What this means in practice is that the PC88 itself does the key reading. In fact, the PC-8000 (and earliest PC-8800s) had hardwired keyboards.
It only has a 4MHz Z80 your average keyboard controller from the late 80s (such as the Amiga’s 6502-based MOS 6570-36) has way more beef than the main processor! I guess NEC decided that since they were the sole source of the keyboards, they might as well just build them as cheaply as possible.
However, the PC8000, the PC88’s ancestor, is from late 1979. This keeps the pins down, and the extra microcontroller added to the keyboard isn’t that big of a deal in the long run, price-wise.
For a keyboard like you would see on an Amiga, a Macintosh or a PS/2-equipped IBM PC, the keyboard and the computer usually communicate bidirectionally over a serial protocol. Same developer as above, with C++ source code.Īs stated here, the PC-88 keyboard is not like normal keyboards.
Type-C through Type-G also exist and also seem to be compatible with all FH+ machines.It appears that all-non-B keyboards can be toggled via an on-board switch to work with the VA, which probably changes the serial protocol or something.There are some details on the serial protocol and the revised keycode table, but this article won’t go into it because if you have an FH+, I’m very jealous. On the “post-FH” PC-88, the keyboard connection moves to a serial bus and a 5-pin mini-DIN connector.Things are further complicated by the fact that there are apparently multiple PC-88 keyboards, with incompatible connectors: What’s more, its keyboards seem to be prized by mechanical-keyboard aficionados for having Alps switches, so there are probably thousands of them in some guy’s closet next to some Symbolics “space cadet” Lisp-machine keyboards. There were lots of PC98 keyboards for sale, and I got quite a few of those, but the PC88 is becoming thin on the ground. When I was shopping, there were almost no PC88 keyboards available. I’d be happier just getting the computer to work (not least, because as a non-SR mkII, there are very few games I can enjoy on it anyway). It also has a lot of trash, but neither of these things are interesting to me right now. If all goes well, I will soon be the owner of an NEC PC-8801mkII “Model 30.” The platform is famous in Japan, as later models of the PC88 featured a ton of independent games, including many from developers who would go on to create games that were popular worldwide (Thexder, Snatcher and Ys all got their start on this platform). (Part 1 - Research) Tags:Ĭomputer pc88 pc8801mkii keyboard nec retrochallenge retrochallenge-april-2018 Building a keyboard adapter for the early PC8801.