converter/news_usb/README.md

   1 Sony NEWS keyboard converter
   2 ============================
   3 Sony NEWS is a BSD workstation with 68K/MIPS released in 1987 in Japan.
   4
   5 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_NEWS
   6 - https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/2-12.html#block3
   7
   8 This converter allows NEWS keyboard to be connected to modern PC via USB. It works with NWP-5461 and NWP-411A.
   9
  10 How DIP switches work is unknown and you may need to turn all switches off with this converter.
  11
  12 Limitations:
  13 - Speaker/Buzzer is not supported.
  14 - LEDs on NWP-5461 is not supported.
  15
  16 Pics:
  17 - http://imgur.com/a/JyMzw
  18
  19 Discussion:
  20 - https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=25759
  21
  22
  23
  24 Protocol
  25 --------
  26 NEWS keyboard protocol is a usual asynchronous serial communication. You can receive data from the keyboard easily with UART of micro controller.
  27
  28 - TTL level
  29 - 9600bps
  30 - 1-start bit
  31 - 8-data bit
  32 - non-parity
  33 - 1-stop bit.
  34
  35 Its scan code is one byte consists of 1-bit release(break) flag at MSB and 7-bit code.
  36 For example 0x29 is sent when 'a' key is pressed and 0xA9 when released.
  37
  38    MSB         LSB
  39     7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0   bit
  40     | | | | | | | |
  41     | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-- scan code(00-7F)
  42     +---------------- break flag: sets when released
  43
  44
  45 Scan Codes
  46 ----------
  47 ### NWP-5461
  48
  49     ,---.   ,------------------------, ,------------------------. ,---------.
  50     |Pow|   | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | F5 | | F6 | F7 | F8 | F9 | F10| | F11| F12| ,-----------.
  51     `---'   `------------------------' `------------------------' `---------' |  *|  /|  +|
  52     ,-------------------------------------------------------------. ,---. ,---------------|
  53     |Esc|  1|  2|  3|  4|  5|  6|  7|  8|  9|  0|  -|  =|  \|  BS | |Hlp| |  7|  8|  9|  -|
  54     |-------------------------------------------------------------| |---| |---------------|
  55     |Tab  |  Q|  W|  E|  R|  T|  Y|  U|  I|  O|  P|  [|  ]|Del|   | |Ins| |  4|  5|  6|  ,|
  56     |---------------------------------------------------------'   | |---| |---------------|
  57     |Ctrl  |  A|  S|  D|  F|  G|  H|  J|  K|  L|  ;|  '|  `|Return| |Clr| |  1|  2|  3|   |
  58     |-------------------------------------------------------------| |---| |-----------|Ent|
  59     |Shift   |  Z|  X|  C|  V|  B|  N|  M|  ,|  ,|  /|   |Shift   | |PgU| |  0|  .| Up|   |
  60     |-------------------------------------------------------------| |---| |---------------|
  61     |Alt  |Gui |Alt |         Space     |          |Gui|App|Ctrl  | |PgD| |Tab|Lef|Dow|Rig|
  62     `-------------------------------------------------------------' `---' `---------------'
  63
  64     ,---.   ,------------------------, ,------------------------. ,---------.
  65     | 7A|   | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 0A | | 68 | 69 | ,-----------.
  66     `---'   `------------------------' `------------------------' `---------' | 64| 65| 52|
  67     ,-------------------------------------------------------------. ,---. ,---------------|
  68     | 0B| 0C| 0D| 0E| 0F| 10| 11| 12| 13| 14| 15| 16| 17| 18|  19 | | 6A| | 4B| 4C| 4D| 4E|
  69     |-------------------------------------------------------------| |---| |---------------|
  70     |  1A | 1B| 1C| 1D| 1E| 1F| 20| 21| 22| 23| 24| 25| 26| 27|   | | 6B| | 4F| 50| 51| 56|
  71     |---------------------------------------------------------'   | |---| |---------------|
  72     |  28  | 29| 2A| 2B| 2C| 2D| 2E| 2F| 30| 31| 32| 33| 34|  35  | | 6C| | 53| 54| 55|   |
  73     |-------------------------------------------------------------| |---| |-----------| 5A|
  74     |  36    | 37| 38| 39| 3A| 3B| 3C| 3D| 3E| 3F| 40| 41|   42   | | 6D| | 57| 59| 58|   |
  75     |-------------------------------------------------------------| |---| |---------------|
  76     | 43  | 44 | 45 |       46          |    47    | 48| 49|  4A  | | 6E| | 66| 5B| 5C| 5D|
  77     `-------------------------------------------------------------' `---' `---------------'
  78
  79
  80
  81 Pinouts
  82 -------
  83 ### NWP-5461
  84
  85      -------------
  86      \ 1 2 3 x 5 /
  87       \ 6 7 8 9 /
  88        ---------
  89     1 VCC
  90     2 BZ(Speaker)
  91     3 Keyboard Data(from keyboard MCU TxD)
  92     4 NC
  93     5 GND
  94     6 Keyboard Command?(to MCU RxD via two schmitt triggers of Z8 74LS14)
  95     7 Mouse Data(from Mouse Ext connector)
  96     8 Power switch(directly to the switch via diode)
  97     9 FG
  98
  99 I have three NWP-5461s and GND and FG is connected in one of them for some reason.
 100 - Serial No.14178(EH0100 5 04 04 0173) GND and FG is not tied.
 101 - Serial No.14580(EH0100 5 09 12 0211) GND and FG is not tied.
 102 - Serial No.17458(EH0100 7 09 08 0104) GND and FG is not tied.
 103
 104
 105 ### NWP-411A
 106
 107     -------------
 108     \ 1 2 3 x 5 /
 109      \ x 7 x 9 /
 110       ---------
 111     1 VCC
 112     2 BZ(Speaker)
 113     3 Keyboard Data(from keyboard MCU TxD)
 114     4 NC
 115     5 GND
 116     6 NC
 117     7 Mouse Data(from Mouse Ext connector)
 118     8 NC
 119     9 FG
 120     NOTE: These are just from my guess and not confirmed.