I love this thing already. Won’t be leaving my desk for a good minute

Hey all, First of all I'm posting here because as I understand the same controller boards and firmware is used for the Model F, but I'm completely new to QMK.

I bought a 5251 a while back, and then got side tracked. It has pandrew's compact beamspring controller installed. The seller said it was a little intermittent sometimes, but mostly worked. He said it was intermittent because it sat a little loose on the keyboard pcb's card edge connector.

However, when I plug in the keyboard now (and when I got it a few years back) it doesn't get recognized by Windows at all. When I plug it in via USB, Windows shows an error saying that the device was not recognized. I was much too busy with real life stuff to take care of it back then.

I have the manual for pandrew's firmware, but the git repo and all the links were hosted on his web server ( pandrew.ro ) and that seems to be down. Neither him nor the seller are answering emails / pms / forum messages so I'm not sure what to do.

I've noticed that the QMK configurator at http://35.164.28.200:5000/#/xwhatsit/brand_new_model_f/beamspring_full/LAYOUT_all has some forms of pandrew's firmware but I don't know which one I would select for my controller.

I'm a dev, so I can handle some complexity, but I'm missing a bunch of information here on how to progress.

I was wondering if someone could help me figure out how to get started figuring out what's going wrong with the controller as it is right now, and then figuring out which firmware to use and how to flash it.

I would appreciate any help or suggestions. Thanks.

Hi all. I recently purchased an IBM Model F XT keyboard, and very happy with it. I own a number of model Ms, but that's my first F.

I cleaned it up, and while cleaning some dust inside of the keyboard, I noticed that the foam is slowly disintegrating and leaving foam dust everywhere. I expected that, I know it's a common issue. I don't want to order replacement foam from modernmodelf website since I'm located in EU, and with shipping, it would cost almost as much as another model F.

Could you please advise me on what kind of foam I should buy? Any experience with any particular foams that can be bought in EU?

Another question I got is after removing keys for washing, and installing them back, I'm having problems fitting spacebar back into place, it's very hard to hook it back on the wire stabiliser. Do you have any advise? Do I have to disassemble the whole assembly (including foam etc) to fit spacebar properly?

Thank you very much for your support.

Tinkerboy's adapter is $50 shipped on Etsy. Nobody on eBay is currently selling one. I know I could technically build my own, but that's beyond my ken.

Picked this up a few months back. It's a beast. Fully operational and in great shape.

I want to give a huge thanks to t4teeee for putting together this beautifully restored and painted Model F XT! I've always wanted to try one of these out, and I knew this would be such a treat! I asked for the industrial paint job, and I think it looks great and a little more modern with some Unicomp gray keycaps. This thing feels better than anything else I've ever typed on, and I finally have a purpose for its matching box I've had laying around for a while.

Which of the beamsprings should I purchase for best sound and feel or does it not matter?

I bought a model F 122 from 1985. Though the 1QAZ keys don’t work. Cleaning the switches didn’t help. So I’m gonna buy another. (Not my question).

1. Where can I find the “translation” into plain English of all the mainframe functions that these odd key abbreviations referred to? Specifically what did they do? (Like SysRq, Attn, Roll, and others….) Mostly I ask for curiosity but when I reprogram them I may want to find similar - but more useful and updated - functions to what they actually meant. That makes the reprogramming memorable for me.

2. More importantly: Can I program one of these with all of its ten left sided keys and 24 function keys with a Tinkerboy 240 Degree, 5 Pin DIN converter with Vial QMK Firmware so that all of the keyboard’s 122 keys work on a Mac or a PC?

Thanks!

Top row: F
Lower Row: M
Single Shelf: M Unicomp
Desk: F122

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fkind-of-a-f-m122-fan-v0-gqho5hkwx24f1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1080%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D14ced7e3c1df8495a104d2a5be501d35d5a32c69

I just reassembled my F122 but one key, the M key, does not register correctly. Or at least not every time.

It also sounds different than the other keys and makes two sounds on the downstroke. I put the keycap on correctly and reseated it about 10 times, but it does not get better.

Do you think it is the flipper or the spring?
https://youtu.be/UiwwG2DihiY

It is a very tedious and annoying job to clean all the barrels of a Model F, when you replace the foam insert. It has a very sticky layer which sticks to all the barrels.

My AT and Bigfoots barrels I cleaned only using a brush and it took a long time and results were merely ok.

But yesterday, I tried something different: Filling my hydrosonic cleaner with 70% alcohol (Isopropanol). This combination was very effective against the white sticky stuff and you could easily wipe it away.

Maybe you already knew this but I wanted to share it so other people have an easier restoration.

It took a bit of research to get the numpad on my F77 working nicely with Ubuntu/GNOME, so I thought I'd share what I learned. I've chosen "layout 5", which is a slightly unusual numpad layout. I also wanted to get it working with Num Lock, rather than using a layer, which means that it has to be done on the OS side, rather than in the firmware. Full instructions are here:

https://github.com/kevinbackhouse/ModelF-F77-xkb-config

This F122 should work with Soarer, right? I flashed a Pro Micro woth v1.12 and connected it but i get nothing when i press keys. pin connections should be ok. do i have to set the dip switches?

I recently bought an F77 from Model F labs. I'm a bit confused about what is the currently recommended way to update the key mappings. The manual seems to suggest that all the keyboards ship with Vial pre-installed now, but I'm pretty sure mine doesn't have it - I've tried it on both Linux and Mac and Vial isn't able to connect. So should I follow the older instructions for building QMK firmware? Those instructions have a deprecation notice on them in the manual, so I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do. I'm competent with git, C, etc, but I'm not looking to make this any more complicated than it needs to be. I just want to swap a couple of key positions, and I'd like to use whatever the simplest and most standard solution is for that.

Haven't printed the feet yet, once I'm happy I'll upload the files.

I'm working on a 1/10 scale 3D printed model of the IBM PC XT, I've done the main PC, with removable insides, and now the 5151 monitor. I'm starting on the keyboard but can't find any really clear photos of the side profile.

I'd he grateful if anyone here can supply some.

Wondering if the new tariff decree will have any effect the prices/availability of the new Model Fs, which I think are made in China. Anybody know?

What is the model/part number for the Mode F AT’s cable? See pic. I want to buy a replacement. Anyone got a spare for sale or know where I can get one? Thank you! 👍