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You know this will end up in some power plant or military facility to get another 30 years out of something that works and no one wants to deal with. Very cool

You know this will end up in some power plant or military facility to get another 30 years out of something that works and no one wants to deal with. Very cool project.

ranger_danger 2y ago
USB to PS2/serial adapters and converters have existed for decades though.
- AnotherGoodName 2y ago
  Those typically aren’t what they seem. They are dumb socket wiring adapters and the peripheral itself needs to support both usb and ps2 for it work. Those peripherals are really rare now (they were around for the usb changeover).
  - teruakohatu 2y ago
    While there are passive adapters for late model PS2 keyboards, there are also cheap active adapters utilising the CEC CSC0101A. https://www.micros.com.pl/mediaserver/info-uicsc0101a-s16.pdf https://www.micros.com.pl/mediaserver/info-uicsc0101a-s16.pd... But they are not as compatible as the open source one being developed. Edit: I got it the wrong way around, see wolrah below.
    - wolrah 2y ago
      > there are also cheap active adapters utilising the CEC CSC0101A "The CEC CSC0101A is an integral micro-controller for converting PS/2 interface signal to USB applications" That's the other way around, for which adapters have been widely available since the dawn of USB. Adapters like the subject of this thread allowing modern USB HIDs to be connected to older computers are much harder to find. I remember at one point seeing one advertised in a CDW catalog, but just that statement alone should date it.
      - teruakohatu 2y ago
        I indeed got it the wrong way around!
  - userbinator 2y ago
    There are active adapters around: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Active_USB_to_PS2_Adatper_(keyboard%2Bmouse).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Active_USB_to_PS2_Ad... But they aren't cheap. I hope open-source projects like this one will result in them being cheaply available on AliExpress and the like.
  - SkyPuncher 2y ago
    No, there are active adapters as well. I use to be into RC flight. Back then, the controllers could plug into a PC via a serial port. I had to buy an active adapter to use it since I didn't have a PC with a serial port, anymore.
    - AnotherGoodName 2y ago
      Note the above is going from usb peripheral to serial port on the pc with no drivers. USB to serial adapter are a dime a dozen but they do the opposite of this. The usb side is on the pc which has drivers to handle a lot of the complexity.
- cruffle_duffle 2y ago
  Man to go off topic I remember the days when USB was new and all those USB keyboards never seemed to work right “at boot”. Sure they worked okay once you got into windows but the BIOS didn’t seem to accept them. For a few years the most reliable way to use a USB keyboard was through a PS/2 adapter that plugged into the motherboard. I remember there was quite some time where USB keyboards came with PS/2 adapters and sometimes even a pigtail to go to whatever that bigger round jack was called (a DIN connector?)

You know this will end up in some power plant or military facility to get another 30 years out of something that works and no one wants to deal with. Very cool project.

ranger_danger 2y ago

USB to PS2/serial adapters and converters have existed for decades though.

AnotherGoodName 2y ago
Those typically aren’t what they seem. They are dumb socket wiring adapters and the peripheral itself needs to support both usb and ps2 for it work. Those peripherals are really rare now (they were around for the usb changeover).
- teruakohatu 2y ago
  While there are passive adapters for late model PS2 keyboards, there are also cheap active adapters utilising the CEC CSC0101A. https://www.micros.com.pl/mediaserver/info-uicsc0101a-s16.pdf https://www.micros.com.pl/mediaserver/info-uicsc0101a-s16.pd... But they are not as compatible as the open source one being developed. Edit: I got it the wrong way around, see wolrah below.
  - wolrah 2y ago
    > there are also cheap active adapters utilising the CEC CSC0101A "The CEC CSC0101A is an integral micro-controller for converting PS/2 interface signal to USB applications" That's the other way around, for which adapters have been widely available since the dawn of USB. Adapters like the subject of this thread allowing modern USB HIDs to be connected to older computers are much harder to find. I remember at one point seeing one advertised in a CDW catalog, but just that statement alone should date it.
    - teruakohatu 2y ago
      I indeed got it the wrong way around!
- userbinator 2y ago
  There are active adapters around: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Active_USB_to_PS2_Adatper_(keyboard%2Bmouse).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Active_USB_to_PS2_Ad... But they aren't cheap. I hope open-source projects like this one will result in them being cheaply available on AliExpress and the like.
- SkyPuncher 2y ago
  No, there are active adapters as well. I use to be into RC flight. Back then, the controllers could plug into a PC via a serial port. I had to buy an active adapter to use it since I didn't have a PC with a serial port, anymore.
  - AnotherGoodName 2y ago
    Note the above is going from usb peripheral to serial port on the pc with no drivers. USB to serial adapter are a dime a dozen but they do the opposite of this. The usb side is on the pc which has drivers to handle a lot of the complexity.
cruffle_duffle 2y ago
Man to go off topic I remember the days when USB was new and all those USB keyboards never seemed to work right “at boot”. Sure they worked okay once you got into windows but the BIOS didn’t seem to accept them. For a few years the most reliable way to use a USB keyboard was through a PS/2 adapter that plugged into the motherboard. I remember there was quite some time where USB keyboards came with PS/2 adapters and sometimes even a pigtail to go to whatever that bigger round jack was called (a DIN connector?)