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If you bought a USB keyboard some time during the 2000s, there is a good chance it came with one of these: a small, stubby, USB to PS/2 adapter. You might be surprised that those DO NOT WORK with any more recent USB keyboard, because those adapters are actually completely passive. The smarts are in the keyboard that can detect if it is connected to USB or a PS/2 port and speak the correct protocol. At least the keyboards that once shipped with those adapters were able to do that.
If you have an old computer with a PS/2 or an AT style keyboard connector, the easiest thing to do is using an actual PS/2 keyboard. For the AT connector, a simple, passive PS/2 to AT adapter will do as those actually are the same signaling but over different connectors (DIN plug vs mini DIN).
Luckily, PS/2 style keyboards are still easy to come by:
On the way home from the grocery store, I found this lovely PS/2 keyboard on the road side. It has a German layout and some additional power management keys that used to be popular around the turn of the century, some time before keyboards turned into blob-jects with oval web function keys and what not.
The top photo shows the keyboard, grimy and filthy as I brought it home. The bottom photo shows it after cleaning the key caps in an ultra sonic cleaning bath and hosing the down the shell in the shower.
Removing the key caps, the thing is quite filthy underneath.
Going over it with a vacuum cleaner got rid of most of the dirt. Taking the screws out, the top and bottom shell come off, along with the rubber dome sheet they could easily be hosed down in the shower to remove the rest of the grime.
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The key caps were squeaky clean again after 40 minutes in an ultrasonic cleaner bath. Just don't forget to pour in some instant ultrasound gel. I tried to listen closely when I opened the bottle, but you really can't hear anything :-)
On the underside of the keyboard, we can see an interesting mechanism for change the angle at which the keyboard sits on the desk. Despite what it looks like, this is surprisingly flimsy and once out, it's a pain to get it back in, particularly at the same setting on both sides.
There does not seem to be any branding on the entire thing. Surprisingly, the beige bottom plate is actually sheet metal and quite sturdy. Unlike the keyboard that came with the SUN Blade…
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