Keyboard struggles
5 messages in this thread
Anyone:
I have been fairly successful using the Northgate OmniKey 102 with my Amiga.
However, after talking with Northgate tech, I am still trying to figure out
what I need to do when first bootng up the Amiga. It takes several minutes to
get the keyboard to work. I know I have got it when the CAp LOCKS light goes
on. But the problem is, it seems to be a different set of keystroke
combinations to get that darn little light on! I am really at a loss as to
whats happening . Anyone with any ideas?
thanks, dave fisher
Your "… when first bootng up the Amiga. It takes several minutes to get the
keyboard to work" reminds me of a similar problem I had recently. With my
original keyboard.
I had slightly ruined the 8520 in charge of my A2000's parallel port. (Just
enough to make the output of one pin erratic so I frequently got wrong
letters–and worse, wrong control codes–when I tried to print.)
Believing (incorrectly) that 8520s were no longer available, I bought an old
A1000 and used the 8520s in it. Both gave the same results: I could print
fine, but it took anywhere from three to 15 minutes for the keyboard to become
operable! In the meantime, if I had a shell activated, it might choose a
letter display and just keep typing shellsful of it, over and over. A couple of
times, the mouse indicator arrow "fell" to the bottom or left marging of the
screen.
A really new 8520 fixed everything up. That probably wouldn't help you, but
how come you're using the Northgate keyboard?
Bart Mathias
BART,
I am using a Northgate keyboard because my old A2000 keyboard is getting
shakey, and I really like the 'feel' of a Northgate keyboard. The keys have
poisitive tactile feedbak (they click) and it is easier to type. (it doesnt
help my typos however) The Northgate has a ROM inside that I need to set up
some how, and the company tech guys I've talked to don;t know what to try, but
I have had some success by hitting 'shift-alt" as the computer is booting. That
seems to set up the keys…
thanks, dave fisher
Dave,
which Northgate do you have, and what is the problem? I have one here and
aside from setting the dip switches, I haven't done anything hardware-wise. If
you want to activate the extra keys, you need a custom keymap, since AmigaDOS
knows nothing about the extra scancodes. Download NRTGAT.LZH from lib 8 and
have a look. The only problem with it is that the only way to change the
keycodes is to change the source code included with it and recompile using an
assembler. I set mine up for generating Emacs commands, but you can do almost
anything with them.
Brian J. Bartlett
"Build a better mousetrap, you'll catch a better mouse."
Brian:
I will check that. I wasn't aware of such a file here. I love the keybaord,
it's like typing on an IBM. The problem I have is only with my GForce 040/33
Mhz Amiga 2000, as I am now typing with my 'back-up' GForce 030/25 machine, and
I had no problems whatsoever. I guess the 040 is too fast? Any ideas on that ?
Thanks for your help, and I will download that file.
thanks, Dave Fisher