Sun type 5(c) keyboards -- hardware questions.
Hello. first time poster, and all that here...
I'm in the market for a Sun Ultra 5/10. I've got some hardware questions, that I haven't found the answer too either in these forums, or on the web in general.
First, how are the Sun keyboards manufactured? Does it use a membrane switch, or a buckling spring switch , like the IBM model M?. If they use membrane switches, does anyone make an aftermarket sun keyboard that deosn't use membrane switches?
second, How hard is it to physically re-map the Sun keyboards? do the keycaps pop off like my model M, and are all of the same height, or will I be forced to use an aftermarket method such as stickers to switch the Sun keyboard to a different layout?
Thanks,
NQS
# 1
Hello.
1) Why is the type of switches of interest?
2) You can remove the keys from the switches and put them to another key (so you can for example change the "Z" and the "Y" as it is done for many european keyboards - if you mean that).
There are wires soldered in that tell the OS the keyboard layout used. These wires are described in some documents at sun.com.
But most european keyboards have two additional keys and one key missing (due to the shape of the "enter" and "backspace" keys) so simply re-mapping an US keyboard to another pre-defined layout will not be that easy (you may use a self-defined layout).
Martin
# 2
> Hello.
>
> 1) Why is the type of switches of interest?
>
I like my keyboards to "click"like http://www.modelm.org/modelhills.wav for instance. the "quiet" newer keyboards bug me. I have to keep looking to see if I actually typed a key
I found some information on key switches @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_technology
> 2) You can remove the keys from the switches and put
> them to another key (so you can for example change
> the "Z" and the "Y" as it is done for many european
> keyboards - if you mean that).
ok, but on most keyboards, those keys are differing height? are they the same height on the 5? otherwise moving them around makes the keyboard uneven
> There are wires soldered in that tell the OS the
> keyboard layout used. These wires are described in
> some documents at sun.com.
> But most european keyboards have two additional keys
> and one key missing (due to the shape of the "enter"
> and "backspace" keys) so simply re-mapping an US
> keyboard to another pre-defined layout will not be
> that easy (you may use a self-defined layout).
Ok, you have me a bit confused. Are you saying the signal sent from the keyboard is always the same, but I can use software to change the signals? That is what I am doing now. I've got a keyboard that was phyically remapped to a Dvorak layout, Then I use a Dworak keymap & xmodmap to get the "correct" results.
I haven't tried Solaris yet, but I presume I'd have to do similar to setup the keymap.
NQS
