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Theo  writes:

> Daniel  wrote:
>> This past summer was a good time to lower the power bill and overall
>> temperature of the den by transitioning to rpi's for my computing
>> needs. The main pc was replaced by a pi400. Lovely, silent, low
>> power. Lovely.
>>
>> Well, mostly so. I really don't like the keyboard and question why they
>> went with it. The full sized keyboard is something I miss, you know,
>> with the full row of function keys, dedicated number pad, full sized
>> arrows, the pageup.down,insert,delete cluster. The keys themselves suck
>> - where they often fail to register key presses and I have to fix
>> spelling quite often. I had hoped that the keys would wear in and solve
>> the problem, but it really just seems to be bad design. Hopes are it's
>> simply bad luck and a bad keyboard.
>>
>> The problem is easy to solve by plugging in a usb keyboard, but it
>> defeats the appeal and purpose of the all-in-one design.
>>
>> How hard would it be to rig the mobo into a full size keyboard shell?
>> Design a new lower shell of a chosen keyboard to accomodate the mobo and
>> port holes for 3d printing. A search online didn't yield evidence that
>> it has been done yet. But if this thing with it's massive heat sync can
>> fit in this small keyboard, it shouldn't have issues fitting in  full
>> sized keybord.
>
> https://forum.diyperks.com/user-projects/raspberry-pi-400-x-me
hanical-keyboard/
> https://www.printables.com/model/318803-raspberry-pi-400-mecha
ical-keyboard-upgrade
> https://hackaday.io/project/175844-the-mechanical-pi-400
> https://www.tomshardware.com/news/orthopi-raspberry-pi-400-ortholinear-mod

I didn't htink of searching for the keyboards, I actually searched for
'homebrew raspberry pi 400.' They are a good start.

Honestly, I'm not necessarily looking for mechanical keyboards. I've
used only membrane keyboards my adult life and, well, my wife often naps
on my den couch while I'm typing along and I think a clicky clacky keyboard
would end that habit. I rather enjoy when she naps in there with me.

I would focus this project mainly on a mass produced full sized keyboard
with a decent sized bottom tray that can be hacked to hold the pi400 mobo.

>
> are a few examples I found by searching 'rpi 400 mechanical keyboard'.
> There are no doubt others.
>
>> Found a teardown video and saw a custom ribbon cable utilized to connect
>> the keyboard to the mobo - so that's a complication. After a bit of
>> searching, they utilized one of the four usb ports in the hub for the
>> keyboard logic.
>
> The keyboard has a Holtek HT45R0072 (one time programmed) microcontroller to
> convert the matrix to USB.  Your options are either to repurpose this
> microcontroller, at which point you need to match the keyboard matrix of the
> Pi400 (hard):
> https://www.40percent.club/2020/12/orthopi.html

I read the same thing - and it would be a pain in the butt since that
microcontroller is, like you said, one time programmed so it's static.

> or just ignore it and use a USB port.  Another alternative is to cut the
> traces to the Holtek (or unsolder it) and use its USB lines:
> https://www.40percent.club/2020/11/raspberry-pi-400-keyboard-controller.html

This is exactly the information I was looking for. With good documentation, I
surmise I could solder in some wires onto the USB lines and hack in a USB
female. If I were to use a wired USB keyboard, I could cut the wire
short, rewire the male usb port, and plug it into the female one I hack
in. That way, if I want to replace the keyboard with something new, it
would require no new soldering.

Or I could make it permanent by cutting the wire short and solder them
into the board. I have some reading to do.

I saw the orange pi 800, which I hadn't heard of before. I considered
buying it instead but it's way more expensive and the keyboard looks
just as junky. And 4gb of ram shut me down.

Thanks for the info.

Daniel

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