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Sun Microsystems keyboard prices

Rhys Painter

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Nov 29, 2021
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Mississippi
Greetings, this is my first post on the forum.

I ordered a Sun Ultra 5 workstation on eBay and then found out I need a proprietary Sun keyboard. The ones that aren't missing keys all seem to go from $50 into the hundreds on eBay, which to me seems steep for a rubber dome keyboard. Is this is the normal going price or is it some price gouging specific to eBay?
 
Sun keyboards are only slightly higher than adb keyboards which are only slightly higher than ps/2 keyboards so I think it's just retro hardware in general that's getting expensive. But on the other hand somebody did just put a bunch of 611 cases up for 1000-1600 and you have to be price gouging to think they're worth that much. So there are some people that have an inflated sense for what sun gear is worth.
 
I’d say $50-60 for a later Sun keyboard seems reasonable. Is it possible you can just use a USB keyboard on that Ultra? They have more PC-compatible hardware in them and it says their was a Sun USB keyboard. Though I guess you’d be missing some mapping of a few critical keys potentially with a standard USB keyboard.
 
Greetings, this is my first post on the forum.

I ordered a Sun Ultra 5 workstation on eBay and then found out I need a proprietary Sun keyboard. The ones that aren't missing keys all seem to go from $50 into the hundreds on eBay, which to me seems steep for a rubber dome keyboard. Is this is the normal going price or is it some price gouging specific to eBay?
It's kind of normal, because these sellers wait for people who did buy a system without the required proprietary keyboard (or mouse). That's why you should only buy complete systems.

The Ultra 5 was still using a type 5/6 keyboard, which means you can not use one from a PC.
 
Greetings, this is my first post on the forum.

I ordered a Sun Ultra 5 workstation on eBay and then found out I need a proprietary Sun keyboard. The ones that aren't missing keys all seem to go from $50 into the hundreds on eBay, which to me seems steep for a rubber dome keyboard. Is this is the normal going price or is it some price gouging specific to eBay?
Welcome to the forum!
 
I’d say $50-60 for a later Sun keyboard seems reasonable. Is it possible you can just use a USB keyboard on that Ultra? They have more PC-compatible hardware in them and it says their was a Sun USB keyboard. Though I guess you’d be missing some mapping of a few critical keys potentially with a standard USB keyboard.
Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 systems use the "old" Sun connector. You might be able to install a USB card, but you won't be able to use a USB keyboard until an OS with support boots up.


If you need to access the Open Boot Prompt, connect a serial terminal to serial A and use that. Hint: a serial BREAK signal is the same as STOP-A.
 
Ultra 5 and Ultra 10 systems use the "old" Sun connector. You might be able to install a USB card, but you won't be able to use a USB keyboard until an OS with support boots up.
Ahh didn't realize these didn't come with USB -- and as you mention, can't use a USB keyboard with the OBP regardless.
 
The ones that aren't missing keys all seem to go from $50 into the hundreds on eBay, which to me seems steep for a rubber dome keyboard.

Alas that is the current state of the market. I remember being able to go into Weirdstuff and haggle them down to $5 for both a Type5 and a mouse, but those days are gone.

If you want something more “interesting“ than a rubber dome the Type 4 should be compatible; it uses those foil Keytronics switches. Which… are probably worth avoiding, if I have to be honest.
 
Most systems are sold without keyboards and mice because if you sell them separate you make more money that way, just a fact of life. Most 68K Mac and Amigas are also sold without keyboards as well. Sometimes I think it is because somebody saved the machines, but the keyboard and mice were lost, or they just broke and were tossed (especially mice).
 
Ditto (argh) for older HP workstations. Even if you can get a keyboard, it's often missing the (magic) cable.
 
I find myself in both boats, I have a Sun Sparcstation 5 and a HP 9000 both with missing keyboards/mice.
 
If you want something more “interesting“ than a rubber dome the Type 4 should be compatible; it uses those foil Keytronics switches. Which… are probably worth avoiding, if I have to be honest.

The pads have survived in those. People have been cannibalizing them for the pads for a while now, which doesn't help the supply situation for them
 
People have been cannibalizing them for the pads for a while now, which doesn't help the supply situation for them

Yeah. You still see recommendations that they're a "good source" of pads for older Keytronics like the TRS-80 Model II or the SOL-20, but... I mean, I guess at a certain point the realization will sink in that recommending you source a rare 30+ year old thing for parts to fix a 40 year old thing just isn't really good, actionable advice anymore.
 
I see similar things working on my AMC. There's a lot of folks who cannibalize other cars for parts that you can no longer find at the parts house and some of this stuff is already really well used to the point it might not be any better than what you are replacing, but if you spend half an hour cross-referencing you find that like with keytronic foil foam pads you can find NEW parts that might not list your device as compatible, but it will still fit and work the same.
 
I found some NOS Sun installation kits in my garage. Keyboard, Mouse, Keyboard cable, and Power cable. Not the USB ones unfortunately.
 
You don't even need to have something that old to have issues finding exact replacement parts for. Some 201x era gaming PCIE graphics cards have parts from companies that no longer exist and cross-referencing parts with the exact specs can be a pain.

I used to scavenge Apple PCI Powermac era VRAM sticks because they used chip that were perfect matches for high end VLB cards. Those VRAM were super cheap and would have ended up in the trash or recycled 15 years ago.
 
I find myself in both boats, I have a Sun Sparcstation 5 and a HP 9000 both with missing keyboards/mice.
If you are patient and persistent, you will find these for a good price, but you have to watch for the outliers, as well as the obvious searches. I already snagged mine - a pristine, working, HP HP-HIL keyboard that I got for around $35 was a steal, but it was listed as a keyboard for a medical device. I was lucky on my Sun and it came with a keyboard, mouse and monitor adapter (I bought it from someone that lived a few hours away and picked it up in the early days of the pandemic).

I hope that the original poster was either able to justify the cost of the keyboards and pick one up, or find one available through another venue.
 
If you are patient and persistent, you will find these for a good price, but you have to watch for the outliers, as well as the obvious searches. I already snagged mine - a pristine, working, HP HP-HIL keyboard that I got for around $35 was a steal, but it was listed as a keyboard for a medical device. I was lucky on my Sun and it came with a keyboard, mouse and monitor adapter (I bought it from someone that lived a few hours away and picked it up in the early days of the pandemic).

I hope that the original poster was either able to justify the cost of the keyboards and pick one up, or find one available through another venue.
One of the guys at my local maker space might have a keyboard/mouse for my Sun setup but I'm on my own for the HP. I've been searching for a while, $35 is an incredible find.
 
If you are patient and persistent, you will find these for a good price, but you have to watch for the outliers, as well as the obvious searches. I already snagged mine - a pristine, working, HP HP-HIL keyboard that I got for around $35 was a steal, but it was listed as a keyboard for a medical device. I was lucky on my Sun and it came with a keyboard, mouse and monitor adapter (I bought it from someone that lived a few hours away and picked it up in the early days of the pandemic).

I hope that the original poster was either able to justify the cost of the keyboards and pick one up, or find one available through another venue.
One of the guys at my local maker space might have a keyboard/mouse for my Sun setup but I'm on my own for the HP. I've been searching for a while, $35 is an incredible find.

Just a quick update to this, managed to get a HP-HIL keyboard and mouse set off ebay for a decent price. They look nice and clean in the auction. We'll see when they get here.
 
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