Laptop's internal keyboard as an external one?

laptop usb keyboard ps2

106,001

Solution 1

Doing some research, it turns out that laptop keyboards dont have the controller circuit. They are just the keys with the contacts, and that ribbon cable connects those contacts to the controller circuits which is inside the laptop.
So there is no way to convert that ribbon cable alone to a PS/2 interface. You need first the controller circuit, and only then you can think about converting it to a PS/2 plug.

And depending on how the keyboard's wire matrix is, the ribbon cable will have more or less contacts which match those on the controller. So you either need the exact same controller for the keyboard you want, or you can get a controller from a spare keyboard and manage to rewire the connections to the controller so they match correctly.

Solution 2

Here is a solution to enable laptop bottom case keyboards as USB keyboards using a Teensy microcontroller. The author has tested a wide variety of keyboard models, including Dell Inspiron, HP Presario, Sony Vaio, and IBM / Lenovo ThinkPad.

A typical laptop keyboard relies on the motherboard for the scanning circuitry. I use a Teensy microcontroller mounted on a connector board to take over this function.

https://hackaday.com/2018/12/04/teensy-liberates-the-thinkpad-keyboard/

Frank Adams liked the keyboard on his Lenovo ThinkPad T61 so much that he decided to design an adapter so he could use it over USB with the Teensy microcontroller. He got the Trackpoint working, and along the way managed to add support for a number of other laptop boards as well. Before you know it, he had a full-blown open source project on his hands.

Links for this project:

Solution 3

There are controller circuits that will convert a laptop keyboard to usb, i'm currently using one. I'm not sure where you can get them but they obviously exist. They are used to create keyboards for tablets.

Laptop keyboard to usb

Solution 4

I tracked down and purchased the mystery board shown in the answer above.

The keyboard within the tablet case connects via ribbon cable to this PCB, which converts the laptop keyboard to micro USB.

It came from the TA_Keyboard_9inKBCase_GPCT240 tablet keyboard case. This case is notable for having the "ZZZ" key, which you should look for if buying from a random website.

This is available on Amazon and eBay, etc., under titles similar to:

9" Carrying Case Tablet Stand With Keyboard & Stylus For 9" Tablets

The board is labeled GL-NBK14-HY. The ribbon is labeled YT-K07 WJT-261. Tablet keyboard case labeled GPCT240. Item number is possibly 223228583400.

Happy to share, as the shipping label says:

We don't believe in secrets, so feel free to tell all your friends about us!

I have not yet done any testing with other laptop ribbon cables plugged into this board. Would love to see any research done, especially on if it works with any ThinkPad laptop keyboards!

Solution 5

You just have to ask for it and a good computer shop will simply order it from their distributor.

Here is a catalog of most Acer Laptop Keyboards, please note that this is not a store but rather an extensive catalog, they share the same product code/name as the manufacturers/distributors.

To make the process easier, look for a product code at the bottom of your laptop keyboard.

This keyboard on icecat is compatible with Aspire 4736G/4736Z Series, product code: KB.INT00.261.

Instructions from the service guide hosted on icecat:

(Remove power connector and power first!)

View more solutions

106,001

Author by

GetFree

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

GetFree over 1 year

Firstly, let me say that I've never seen how a laptop's internal keyboard interface with the motherboard. Hence the question.

The thing is I use an external keyboard and monitor, but I like how internal keyboards are, and I simply can't find a decent external keyboard that makes me happy.

So it just occurred to me if it could be possible to interface an internal keyboard through USB or PS/2, so I could use it as an external one... and so I could be happy once and for all.

Followup:
If anyone wants to know, I ended up buying this keyboard which has a key-layout exactly like a laptop's. It hasn't the touch feel of a real laptop's keyboard (it's noisier), but that was the best I could find at that time.
- jcrawfordor almost 13 years
  
  In laptops, the keyboard controller circuitry is located on-motherboard, so the keyboard connects directly with a matrix cable. While there's no technical reason why someone couldn't make a USB controller suitable for laptop keyboards, I'm not aware of any company that does so.
- Tamara Wijsman almost 13 years
  
  @jcrawfordor: Typing on the flat table might not be so handy with a laptop keyboard...
- user about 10 years
  
  I wish a kickstarter comes around with a laptop keyboard (like Thinkpad's) that is NOT compact & integrates touchpad.
GetFree over 13 years

Another thing I like about laptop keyboards is that they don't have the numpad. That thing just takes space.
MadBoy almost 13 years

Extensive walk thru +1
Pacerier almost 13 years

erm why did this answer gets 11 votes when it is off-topic to the question?
Pacerier almost 13 years

i don't want a replacement keyboard. I want a keyboard that is a twin of the keyboard i currently have (the one stuck into my laptop) that is pluggable into the USB port
Pacerier almost 13 years

i don't want a replacement keyboard. so you mean those USB keyboards that are exact look-aliks as the replacement keyboards are not in the market?
Tamara Wijsman almost 13 years

