Help with RiscPC keyboard stop working

[Martin Taylor]

Hi good people my RiscPC wont work with any keyboard i put on it PS2 (nothing no flash of led) or even an acorn keyboard (which when first pluged in it does flash the leds) but then nothing.... is this an easy fix ?? can it be fixed?

the machine boots and the mouse and everything works great just no bloody keyboard and help would be great

Thank you
Martin

[Brian Howlett]

Not 100% certain, but I think there's a fuse that protects the PS/2 slot
on the RPC m/board, which may have blown.

You can download drawings (but not the TRM) from down the bottom of this
page:

<http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/Manuals/Manuals.html>

7MB download, in .PDF format.

Or more likely, someone with a better memory than me might confirm my
memory, or lack thereof...
--
Brian Howlett - Email to From: address deleted unseen
-----------------------------------------------------
This .sig deliberately left blank...

[Martin Taylor]

Hi Brian thank you for your input but if i read this right and from what i have read further that the mouse and the keyboard share the same fuse and i have checked that fuse and its good plus the mouse works ...... not sure what is going on with it just no matter what keyboard i throw at it just wont work not even holding the R key down while powering on does nothing i have checked the voltage to the socket and it is getting voltage.


Thank You

Martin

[Tim Hill]

In article <6269fdf2-82a1-4856...@googlegroups.com>,
Martin Taylor <mtaylo...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Snip]

> ...... not sure what is going on with it just no matter what keyboard i
> throw at it just wont work not even holding the R key down while
> powering on does nothing i have checked the voltage to the socket and
> it is getting voltage.

CJE was 'bragging' at the show last weekend that he's obtained new cables
with plugs on them for Acorn keyboards. A break in one of those cables
could explain your problem.

--

Tim Hill
Webmaster, https://timil.com

websites : php : RISC OS

[Martin Taylor]

Well i just ordered a new dedicated ps2 keyboard because i have always used ps2 to usb adaptor ... so maybe the adaptor has gone bad i get the new keyboard tomorrow so will will see if that helps any.

[Steve Fryatt]

On 29 Apr, Tim Hill wrote in message
<5924ee...@invalid.org.uk>:

> CJE was 'bragging' at the show last weekend that he's obtained new cables
> with plugs on them for Acorn keyboards. A break in one of those cables
> could explain your problem.

I thought it was mice they had cables for -- unlike keyboards, they're not
standard because Acorn did (mostly) their own thing with the connections and
plugs. That said, I didn't follow the talks in close detail, so might have
missed the keyboard bit.

--
Steve Fryatt - Leeds, England

http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/

[Tim Hill]

In article <mpro.qscg9h01...@stevefryatt.org.uk>, Steve Fryatt

<ne...@stevefryatt.org.uk> wrote:
> On 29 Apr, Tim Hill wrote in message <5924ee...@invalid.org.uk>:

> > CJE was 'bragging' at the show last weekend that he's obtained new
> > cables with plugs on them for Acorn keyboards. A break in one of
> > those cables could explain your problem.

> I thought it was mice they had cables for -- unlike keyboards, they're
> not standard because Acorn did (mostly) their own thing with the
> connections and plugs. That said, I didn't follow the talks in close
> detail, so might have missed the keyboard bit.

Oh, you could be right about them being mouse cables. Mea culpa.

[Kevin Wells]

In message <f0dd7ef7-ce80-4c3f...@googlegroups.com>

As a tempory solution you could use my virtual keyboard called vkeyboard
from:

http://kevsoft.co.uk/

At least you will be able to type on the computer.

--
Kev Wells
http://kevsoft.co.uk/ https://ko-fi.com/kevsoft
carpe cervisium
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep

[Martin Taylor]

Thank you Kevin i downloaded it and its a good stop gap for now until i find out what the issue is


Thank you
Martin

[Martin Taylor]

Yay!!!! i got it working i had a broken track which i thought i had repaired correctly after battery leak but just redone all the traces and its back up keyboard is working, thank you to everyone and Kevin i will be leaving your app on there and set to load on boot just in case i have this issue again once again thanks people .


Thank You
Martin

[Harriet Bazley]

On 30 Apr 2021 as I do recall,
Martin Taylor wrote:

[snip]

> Yay!!!! i got it working i had a broken track which i thought i had
> repaired correctly after battery leak but just redone all the traces
> and its back up

Hurrah!


--
Harriet Bazley == Loyaulte me lie ==

It is better to be deceived by a friend, than to suspect him.

[Chris Evans (CJE/4D)]

In article <227eff32-eae0-4ba0...@googlegroups.com>,

Glad it's sorted.

Not heard of that fault before. I didn't think any keyboard tracks were
anywhere near the battery! Can you explain where the track was?
Board mk 1, 2 or 3?


Chris Evans

--

****** IGEPv5: The fastest RISC OS computer so far! *******
------------ http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/igepv5 ------------
CJE Micro's 'Raspberry Pi & RISC OS Specialists'
Tel: +44 (0)1903 523222
ch...@cjemicros.co.uk http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/
Unit 16 Arunside Ind. Est., Fort Road, Littlehampton, W.Sussex BN17 7QU

Don't let the urgent things in life, crowd out the important things!

