Thinkpad keyboard to USB

Thinkpad keyboard to USB

3 devlogs
55m
Created by WheeledCord

A PCB to allow a Thinkpad laptop keyboard to be used as a USB external keyboard.

Timeline

It's technically the next day since its like 2am right now. I've spent way to much time on this project. Anyways, I think I've got a really good PCB layout, though I cannot figure out how to wire/route it. I am actually so awful at wiring PCBs it's actually not funny. I'll try and get the auto-router to do it, but I don't think it cant figure out the vias. Maybe when the sun is up I'll get my friend (who actually knows what he's doing) to help me out.

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My time looks much lower because hacktime wasn't tracking because I use wayland. I SWEAR I SPENT LIKE 6 HOURS ON THIS:
I started with the main johnson. The Teensy 4.0. It's a beast for its size, and good for what I'm doing. I wired in USB D+/D− lines from the connector on the left (J6), passing through a protection diode (D12), V from USB routed to the Teensy’s VIN pin (via J6 as well), and a reset circuit with a 100K pull-up on the reset line (R11) and 2.2 µF cap (C1).

For power distribution and don’t-talk-to-each-other circuitry I used 0.1 µF decoupling caps (C3–C6) near VCC pins and 2.2 µF caps (C1, C2) for big energy social distancing. Also capacitors too.

The keyboard connector (J4, AA01B-S040) takes all the row/col lines straight to GPIOs. I tried to keep it neat. GPIOs 0–31 cover the matrix, plus pull-ups where needed.

TrackPoint was a bit trickier. It uses a 3.3V PS/2-style interface. The Teensy runs at 3.3V logic, and so does the TrackPoint, but I wasn’t 100% sure at first. To be safe, I added four BSS138 MOSFETs (Q1–Q4) with pull-up resistors (R3–R10) to handle level shifting between the TrackPoint clock/data lines and the Teensy. It’s probably overkill, but it doesn’t hurt. There’s also a header (J10) to break out the TrackPoint lines for debugging.

J2 is a soft power switch connected to a GPIO, and R1/R2 (715 Ω) are current-limiting resistors for the indicator LEDs.

Anyways, It's been like 6 hours of research and making this, and I'm ready to hit the sack. I'll work on the PCB tomorrow.

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Laura Laura about 1 month ago
Man, respect.

A little backstory:
I’ve always wanted to build one of those cyberdeck-y computers. the ones you see on reddit, crammed into a Pelican case. Problem is, most of the cool ones either skimp on the keyboard or use a generic 60% board. That’s fine for typing… if you’re a minimalist. But I need arrow keys, function keys, a proper Esc key, short enough keys to close the lid, while still being full size, and preferably something that doesn’t require me to lug around a mouse. If only there was a perfect keyboard with all those feats... Well there is! It is on the thinkpad T61. It’s compact, clicky, has a built in TrackPoint (the little red nipple thing you can use for a mouse), and it’s probably the best laptop keyboard ever made. One problem. It doesnt use USB. It uses some arcane ribbon cable protocol only Lenovo/IBM’s old motherboards understand.

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