Model H USB Controller Upgrade (IBM Model M)
Model H USB Controller Upgrade (IBM Model M)
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Thanks to QMK, the keyboard is fully programmable. It ships with a DFU-style bootloader, which can be programmed over USB.
Features
- Non-destructive upgrade - just swap the boards
- Native USB (with type B connector), no adapter required
- Doesn't require original controller
- STM32 ARM Processor @ 72MHz with 64kb flash
- Remappable keys (using QMK configurator)
- Uses open source QMK firmware
- Lower power (50 mA typical)
- Genuine "TE Connectivity Trio-mate" connectors, as used on the original Model M
- Model H QMK Firmware Source
Includes
Compatibility
Created by John Hawthorn
Customer Reviews
In total i ordered 3 Model H's with KeeBD, all working as it was intended to be.
Shipping was very fast, coming from Australia it takes some time to come to Europe though.
All good, will definitely order again as i have this Model M restoring fetish :-)
I purchased the Model H for my IBM Model M keyboard and, after a little back and forth and a bad USB hub, it's works great! Man did I miss those old buckling springs.
I don't live in Australia, so from the moment the item was shipped (very quickly), until I got to the point of installing it (right now), about 3 months have passed...
Tip: 5.5mm hex socket driver that is narrow enough to go through the keyboard's mounting screws holes are not easy to find in some countries.
Replacing the older board with this one seemed to be trivial at first but then I noticed that my keyboard only has 8 connectors in one of the cables, whereas as the board's has 12 (see attached photo)... so, should I connect my cable to the right or to the left?
I gambled on the left and, when I connected it to my laptop (via USB), its plug-and-play automatically identified it and configured Windows (10) for it. But... when I started typing letters (a, s, d, f, etc.), only spaces and tabs resulted in the editor.
I then had the hunch of "maybe I need to reboot or power off my laptop completely"... I turned off my laptop, waited a few seconds, powered it on and, sure enough, my IBM Model M keyboard works beautifully over USB.
Thank you to whoever came up with this product.
I ordered my Model H Board with shipping to Germany. It was actually in the country within one week, however DHL and customs took another two weeks before I could pick it up. I didn't have to pay customs or taxes, but the package had to be checked for its contents by the office. Since there was no extra cost and KEEBD themselves shipped really fast, I am very satisfied with the international shipping.
Now for the board itself, it arrived nicely packaged and preflashed with QMK. Since I wanted to do some custom mappings and preffered VIAL, I took the prebuilt VIAL firmware from GitHub (jberclaz/modelh).
Everything works as expected, all parts just fit well and I can now happily use my reprogrammable Model M.
As a sidenote:
To flash the board, you need to press the reset button after connecting USB and use dfu-util, so it's best to reflash it before putting it into the Model M case. If it's in DFU mode, the LED besides the reset button will blink continously.
If dfu-util shows 3 entries with the --list option, you need to specify '-a 2' as a parameter. DO NOT USE -a 1 or -a 0, otherwise the device will stop to boot and needs to be reflashed quickly after hitting reset.
This is indeed an excellent upgrade. It makes your Model M compatible with the latest connectivity standards. It’s also programmable. Installation is very easy and there is a 3D printed holder replacement. It works with both membrane types - old IBM with three connector and newer Lexmark with two connectors.
