adapter needed for old keyboard with round connector

how many pins does it have?

There are the ps/2 connectors(mini-din) and older din 5 pin

both are round.
 
It sounds like you're trying to connect an old mechanical keyboard to a new machine, depending on the age of the keyboard, you'll need a PS/2 to USB adapter, you may need a AT to PS/2 adapter if the keyboard is older and has the full sized DIN plug on it for AT compatible machines, if your keyboard is really really old and was intended for IB XT class and clone machines you will have to buy a more expensive XT to USB adapter.
 
Something like this?

[Linked Image]
 
I hit the lottery finding an old black new in box IBM mechanical keyboard at a VOA store for $3. Bought an adapter at Microcenter.
https://www.microcenter.com/product/303624/qvs-usb-20-(type-a)-male-to-mini-din-(ps-2)-for-keyboard-and-mouse-adaptor-cable-1-ft---beige

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]
 
I find that new workstation-class HP and Dell keyboards are fine. Of course, for sentimental reasons, I still keep old clickers from IBM, SUN, Silicon Graphics and HP. But I am not looking for them anymore.

Apple also had excellent hardware in apst.
 
If it's an IBM Model M, the cord plugs into the keyboard via a telephone-type plug.

Unicomp(owner of the current rights/tooling to the Model M) says that PS/2 type keyboards can't be converted to USB, but there are USB cables on Ebay that will plug directly into a Model M.

I have a few older PS/2 model Ms, including some late 80s/early 90s manufacture IBMs and one special edition Unicomp that I like getting out when the occasion warrants it. I run all of them via a PS/2 to USB adapter that was maybe $10 at Office Depot. I've quit using those mostly since getting my Spacesaver M from Unicomp(a buckling spring Model M with Mac-specific keys and USB) but still have them around.

That will work for most any PS/2 native keyboard.

For older Apple ADB keyboards(small 4 pin connector that looks like an S-Video plug on your TV...it looks like that because that's what it is) the only option I know of is the Griffin iMate. I use one on my Mac Pro at home to connect an old Apple Extended keyboard(orange Alps) to it.

If it's anything other than AT, PS/2, or ADB, good luck. Some manufacturers used proprietary interfaces. Looking around my office, I have a Sun UltraSparc with a 5C keyboard(not a terribly great keyboard IMO, although some people seem to like it) that looks like PS/2 but is proprietary. Similarly, I also have a Silicon Graphics KB with an Iris Indigo that's quite nice with Alps switches(cream) but is also proprietary(my newer SGIs-the Octane and O2-are standard PS/2 and the keyboards are pretty uninspiring and similar to about any other late 90s rubber dome). A few other proprietary ones off the top of my head are the ones for early Apple compacts that use a cable with the same plugs as a telephone handset cable but are wired differently-those have a nice key feel, but are angled steeply and are uncomfortable to me. I bought a Tandy 1000TX a while back, and had to fight to get the keyboard with it-that's a decent enough board, but more importantly even though it looks like an AT connector it's not compatible.
 
Back
Top