Does anyone here have a Gateway 2000 AnyKey keyboard in good working condition that they would sell me?

My 25 year old AnyKey is becoming erratic, playing back corrupted macros that sometimes lock up the computer requiring a reboot, and some of the keys are now sending double or even triple characters when struck.

I know that many people are not big fans of the AnyKey, but I depend very heavily on mine. Some of my macros that I use nearly every day have 40-60 keystrokes in them.

tanstaafl.

I've heard of washing out keyboards in the sink- even tried it myself once (to no avail).

Unplug, lather, rinse, dry for a day in a warm spot, plug in.

Have you tried something like that? Could buy you another few years of service.

A pencil eraser works well on the contact surfaces to clean off the contacts.

Soap and water works well for Coke incidents.

Probably that won't work in this case. The AnyKey contains a fair bit of electronics where the programmed macros are stored. In any case, the problem isn't one of intermittent contact except perhaps in the case of the keys occasionally giving double or triple letters. The problem seems to be in the electronics. A macro will go bad and print gibberish, and will repeat the same gibberish every time I play it back. If I can't come up with another AnyKey, this may be a workable solution. Not as convenient as the AnyKey, but better than nothing.

The software-only solutions I've looked at are just not feasible for me. Many, many times I program simple 5--10 keystroke macros that will only be used a few times and then discarded. The AnyKey makes that so simple: one keystroke to enter program mode, type the macro, one keystroke to exit program mode and it's done.

The software programs require me to grab the mouse, find the program icon, double-click to open the macro program, go through a menu to tell it if I am recording, erasing, or running an existing macro, record the macro, give it a name so that I can save it, assign it to a hot key, then exit the menu, close the program, and go back to the keyboard. Screw that! That's too much work to go through to record a sequence like "Down-arrow, down-arrow, ctrl-shift-right-arrow, delete, enter, page-down" that might get used 10 times in one session and then never again.

There are a very few AnyKeys for sale on eBay, being sold in "as-is" condition. I'll try and pick up a couple of them, but I'm hoping someone here will have one lovingly stored in its original box for the last 20 years or so...

tanstaafl.

It's easier than that with this keyboard. All of the contacts are on a pretty rugged Mylar sheet that I was able to just lay flat on a towel and clean with Windex and a microfiber cloth. (see photos) However, as mentioned above, the problem is probably not mechanical. Even after cleaning the contacts, the keyboard cannot be used with the macro function enabled. It becomes electronically confused, substituting "/"s for "i"s, and any random letter I type might suddenly decide that instead of "a" it is "f1#r_&htynp", and will print that same string each time I press the key. Frequently it locks up the computer, forcing me to do a power-off reboot, after which it will work normally for a few minutes.

As long as I have "Suspend Macro" activated (disabling the macro function) the keyboard works "normally", although in my eyes in a crippled fashion.

There's a guy on eBay with four AnyKeys for sale, three tested "good", one for parts only. I asked him if he'd end the auction early (no bids yet) and sell me two "good" ones plus the "parts" for about 40% more than his opening bid request. Little does he know I will pay whatever it takes... Just in the half hour I've been without my macros, it's making me crazy!

tanstaafl.

Edit: The eBay guy agreed to my offer. Well, he held out for an extra $20, but I was glad to pay it. I now have coming to me two working and one "parts" AnyKey keyboards, for not much more than twice what they cost when they were new.

In my experience, the only things that "die" in most electronics are the capacitors -- specifically the electrolytic "can" capacitors. They either dry out, or swell and burst.

Replacing them can give most items a full and healthy second life.

Sometimes other components die, but way more often than not it's the caps.

Cheers

Mmm... can you photograph the electronics bits in more detail and more sharp focus?

Thanks

For future reference (if the replacements don't work out), the Logitech G15 works this way. At least mine does, the older one with a blue LCD, and 18 macro keys. The logic isn't directly in the keyboard like the AnyKey, but it does have a dedicated record button to start and stop capture of a macro.

One other indispensable (to me, anyway) feature of the AnyKey is that I can remap any key (get it? AnyKey? ) into either a macro or another key. So that the letter "n" on my keyboard types (are you ready for this?) "n", while "ctrl+n" types "ñ". Similarly for á, é, ¿, etc. I need that stuff down here south of the border.

With four AnyKeys to work with, it's a pretty good bet I can put together one good one!

Thanks for the heads up on the Logitech G15. I'll definitely look into it.

tanstaafl.

Yes. Attached is a low-res picture to give you the idea; I have emailed the high-res version to you directly.

tanstaafl.

Nice barrel distortion there.

emails sent.

Just this week I learned about the Interrobang glyph. Wouldn't you know it, my Droid wouldn't display it.

You could map it to your fancy keyboard, though.

I'll double check after my vacation to see if the G15 allows similar. I take it your macro is really pressing ALT and whatever number sequence. Still seems weird to me Windows hasn't adopted an easier method. ñ is Option-N, N on a Mac. The first Option-N creates the tilde, then the second N confirms you wanted ñ instead of say ã (Option-N, A). May be a handy tip to pass onto SWMBO with her Mac.

The other nice thing about the AnyKey, is he can plug it into any computer in the house (or anywhere), running any O/S, and it will still do his macros correctly without any reconfiguration.

Cheers

It's an artifact produced by the stitching program -- it's actually three shots joined together. Don't know exactly what caused it, haven't had that happen before.

tanstaafl.

Here's a couple of minutes with Hugin.