@Pacerier: Because I answered on your original question which did not clearly state that. Writing the wrong questions gets you the wrong answers, it's not our fault given that multiple users did it this way. There is no way to remove this mess just because you changed the intention over time. To answer your adjusted question: You can look into USB keyboard of the same producer, they would most likely share the qualities of the laptop keyboard. But no, they don't usually make the exact same keyboard...
Pacerier almost 13 years

ok btw the first link is broken..
Mokubai almost 13 years

@Pacerier, my real link (amazon.co.uk/Keysonic-Wireless-Keyboard-Integrated-Frequenc‌y/dp/…) is being "fixed" automatically by the site, the "true" link works, the replacement one doesn't.
Pacerier almost 13 years

what do you mean by spill-resistent? keyboards can't possibly be water-resistant right?
Daniel R Hicks almost 13 years

I tried several years back to find a nice "compact" keyboard, similar to a laptop keyboard. 99% of the keyboards on the market are clones of the "AT" keyboard, with keypad and loads of extra keys. I did find a couple that were compact, but they had screwy key layouts. Unicomp, the outfit that bought out Lexmark's keyboard biz, and which had a nice assortment of keyboards at one time, was apparently sold to another outfit that has milked it as a cash cow for several years. They still nominally exist, but advertise no compact keyboards other than a wireless one with a flaky layout.
Tamara Wijsman over 12 years

@nhinkle: Given the time spent in this answer and the people that have up-voted it, can you somehow revive the original question (the first revision) under the context of an anonymous user and solely migrate my answer back? It feels out of context here, but to just delete it feels weird given that it wasn't wrong in the first place...
nhinkle over 12 years

@Tom unfortunately, migrations are not reversible by moderators. You would have to ask a Stack Exchange dev to do it. It seems your answer wasn't even fully relevant to the original question. Perhaps it would be better if you created a new question about it and did a self-answer, jeopardy style? I can ask a dev about migrating it, but I don't know how possible/worthwhile that is.
Tamara Wijsman over 12 years

@nhinkle: This is the original question. He is asking for a separately sold laptop keyboard, which is commonly known as a replacement keyboard. He didn't specify whatsoever that it should've been used in an external manner. It was fully relevant until he changed the intention after it had been answered; so, the original question wasn't even a duplicate of this question. Can't you ask a dev in the Teacher Room what's best to do in this case? If you really want, I can place a Jeopardy Q tomorrow...
nhinkle over 12 years

I know that the question's scope changed; regardless, it doesn't really do anybody any good to migrate it back, and I don't think it's worth bothering a dev about - it takes time, would require manual editing of the database, and doesn't really add much of anything. Why not just write a Community FAQ about how to replace a laptop's keyboard, and call it a day? Your answer is basically just a copied picture anyways, which is useful, but nothing you can't easily adapt to a new post.
UpTheCreek about 12 years

I'm pretty sure it's not PS2. PS2 only requires 4 wires...
UpTheCreek almost 12 years

I don't understand why this answer is here...
Tamara Wijsman almost 12 years

@UpTheCreek: Because a moderator migrated it from a more specific question to a more general one, which shouldn't have happened. I've had 11 upvotes there and wish to retain that, the only solution here is to bring back the original state. This is left over from one question to rule them all (see also). But as we know, no one size fits all! (see Jeff's words)
Tamara Wijsman almost 12 years

Furthermore, this image or its information is not easily findable on Google; it's extracted from their service manual which you also need to know how to find. This expertise is worth its points. Answers should only be deleted if they were invalid before the migration, if you have to delete them after the migration then it just means that the migration shouldn't have happened...
UpTheCreek almost 12 years

@TomWijsman - it looks like a good answer :) Just not the one I was expecting to this question - almost unrelated! (I don't understand why it was moved)
GetFree over 8 years

Where did you get the one you are using?
Moab over 7 years

Link is Dead, this is why link only answers are not good, sweet keyboard by the way, seems to be several variations over the years...... amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-TrackPoint/dp/…
joelittlejohn over 7 years

I've searched Google, Ebay, Amazon etc. I can't find anything like this amazing mystery device. @matt-kingston where did this come from?
Dixit Patel about 7 years

@matt where did u get this one that u are using.please share link.
PeterM over 6 years

Oh, those devices with black drop of plastic doing magic are just so great...
Casper over 5 years

This is a classic case of XKCD DenverCoder9: xkcd.com/979 . This post is the answer, but Matt Kingston was last seen in 2015.
pkamb over 5 years

@GetFree This appears to be similar to the controller from the USB keyboard/case disassembled in the video here: youtu.be/AKWheG8wKxM?t=216 - Found via Daniel Suey's recent answer below.
pkamb over 5 years

Thank you for posting! This definitely seems to be the mystery board shown in the answer above: superuser.com/a/990231/122042
pkamb almost 5 years

I purchased one of these and posted all details in an answer below.
mercury0114 over 2 years

Are internal keyboards connected through some internal USB, just like external keyboards are plugged into external USB slot?
Chenmunka over 2 years

This adds nothing to the existing answers.