convert AT keyboard to PS2

[moorehed]

i'm not quite sure if this is highly technical or not, if not feel free to move it wherever.

i have an AT keyboard, i cut off the connector. i now have 4 (red, yellow, brown, grey) wires.

i also have cut off the end of a ps2 mouse, so i have the ps2 connector, with its own 4 wires (orange, green, blue, white).

any idea what i should connect to what to make my AT keyboard interface to ps2? or will this note even work. i'm assuming since normally you can just stick a little converter on the end (which i do not have) and since they are both 4 wires that this should work......

 

[capybara]

yeah, ive got one of those AT -> ps2 adapters, so im sure itll work, the wire order seems to be the same on both,
starting from the key, imho, but i havent tried it, so .....

 

[DeRusto]

Almost sounds like a guessing game to me😉

You could probably find some sort of documentation online as to what colors possibly would be used for the same thing..I'm not entirely sure, but hey..thats what Google is for, right?🙂

 

[kpb]

To do this with out frying your motherboard I would recommend finding the pin outs for an at and ps connector on the web someplace. Shouldn't be too hard to find with google. Then test both the ends you cut off, you still have those right, and map a color to a connector. Data +5v etc. I had a ps2 keyboard that had a broken pin and i did a simular thing to just connect it up to the extension cord that the pin had broken off in. Been working fine for several years like that just gotta be sure you don't connect the wrong wires or you could definitely fry something.

 

[Peter]

too late ... but there are keyboard adapters available for $3 to $9 depending on where you buy them, either way round, for old AT keyboards on new computers, as well as for new keyboards on old machines.

 

[alkemyst]

PS/2 Keyboard Connector 5pin-DIN
pin assignment
1 +KBD data
2 Reserved
3 Ground
4 +5 Vdc
5 +KBD clk
6 Reserved
Shield Frame ground

PS/2 Mouse/6pin DIN
[Thanks to Ian Wilson <ian@wilsoni.demon.co.uk>]
pin assignment
1 Data
2 Not Connected
3 Signal Ground
4 +5 VDC
5 CLock
6 Not Connected
Shield Frame ground

 

[Evadman]

I did something like this at work. all the "computers" were actually HP 40/600 ( IIRC ) terminals that used a keyboard with a phone jack connector. I found out that work was being charged almost $90 for one of these keyboards ( when I broke one ) so I brought in an AT one I had, cut off the ends, and just experemented with the wires to get them to work. It took a while, but I figured out the order. then I used my entire AT keyboard collection ( like 15 of 'em ) and cut them up and gace them to the computer room.

I should probably go back and get them since they fired me.

According to my math, I saved them over a grand.

even with all the mismatching, I never had any adverce affects with crossing wires. Well, besides the fact that the cord was about 2' long on the test keyboard 🙂