[Martin Taylor]

hi Chris, its a mk 1 board, I have no idea where the keyboard tracks run if i am honest .... i reflowed the solder on the components around (c172 which i had to trace and solder to nearest point) seen they suffered the worse from the battery leak, i also reflowed the cmos chip and a couple others that was showing dry solder joint so maybe it was one of them that made it work...i am sorry i cannot be more clear on what it was that fixed it i am just happy it is fixed.....i was stuck on what to do and had nothing to loose even if it had broke the cmos i could have always replaced it i just want to try and get my trusted RiscPC back up and running.... it was a really odd one because the port had power just no keyboard would do anything but give a flicker of the leds when first turned on, I know by todays standards its outdated and i do have a Pi4 running riscos but i do love my RiscPC, i like all my acorns from the BBC and a420/1 , A3010, A4000 to the RiscPC, my children laugh when the hear the A420/1 spin up the ST506 HDD. Sorry for ranting lol


Thank You
Martin

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <mpro.qscg9h01...@stevefryatt.org.uk>,
Steve Fryatt <ne...@stevefryatt.org.uk> wrote:

> On 29 Apr, Tim Hill wrote in message
> <5924ee...@invalid.org.uk>:

> > CJE was 'bragging' at the show last weekend that he's obtained new cables
> > with plugs on them for Acorn keyboards. A break in one of those cables
> > could explain your problem.

> I thought it was mice they had cables for -- unlike keyboards, they're not
> standard because Acorn did (mostly) their own thing with the connections and
> plugs. That said, I didn't follow the talks in close detail, so might have
> missed the keyboard bit.

Pretty certain this Acorn keyboard is standard PS2?, as it works straight
into an older PC that has PS2 inputs. But a PS2 mouse needs an adaptor to
work with the RPC.

--
*There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't.

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[charles]

In article <5925819...@davenoise.co.uk>, Dave Plowman (News)

<da...@davenoise.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <mpro.qscg9h01...@stevefryatt.org.uk>, Steve Fryatt
> <ne...@stevefryatt.org.uk> wrote:
> > On 29 Apr, Tim Hill wrote in message <5924ee...@invalid.org.uk>:

> > > CJE was 'bragging' at the show last weekend that he's obtained new
> > > cables with plugs on them for Acorn keyboards. A break in one of
> > > those cables could explain your problem.

> > I thought it was mice they had cables for -- unlike keyboards, they're
> > not standard because Acorn did (mostly) their own thing with the
> > connections and plugs. That said, I didn't follow the talks in close
> > detail, so might have missed the keyboard bit.

> Pretty certain this Acorn keyboard is standard PS2?, as it works straight
> into an older PC that has PS2 inputs. But a PS2 mouse needs an adaptor to
> work with the RPC.

I bought a 'standard' PS2 keyboad to use with my RPC. works perfectly.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

[Steve Fryatt]

On 1 May, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
<5925819...@davenoise.co.uk>:

> In article <mpro.qscg9h01...@stevefryatt.org.uk>,
> Steve Fryatt <ne...@stevefryatt.org.uk> wrote:
>
> > I thought it was mice they had cables for -- unlike keyboards, they're
> > not standard because Acorn did (mostly) their own thing with the
> > connections and plugs.
>

> Pretty certain this Acorn keyboard is standard PS2?,

It is. That's what I wrote: RiscPC keyboards were standard PS2, whilst the
mice were not.

So CJE have mouse cables, as they use am uncommon 9-pin Mini-DIN connector.
There's probably limited benefit in doing keyboards, because replacement
cables and keyboards are still easy to come by (indeed, most USB keyboards
will be PS2 if you don't answer their USB comms on boot-up, I think).

[Chris Evans (CJE/4D)]

In article <5958d928-839b-48da...@googlegroups.com>,

Martin Taylor <URL:mailto:mtaylo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Friday, 30 April 2021 at 17:29:44 UTC+1, Chris Evans (CJE/4D) wrote:
> > In article <227eff32-eae0-4ba0...@googlegroups.com>,
> > Martin Taylor <URL:mailto:mtaylo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Friday, 30 April 2021 at 15:50:47 UTC+1, Martin Taylor wrote:
> > > > On Friday, 30 April 2021 at 15:45:23 UTC+1, Kevin Wells wrote:
> > > > > In message <f0dd7ef7-ce80-4c3f...@googlegroups.com>
> > > > > Martin Taylor <mtaylo...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > > Yay!!!! i got it working i had a broken track which i thought i had repaired
> > > correctly after battery leak but just redone all the traces and its back up
> > > keyboard is working, thank you to everyone and Kevin i will be leaving your
> > > app on there and set to load on boot just in case i have this issue again
> > > once again thanks people .
> > Glad it's sorted.
> >
> > Not heard of that fault before. I didn't think any keyboard tracks were
> > anywhere near the battery! Can you explain where the track was?
> > Board mk 1, 2 or 3?
>

> hi Chris, its a mk 1 board, I have no idea where the keyboard tracks run if
> i am honest .... i reflowed the solder on the components around (c172 which
> i had to trace and solder to nearest point) seen they suffered the worse
> from the battery leak, i also reflowed the cmos chip and a couple others
> that was showing dry solder joint so maybe it was one of them that made it
> work...i am sorry i cannot be more clear on what it was that fixed it i am
> just happy it is fixed.....i was stuck on what to do and had nothing to
> loose even if it had broke the cmos i could have always replaced it i just
> want to try and get my trusted RiscPC back up and running.... it was a
> really odd one because the port had power just no keyboard would do anything
> but give a flicker of the leds when first turned on, I know by todays
> standards its outdated and i do have a Pi4 running riscos but i do love my
> RiscPC, i like all my acorns from the BBC and a420/1 , A3010, A4000 to the
> RiscPC, my children laugh when the hear the A420/1 spin up the ST506 HDD.
> Sorry for ranting lol

Thanks for the info