I’ve bought an ancient IBM Model M keyboard to replace the one on my laptop. The keyboard my laptop comes with isn’t broken or anything, it’s just really naff to use with a key response that feels like typing on sponge.

This IBM keyboard is one of the “proper” keyboards Real IBM PCs used to come with. The proper buckling spring keyboards with a big lump of metal in them. Pressing each key causes a rather satisfying click. One of those keyboards you might have been getting RSI from back in 1985…

Fortunately I have one of the PS/2 versions, not the AT DIN connector ones. Unfortunately for me my laptop contains no PS/2 ports, just USB ones so off I went to buy a USB->PS/2 converter from our local computer shop. Having done some reading about this, I bought one that looked like it might contain some electronics, rather than just wiring that converts the plug into something the right shape. Supposedly these IBM keyboards draw a bit of power and aren’t USB-aware (funny that, what with USB not existing in 1985

Plugging the keyboard and USB box together produced some flashing lights and a working keyboard – in Windows (naturally) and in my PC’s BIOS (strange…). Linux however just didn’t want to know. It understood there was a new keyboard attached, but didn’t do anything with it.

I’ve spent the past two nights trying to make this work. The next few entries are what I made on the Llamasoft forum about it…