Broken model M keyboard

[vic user]

I found a very dirty model M keyboard, at a local thrift store.

I cleaned it up over the weekend, and now it looks brand new.

I will have to say that although cleaning is never a joy, this keyboard, with the way the keys come off, was a breeze to get at all the crud. Awesome design!

Anyway, I plugged it into my PS/2, and I sadly got a "301" keyboard error.

Once I finally get into OS/2, the keyboard works great except for the following keys on the second row not working:

The apostrophe key
Keys '1' through '0' inclusive
the minus sign key and the equals key

The 'BACKSPACE' key works, (which is on that row) and all other keys work fine.

Intersting to me that an entire row (well almost entire) of keys won't work, which suggests to me that one problem is causing all of those key symptoms, and I think the 'BACKSPACE' key probably is not connected up in the same way as the other keys on the same row.

Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem is, and is this keyboard not worth reparing?

Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[Erik]

The Model M is the worlds greatest keyboard. Fortunately it is also very common.

I see them all the time at my local electronics salvage operation and they go daily on eBay for about $20 each.

You should consider taking yours apart further to see if there is anything gumming up the works on the circuit board. Just pop the screws on the bottom off and you can take the plastic case from the keyboard. Once you're down to that you'll see how the rest comes apart.

Basically there is a contact plate/circuit board mounted to a "cage" for the springs and contacts into which the keys are inserted. You can pull that back board off with everything else pretty much intact and see if it's damaged or dirty.

Good luck!

Erik

 

[vic user]

Thanks.

I will hopefully pop the case off tonight, and hope it's just crud then that's affecting it.

I really hope I get it to work properly, as I would finally have an IBM keyboard for my IBM computer. And the cable (which is not hard wired to the keybaord), is really long, and it is a joy to have.

man, is it ever heavier than my other PC keybaords!

Thanks, and I will post back to tell you how things went.

Chris

 

[SOPSCompy]

Similar Problem

Similar Problem

I have a similar problem... Only I think it might be converter related... Does anyone have anything against iomega? I just got my model m (off ebay) and the g and h keys don't work, along with num0, num delete, esc, and possibly others. Also I noticed that the w key does not stay pressed when pressed down, after a couple seconds it stops registering. (I tried playing Call of Duty 4 with it, and quickly found that out). I've tested the converter and keyboard on another computer and still the same thing, unfortunately I'm in college and only have my laptop with no ps2 connections to try that...

does my problem sound like more of a converter problem or a keyboard problem? I don't exactly keep nut drivers around for kicks lol.

Thanks,
Compy

 

[Half-Saint]

I have a similar problem here.. also picked up a used model M at the flea market.. spent over 2 hours cleaning it.. only to find out that last row from 'B' on doesn't work, cursor keys don't work, big Return key doesn't work and more..

It's impossible to pull apart a model M without breaking all the black plastic thingies on the metal plate. I suspect the keyboard is broken beyond help..

SainT