BTW I know the keyboard doesn't have F keys... yet, I'll eventually implement them using the function key and the number . IE hold the function key then press 1 is F1.. 12-09-2000 22:00:07

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) mp3boombox Profile | Email Hi, guys ok :) i'v been looking into this ever sence i got my io. Now i'v come across a few keyboards which i liked but the palm one and the FLOPPY keyboard are my 2 top choises. the floppy keyboard well read the name :) you can roll it up and it has keys which are very shallow BUT are the correct size of a reg key's. As for the palm keyboard i wouldnt be supprised if it can be straight wired to any keyboard. Now i'v lost the dam web page but you can with some simple hacking hook up any old KEYBOARD to a palm. the palm3 i believe was the one that was being used on the page at the time. but it was just straight wireing for a keyboard. This leads me to believe that the palm keyboard is just a reg keyboard with a funky interface connector. If i find the pages again i'll post them. Hope this brings new light on your quest for a better IO keyboard. oh ya the floppy keyboards are expensive also about $120 if i rember correctly???? 12-10-2000 00:42:00

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) brian Profile | Email Let me make this a bit clearer, a palm keyboard CAN NOT be just wired to a PC. Both the hardware and software communications are different. A PC keyboard has a data and clock line like synchronous serial. The palm keyboard has only one data line or asynchronous serial. A PC keyboard has 5V signals whereas the Palm keyboard has 3.3V signals. The data words for a PC keyboard are 11 bits in length and the Palm keyboard is 9 bits. The scan codes for each key are different between keyboards also. The Palm keyboard has no typmatic delay (it doesn't repeat the key if you hold the key down). You need a microcontroller to inerface a palm keyboard to a PC. The microcontroller would translate both hardware and software protocals. I do believe that it's possible to hook a PC keyboard to a palm III. The palm III would have to have a custom software driver to interpret the PC keyboard scan codes and hardware protocal. The Palm Keyboard has such a driver but it's specifically for that keyboard. You would also have to provide a 5V power supply for the keyboard due to the high curent drain. 12-10-2000 12:15:09

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) mp3boombox Profile | Email brian dont be so darned negative, Let me see if i can find the web page on putting a regular keyboard on a palm and i'll show you. I CANT REMBER IF IT USED A PIC16f84 or something along the line for a comunication's interface or if it was a straight wireing. but you can put a reg keyboard on a palm. i'v read a few pages on this subject. LET ME FIND them first befor you TOTALY diss the idear. I do think i rember something about having to load a driver into the palm for a regular keyboard?? Rember in the electronics field EVERY thing with a little tinkering and a bit of CODE if needed is posable from analog to digital. heh you talk like theres NO WAY in hell it will ever work. Oh yes any of you guys that are intrested in the audio hacks i'v got a hole new crop of them built. As for serial ports :( i'm waiting on shipments of the max235 chip's. http://www.linux-hacker.net/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowPost&Board=technical&Post=1847&Idle=0&Sort=0&Order=Descend&Page=0&Session=mp3boombox.97648589571418 12-10-2000 15:14:30

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) ckbone Profile I uploaded some pictures of the Dauphin keyboard, giving you an idea of it's size in front of an I-Opener. Also you can see the Fellows monitor extension arm and the Primax printer link (uses phone cable instead of a heavy printer cable). http://photos.yahoo.com/ckbone63123 12-10-2000 17:53:06

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 0 times) Perplexer Profile Figured I'd bring this thread up from the dead. I was just in Target, and they are clearing out keyboards for the Palm m100/III/VII series for $24.44. I didn't pick it up, deciding to first check and see if anyone had modified this to work on a regular PC. This would be great for my in-car I-Opener... 08-31-2001 13:26:11

RE:POSSIBLE KEYBOARD HACK FOR IO AND OTHER SMALL COMPS... (modified 1 times) YouBecha Profile Fry's has an off brand keyboard with all the windows keys, smaller than the IO keyboard (but of course no mouse). Works good enough for me...$19.99 Oh yea, it is easily hackable to add the mouse port mod etc. http://www.geocities.com/mr_bubba_zanetti/ 09-12-2001 20:50:58

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