Thinkpads Forum

I got hold of one of these amazing keyboards from university surplus and am planning to use it with my T60. I read here that these older keyboards need more power than what an USB port can supply.

Another relevant factor is that the older technology used on the IBM keyboard's controller PCB requires more power to operate than newer keyboards. The IBM draws around 112mA from the interface, whilst a modern keyboard draws 1.2mA. These figures are with the 3 status LEDs (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock) off. Each of these draw around 12mA when lit on both keyboards.

Do any of you guys use the IBM model M with your thinkpad? What kind of adapter do you use? Will I absolutely need the adapter mentioned in the below link?

http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cf ... /id/131781

gator wrote:I got hold of one of these amazing keyboards from university surplus and am planning to use it with my T60. I read here that these older keyboards need more power than what an USB port can supply.

Another relevant factor is that the older technology used on the IBM keyboard's controller PCB requires more power to operate than newer keyboards. The IBM draws around 112mA from the interface, whilst a modern keyboard draws 1.2mA. These figures are with the 3 status LEDs (NumLock, CapsLock, ScrollLock) off. Each of these draw around 12mA when lit on both keyboards.

Do any of you guys use the IBM model M with your thinkpad? What kind of adapter do you use? Will I absolutely need the adapter mentioned in the below link?

http://www.clickykeyboards.com/index.cf ... /id/131781

I have a huge collection of these things but have never used one with a laptop except for a couple of weeks when I used my old T42 on a docking station because my desktop died (actually, I killed it). The docking station has a proper PS2 port so that doesn't count.

I do not think that using a Model M keyboard with a laptop presents any different challenges than using a Model M with any computer that lacks a PS2 port, and where a USB converter must be used.

It is true that not all PS2 to USB converters will work with Model M type keyboards, but many will. I wish I could tell you which would and which wouldn't. I seem to recall that I have bought 3 different ones and 2 worked when tested; none were labelled specifically to work with Model M keyboards, they were generic converters.

Here's what I'd suggest. Call Unicomp which is found at this web address: www.pckeyboard.com (toll free #800-777-4886)

When IBM got rid of their keyboard division they offloaded it onto Lexmark, who in turn spun it off (to employees, I think) as "Unicomp." These are the same people (or at least what is left of them) who manufactured the Model M and who now manufacture essentially the same keyboards under their own label, Unicomp. They used to sell USB adapters but I can't find any on their webpage at the moment. I'm sure that if you call them they will tell you which ones will work and which ones won't, and then you can go find the cheapest one you can get that will work.

For those interested, you used to be able to buy these things, New Old Stock, on ebay for $10 but now they are hard to find and expensive. The Unicomp ones are very good and for those longing for a good external keyboard, these can't be beat.

I hooked up a model M type keyboard to a ThinkPad 600E that has a single PS/2 port. It required a Y-adapter splitter cable to work. This is a cable for plugging a PS/2 mouse and a PS/2 keyboard into a single PS/2 laptop port. FYI, you do not need to plug a mouse into the other jack of the Y-adapter splitter cable.

I imagine you will run likely run into the same problem if you use a PS/2 to USB adapter. You might find that you still need the Y-adapter splitter cable for it to work. There are others here with much more experience in this area that may have something else to say.

People who collect these keyboards tend to be a little weird. There are a number of websites out there extolling the virtues of these keyboards. This is probably my favorite for its sheer weirdness:

http://www.3m3718.com/modelm.php

Don't forget to click on some of this fellow's other links, many of which are found off to the left of this page.


This fellow (Dan I surmise) did a review of the Model M some years back:

http://209.173.241.53/ibmkeyboard.htm

Thats a good link, Ken. Thanks for sharing.