[rescue] Sun USB keyboards/mice?

[Micah R Ledbetter]

On Sep 12, 2007, at 18:48, Curious George wrote:

> I've got a Tatung box that is *some* sort of
> Sun clone (it wants to call itself a Blade 1000
> but I doubt that!  :<  Physically about the
> same size as a U10 but heavy as lead!!).  Sounds
> like a jet aircraft when you power it up...

How many processors and how fast? Sun made quite a few "OEM boards",  
which may or may not have come with processors. I have no knowledge  
of anything that claims to be a Blade 1000, though, so I'd be  
interested in hearing about yours.

> Unfortunately, it uses a USB keyboard (whereas
> all my other Sun boxen use the "old fashioned"
> Sun serial keyboard/mouse).
>
> Does such a beast exist?  Or, did Tatung do
> "something different", here?

Definitely. I have one; it was like $10 on CraigsList. Any PC USB  
keyboard and mouse will work, though. Blade 100 machines and later  
all use USB exclusively. A Sun USB keyboard sends the same signals as  
the PC ones for all the "normal" keys; however, it has a number of  
Sun-specific keys, and Caps Lock has been relegated to its proper  
place in the world, if indeed it has one.

> For the time being, I borrow the keyboard from
> my SGI VW320 when I need to "talk" to the
> Tatung box.  But, this is a bit annoying since
> the USB connectors on each of the machines are
> at the rear and both are sitting on the floor
> *under* my work table (and I'm getting too old
> to be crawling around on my hands and knees!  :< )

You need what's known as a KVM :). I bought a cool four-port USB 
+sound one from IOGear's eBay store, a refurb for $80, which was $40  
off new.

  - Micah