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#1 2018-01-01 15:15:25
- PowerBookGuy
- Member
- Registered: 2018-01-01
- Posts: 1
Vintage PowerBook keyboard and trackball interface???
Hi, noob here...
I want to take a PowerBook keyboard and trackball and make it USB. Has anyone ever done this?
My goal is to gut my old, broken PowerBook 145b and replace the insides with a Raspberry Pi, but I want to maintain the original form factor, with a usable keyboard and trackball.
Thanks,
Dan
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#2 2018-01-05 12:46:22
- LCGuy
- Administrator
- From: Sydney, Australia
- Registered: 2014-05-13
- Posts: 837
Re: Vintage PowerBook keyboard and trackball interface???
The trackball connects via ADB (though good luck figuring out the pinout of the ribbon cable), so in theory you could connect it via USB using either an iMate or USB BusBoy.
The keyboard also connects via ADB, however from what I understand that happens on the logic board. PowerBook keyboards are little more than a key matrix. However, if you were able to figure out the pinouts and develop your own controller, theoretically its possible.
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