Keyboard oh shit moments ?

andrewjoy · 10 Dec 2014, 16:33

reason i don't like it is simple transfer of knowladge. if you follow instructions for the OS you are running in this case centos ( arch does not work so well under hyper-v

) then even if the internal documentation gets lost or is none existent its easy to follow

the main thing i was pointing out is yeh don't open internal webpages to your home ip

Halvar · 10 Dec 2014, 19:27

This is also the kind of thing people do "just for today for testing xyz" and then forget to remove ...

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 15:27

I'm not happy about this one:

: IMG_1743.JPG (604.2 KiB) Viewed 15878 times

There was meant to be an Mµ cap in there, you thieving bastards Royal Mail! Sure, go sifting through our letters for coins and such (they love to take those) but if it's no use to you put it back the fuck in!!

seebart · 13 Mar 2015, 15:29

they stole your Mµ cap?

SOB´s!

Tossed in thievery frustration.

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 15:31

It'll be in the trash at a postal centre somewhere… PROOF THERE IS NO DEITY!! I demand thunder and a plague, A PLAGUE!!!

seebart · 13 Mar 2015, 15:33

your likely to find another one though. They are not really rare.

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 15:34

I know. But around these parts they are.

Guess I should convince my other brother to live in Germany. That would be highly convenient now that I think about it…

andrewjoy · 13 Mar 2015, 15:35

assholes

and if it was from overseas they would have changed you for the privilege.

I despise royal mail there service is terrible.

I think we should keep a royal mail postman in the basement of Deskthority towers for random beatings

seebart · 13 Mar 2015, 15:36

no states is the better keyboard location overall. We do have a lot of Cherry´s available here though.

What about private mail carriers? Just as bad?

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 15:41

My opinions about Parcelforce are well known…

http://deskthority.net/search.php?keywo ... mit=Search

Besides them, the private carriers are mostly okay. Royal Mail itself is… uh… expensive, slow, unreliable and more than just occasionally thieving… but no worse than you'd expect of a privatised legal monopoly! Aie…

Anyway: here's the lesson kids. Use bubblemailers. Even for just one cap! The thieves prey on paper envelopes with a bulge in them.

guk · 13 Mar 2015, 15:48

Unfortunately I already shipped the nmb caps yesterday, I'm certain I have some 1/!/µ keys laying around.

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 15:51

There'll be a next time! I'm always up to something. This was a buckling spring cap, incidentally. All my Fs and Ms are naked! So to speak…

andrewjoy · 13 Mar 2015, 15:52

do DPD to bubble mailers , i have had nothing but good experiences with them in home and professional dealings

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 16:03

Royal Mail has a legal monopoly on all mail under a certain weight. It's literally against the law for other carriers to compete. Because democracy!

This was shitty but understandable when Royal Mail was a bumbling incompetent publicly owned service. But they're big boys now, all privatised as I remember, so their lasting privilege is sheer corruption.

seebart · 13 Mar 2015, 16:07

Muirium wrote: Royal Mail has a legal monopoly on all mail under a certain weight. It's literally against the law for other carriers to compete. Because democracy!

This was shitty but understandable when Royal Mail was a bumbling incompetent publicly owned service. But they're big boys now, all privatised as I remember, so their lasting privilege is sheer corruption.

Similair situation in Germany. Deutsche Post has the monopoly by ancient laws.

Muirium · 13 Mar 2015, 16:12

Mmm… ancient laws.

I was misled. Should have taken up a career in regulation.

DanielT · 15 Mar 2015, 10:13

Muirium wrote: I'm not happy about this one:

IMG_1743.JPG
There was meant to be an Mµ cap in there, you thieving bastards Royal Mail! Sure, go sifting through our letters for coins and such (they love to take those) but if it's no use to you put it back the fuck in!!

