I can’t seem to find that product, or is it not visible yet?
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I just ordered the Mini M and have good soldering skills. Would love to purchase this or any future mods to try. Doesn’t seem like the store link is working
I’ve just impulse ordered a Mini M and I’m interested in leveraging this design to make my own (but with an ATSAMD21 instead of the Blue Pill for supply chain and personal preference reasons.) I have found two photos of the original control board online (one from here and another from sharktastica) and I think I’ve managed to replicate the original controller layout pretty accurately using the 100mil pin spacing as reference.
That being said, there are some inconsitencies between my GIMP-fu measurement extraction and the files on GitHub (the alignment pins on the USB side come out to about 24.25mm / 955mil spacing). Does anyone here have the time and patience to double-check my measurements with a pair of calipers? My goal is to build a board that is neary indistinguishable from the CY8C24993-based one that Unicomp ships and to maybe get QMK working for the ATSAMD21.
edit: I will also be putting an OLED screen connector on my board as an option to replace the LED cluster. It’s definitely a down-the-road feature, but I’m the kind of person that wants to see mic/speaker status without a screen overlay.
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@wendell I just pulled the GitHub stuff for the M-Start stuff and tried to build the code there with the latest QMK. Only unhappy results. It looks like a bunch of the stuff in the repo needs updating. Since I’m in the mode of learning “all things QMK” if I get it building I’ll send an MR. I presume that there is still some life to this effort.
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Yep. Qmk has a util to help bring it forward. Waiting on a batch of pcbs from China
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Super interested in buying this kit!
My Mini Model M’s controller probably just died, so I’d love to replace it with your completed controller when it releases (I don’t want to risk soldering on my own). Eagerly awaiting news of a release 
I bought a Mini M just yesterday and I am extremely interested in buying this kit. I can’t solder to save my life so I’ll wait for the completely built one
I would love to be able to buy something like a universal controller for my New Model M that I have coming in the mail and perhaps a PC122, if they ever get back in stock. Soldering skills arent great but I’ve done it before and im confident enough to do through-hole and maybe some surface-mount soldering. I cant remember if you mentioned it in the video but support for a solenoid would be REALLY fun.
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I would LOVE to have a solenoid attachment / mod for the SSK even if it needed to be separately powered.
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Love the project. @wendell Working through the gitlab, what does the select 0 1 2 3, led 0 1 2, row 8 9 10, jumper section do?
Different model Ms handle LEDs internally differently. And at 3.3v or 5v (mostly 5v except for some field repairs). And model 122 instead of the last 4 being LeDs it’s additional wires for the matrix.
So that’s some hax to have one pcb configurable for a ll that. Most of the ones I’ve made I just solder it how I need it based in the board im nodding.
Very cool Project, Hopefully it’s still ongoing for ye olde IBM Model M.
Not strictly on topic but another board this could work well in is the DELL AT101/102 boards, they have alps switches but a full PCB so they switches can easily be changed along with the controller and even rewired. (or even a new PCB made up for cherry switches).
Have recently got a '87 Model M to restore, hope to get one of the unicomp new style soon to do this with, a black one would be nice.
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My Unicomp Model M acts up and stops responding no matter what PC or USB cable I’ve used… Even disabled USB power savings, sleep, etc., no matter… Keys stop responding. Waiting for the Model M Keyboard controller kit to appear in the Level1tech store… I’m very patient. I like the feel of a buckling spring keyboards. Would be a shame to have to toss this Model M or just use it for spare parts…
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I ordred a model M mini from Unicomp, they had them in stock, should be here next week. Then I found your video on the controller. My background was electronics in the Navy, turned open source and linux in the 90’s. I will say I miss my old model M and wanted a new one. Looking at this project, has it gone anywhere? I cloned the repo and am poking at the board files, although I’ve never had a pc board made, I thought hey, I should just order a batch of these boards. I was going to hold off until I see where this project is going. I’d be in it for a kit, a bare board and a parts list from digikey or something in between. I noticed it wasn’t in the store yet. Any ETA on availability?
Thanks,
Mark
I have a few bare boards I can mail you if you want to help test. My goal was to make them to where I can just get a batch on jclpcb populated and drop on an stm32 and be done, basically.
its pretty easy to compile qmk and the like. Really I would like some testers before Id drop 5k on pcbs and put them on the store.
There are a couple loose ends to do with support for various incarnations of the model m – I have some undocumented variants in the basement I haven’t dissected yet.
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I’d be down to test them. I do not have a classic model M, but I have been looking out for one. I ordered the M mini, called them today to see the lead time as their website said it’d be a month or so. He said they had the black/grey key ones ready to ship. I should have that in my hands by next week. What do you need for the boards, and do you have a parts list? I ordered some blue pill stm32 dev boards from initeq. Were you guys able to find some zif headers for the ribbon cables, or are you just using friction headers?
friction headers. I did not have good luck with zif headers at all :-
the friction headers arent bad if youre careful but it really is on the order of 10-20 insertions for the lifetime.
there is a parts list but it will mostly just be passives, usb header connector, etc. I might have what we need.
Let me know what I need to do. I just hopped on the discord.
Mini M showed up yesterday. Love the feel, and size. I have already experienced a sleep problem where I had to unplug/replug, it’s done this a couple times now when I walked away for a bit. Outside of that, the build quality is nice, and it feels great to type on.
Looks like firmware version 7.57?? Here’s lsub.
Bus 005 Device 006: ID 17f6:1862 Unicomp, Inc U AP1_4_87k_Kbrd_v7_57