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PC200 keyboard.

primeprime
edited August 2013 in Hardware
Hi all,

I just bagged myself a mostly working UK PC200 from ebay, I say mostly working as it won't boot with the keyboard plugged into the motherboard, looks like a knackered membrane.....I know it's not the motherboard as I've plugged the keyboard from my other (Spanish) PC200 into it and it boots and works correctly.

So does anyone know where I might get a compatible membrane ? Judging by comments elsewhere the keyboard subsystem (encoder chip) is the same as the one used in the Amstrad 20x86 and 30x86, so I guess if anyone has a spare keyboard for one of those it would be worth a try.

Cheers.

Phill.
Post edited by prime on

Comments

  • John ElliottJohn Elliott
    edited August 2013
    I'd expect the membrane from a PPC512 or PPC640 to be the same electrically (given that the PC200 is pretty much a repackaged PPC512). Whether it's the same physically is another matter.
  • primeprime
    edited August 2013
    John Elliott wrote: »
    I'd expect the membrane from a PPC512 or PPC640 to be the same electrically (given that the PC200 is pretty much a repackaged PPC512). Whether it's the same physically is another matter.

    That is a good point, I have a PPC640 so I could check....mind I only have one of those :)

    Cheers.

    Phill.
  • primeprime
    edited August 2013
    It lives!

    Working on the theory, "It's broken so I can't make it any worse".
    I had a look at the membrane, and carefully pulled it apart. It seems to have the "glue" on one side anyway which is still sticky :) So I went round each contact pad with a q-tip soaked in iso-propanol and cleaned it, then carefully lined up and re-stuck the two halves.

    Net result bingo! working keyboard.

    Now to dump the roms as this machine seems to have BIOS version v1.3, which seems not to have been seen before.

    Cheers.

    Phill.
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