Those bastards! I prefer Romanian Post, they never steal, they just lose stuff, I can live with a lost package but receiving an opened and empty one it cuts the cake....
Once a guy from US sent me a bubble mailer where he forgot to stick the envelope lip, it traveled half across the world opened and nothing got lost, the envelope still had that protection slip over the glue...
As from now Royal Post is the worst service.
Maybe this is why I try and pack it well so that it's always hard to open the package without total damage of the packaging.
When I will ship your stuff I will make sure it's bullet proof

Stabilized · 15 Mar 2015, 13:57

My oh shit moment was when I was working on a bolt mod on an IBM Model M last week.

I was happily tightening up all the bolts on the other side of the metal plate (got about half way through), when I suddenly had an urge to check the stabilizer/spring alignment with the keycaps (even though I did this before putting the bolts in).

Turns out that I have mixed up the spring and stabilizer on the ISO return key! D'oh!

Anyone who has bolt modded knows how long it takes, and especially when you don't have a nut driver — using an adjustable spanner to hold the nuts still when screwing in the bolt. I gave up after this (for the time being), I don't think I am going to bother attempting it again before I pick up the appropriate nut driver (takes far too long with the spanner).

Muirium · 15 Mar 2015, 15:03

Ancient ninja trick:

(Search terms so I can find this easier in future: IBM stabiliser insert removal q-tip cotton bud.)

@DanielT: Thanks. I always appreciate good packaging! I've only seen theft from bare paper envelopes with obvious bulges in them like this, but there's always a first time.

Stabilized · 15 Mar 2015, 19:00

Cool, thanks for the tip

For the enter key there are two sliders underneath it, one with nothing in it (where there should be a spring there) and one that has a spring (where there shouldn't be one); is there a way to swap the spring over without having to take the whole thing apart? Hopefully there is an applicable ancient Ninja trick for this one

Muirium · 15 Mar 2015, 19:10

Good point. There is the "chopstick method" for removing and installing springs. But you need to have a flipper (or hammer or whatever we're calling them) already in place down inside the barrel. The chopstick trick (I actually use a whittled matchstick) is an excellent shortcut for swapping out bent old springs, but it won't work for you here.

Get yer spinner!

andrewjoy · 15 Mar 2015, 19:22

I use a cut down precision screwdriver to do that

If you can tell me where that magnet on the side of it is from I will be very impressed. I will give you a clue its computer related.

Muirium · 15 Mar 2015, 19:50

MacBook lid?

chzel · 15 Mar 2015, 19:55

Could pretty much be from any laptop screen!
I have an LG X110 netbook here with two of those! And they work wonders!

andrewjoy · 15 Mar 2015, 20:02

Muirium wrote: MacBook lid?

correct

the white 06 i have had 2 of them each side , i took one out each side to stop it cracking the keyboard again

scottc · 15 Mar 2015, 20:05

Hey andrewjoy, what's that keyboard? Are they Cherry caps? They look quite nice!

Muirium · 15 Mar 2015, 20:07

Hmm, I have one of those 2006 MacBooks lying about, recently retired. Easy job to whip them out?

I'd like my rMBP's display to be a bit less forceful as well, not because of damage but because I can't open the screen one handed, always have to hold the base of the machine once the screen's just high enough up to slip a finger in. But that's all about hinge friction rather than the magnets.

One thing I envy the MacBook Airs for: that silky smooth single finger friendly screen opening of theirs. But those non Retina, non IPS screens look better when they're off!

andrewjoy · 15 Mar 2015, 20:09

its a northgate omnikey Ultra T

http://www.northgate-keyboard-repair.com/UltraT.jpg

Alps white

Mu, just need to un-click the bezle around the monitor and pull them out they are glued in

scottc · 15 Mar 2015, 20:14

andrewjoy wrote: its a northgate omnikey Ultra T

http://www.northgate-keyboard-repair.com/UltraT.jpg

Alps white

Nice, thanks!

alh84001 · 13 Aug 2016, 18:32

I went on to completely disassemble the omnikey 101, including PCB and plate. All but one of the bolts holding the PCB and plate together were clean and were easily unscrewed. I thought that using soldering iron I would easily clean the solder from the last one and unscrew it. Not so:

I used some metal tools to try and cut it on the side. I only succeeded in cutting some traces. Luckily there is still continuity on the pins these traces connect. However, I am still stuck with trying to get this bolt off. Any suggestions?