• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

IBM keyboard

It's for the IBM 3270 PC.. I think it was a 5170 with a 3270 emulation/communication card. Keyboard weighs a damn ton making selling it a bit prohibitive to local sales usually.
 
I'd agree with it being an IBM AS/400 twinax terminal keyboard. Most of the 122 key keyboards look the same irrespective of the model; i.e. IBM 3192, 437x, 348x, etc. There is probably some sort of identification on the underside.
 
Maverick1978 said:
Nah... take it to Geekhack.org - one of those keyboard nuts will buy it. Though for how much is another question... :)
Click to expand...

Ahem - I'm one of those keyboard nuts from Geekhack.org.

It's for "almost any" IBM terminal with that connector for the keyboard, and is protocol-compatible even with the older style with a 5-pin DIN connector (which is a slightly different DIN connector than that of AT keyboards).

Its protocol is AT compatible but uses features of that protocol that are unsupported by drivers and software running on standalone computers. They can be adapted, but the projects to do so are targeted at using a modern system as the host.
 
kishy said:
Ahem - I'm one of those keyboard nuts from Geekhack.org.
Click to expand...
I know - I'm a member there too, though I mostly lurk - I found out about the place from some of your posts here!

Thought that you'd see this and pitch in a few thoughts... I'm FAR from an expert on wiring up the Term keyboards for modern use.
 
It hard to say what it is from the photograph. Originally "3270" family terminals for s/370 and its siblings had keyboards with "PF" on the function keys, and "5250" family terminals for S/36,S/38,AS/400 had "F" on the function keys, but as others have said this style of keyboard was also used I Think on the AT/3270. There should be a model number on a label underneath. One other difference in the keytops is that on the six keys above the cursor keys to the right of they main key board a 3270 will have PA1,PA2 and PA3, the 5250 doesn't have these keys.

I have no idea if any particular keyboard can be used with a PC..
 
Thanks for all the replies! So my question was not that simple...
This is the only picture I have, I've seen is for sale. 40 euro's.

But I don't know if I can use it. So it's better to
let it go. And it's also not cheap I think...

Regards an thanks.
Roland
 
IMHO: 40 euros is a bit high for this, given that they exist by the thousands, but as with anything value does vary by region.

As for differences between different terminal types, the only difference that I have found (through research and consultation with people who know this stuff, and hands-on experience with the keyboards) is the actual keycaps and legends printed on them. The keyboards send the same scancodes between each other; the only reason for the different part number is for the different keycaps (whether it be for a different terminal type or a different language variant)

This is the later style of these keyboards; it's part of the "Model M" family of keyboards.
There were earlier versions with DIN connectors in a fatter-looking shell with both Model M and F designations and corresponding differences internally.
 
Now we're into an area I know about. much more than I do about early PCs etc. The keyboard here is a terminal emulation board. Without modification, it's pretty useless. It just won't work as a standard IBM model M. The folks ag geekhack can tell you how to modify this keyboard so you can use it in place of a standard Model M.

I love the model M. In fact, I use it exclusively, even on my newest home built Windows 7 machine.


Hope this helps.


Roland Huisman said:
Hello!

I was wondering, what is this for model keyboard?
Was it used for payment systems? Does anyone know it?

View attachment 10110

Regards, Roland
Click to expand...
 
Terminal emulation keyboards have native PS/2 connectivity without the aforementioned protocol oddities. Physically, they are the same keyboard, just with different caps and minor controller differences. They are only "emulation" in the sense that emulation software makes use of the extra keys; in a non-emulation environment it's just a PS/2 keyboard with a bunch of extra scan codes for you to map as you see fit.

This is a terminal keyboard (no emulation at all; it plugs into an actual terminal).
 
I stand corrected. I don't know why I inserted emulation. Probably because I was also thinking of another thread I'm working with.



kishy said:
Terminal emulation keyboards have native PS/2 connectivity without the aforementioned protocol oddities. Physically, they are the same keyboard, just with different caps and minor controller differences. They are only "emulation" in the sense that emulation software makes use of the extra keys; in a non-emulation environment it's just a PS/2 keyboard with a bunch of extra scan codes for you to map as you see fit.

This is a terminal keyboard (no emulation at all; it plugs into an actual terminal).
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top