Ah. good old Pertinax (resin bonded paper).

Yep, understandable this is a big potential benefit. It really surprises me that no other keyboard has built in this type of functionality after all these years.

My checking on the G15 was more to help find a suitable alternative in case the AnyKey is beyond repair. (and because my G15 is no longer in active use) Unfortunately, the macros only work on the dedicated G1-G18 macro keys, and can't be assigned to the normal 104 other keys. It does offer a total of 54 usable keys, due to there also being an M1-M3 key to swap which macros are active on the keys. The software can also switch the full set of 54 mappings per application. Just not quite as convenient as Doug's current solution though.

My AnyKey lives! I took action that I should have done right from the beginning, but didn't because the consequences are... daunting.

By keying in Ctrl-Alt-SuspndMacro, I was able to completely wipe the on-board memory in the keyboard. Then I began the task of re-entering all the information, consisting of macros, key re-mappings, repeat-key rate, etc. And these aren't simple just-type-them-in macros. Below is a sample of just one of them. I currently have (as near as I can determine) 24 macros programmed into 22 different keys (some of them do double duty with Alt or Ctrl or Shift key modifiers). It is a fair piece of work to reconstruct all of them.

Alt-T Alt-A Space Tab End Ctrl-Shift-LeftArrow Ctrl-X BkSpace
Home Ctrl-V , Space Alt-T Tab Home Ctrl-V -
Shift-End Ctrl-C Alt-U Space Tab Home Ctrl-V Space (Read by
Space End ) Alt-A Space Tab Home Ctrl-Right-Arrow
Left-Arrow(2x) Shift-End Ctrl-X Ctrl-Enter Alt-o Tab(10x) Ctrl-Enter Tab(10x)
Alt-R Ctrl-Enter Alt-M Alt-T Alt-A Space Tab End Ctrl-V
Ctrl-Enter Alt-T Alt-E Tab Down-Arrow PgDn(4x) Up-Arrow Down-Arrow

On the minute chance that anybody cares, that macro writes MP3TS tags for audio book files, changing the author name to lastname, firstname format, adding the name of the narrator, appending the track number to the title, and renaming the file in artist-album-track#-title sequence, all done by a single keystroke for a book that may contain 30 or more files. (It only works when preceded by a 61-character "prep" macro.) If that seems like a lot of work to go through just to write a tag... consider that my audio book collection now encompasses well over 36,000 separate audio files, all tagged and named with metronomic consistency.

Apparently some of the regular, non-macro designated keys had somehow become "corrupted" so that when the key was pressed, instead of typing "a" or "d" or whatever, it typed weird non-ascii stuff that locked up the computer. Completely wiping the keyboard memory also wiped the corruption. All the macros are back in now, and I have tested and verified all of them except the "top row Shift-F9" macro which adds track numbers to audio book tags in MP3TS when they are missing from the download file. (No new books have been missing the numbers.) That one is pretty simple, only 23 keystrokes, and I am confident it will work first time out.

I have a spare AnyKey on hand, but it had been stored for the past several years in non-optimal conditions (temperatures reaching 125 degrees (F) or more on occasion) and when I brought it out, about half the keys wouldn't register any input, in particular the "SuspndMacro" key. It is an older model AnyKey and apparentlly is sealed. I can get the top cover off, but it looks like the only way to get into the mechanicals of it would be to drill out about a dozen plastic tabs on the bottom. I tried the trick of soaking it in soapy water, and have let it dry for the last two days. I'll try it tomorrow, but am not optimistic.

I have three additional AnyKeys coming from eBay, two in working order, one for parts, so it looks like I'll be well set for macro capability for the next few years, as long as any computer I have uses PS2 keyboard input. Hmmm... I see that "PS2 to USB Adapter" brings up more than a million hits on Google, so that probably isn't a problem either.

Anyway, I am much happier now, and a nagging worry I have had in the back of my mind for the last 10 years or so, about not having a backup for my indispensable, nearly irreplaceable keyboard, has been alleviated. I have typed on a lot of keyboards in the past 50 years, and while nobody has ever matched the perfection of feel of the IBM Selectric typewriter, I rank the Gateway AnyKey not too far behind it. It feels much different from the Selectric, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad. It's like... like typing on velvet. Quiet, smooth, and incredibly versatile.

tanstaafl.

OK, I take it back. Perl is not the world's worst scripting language.

Peter

Could it be that you are one of the first to require memory defrag on a keyboard?

Now this is interesting... from a Wikipedia article:

The 2189014-00-211 Gateway AnyKey model contains a toroid on the inside, around the keyboard wires near the top middle of the keyboard, which might rub against the plastic membrane circuit board and cut the leftmost trace emerging from the left ribbon connector.

My spare keyboard is not the ...-211 model, but does have the toroid, so it got me to looking. I wonder if a thin strip of foil across that break would fix it? I am at a loss as to how to disassemble the keyboard to actually get at the mylar sheet with the tracings on it, but that one little spot is semi-accessible without taking it any further apart. Worth a try, I suppose.

tanstaafl.

Years ago I know there was some paint on stuff that would repair breaks like that.

Electronic stores have a conductive felt pen that would do this.

Probably the repair pens for car rear window defrosters would work too. I'm thinking there's probably no electronics stores in Ajijic.

Maybe not a lot od window defrosters either

No, you misunderstand the severity of the weather we have here. Why, just last week the temperature dropped all the way down into the 60's (F), and people were walking around in coats and scarves, and local dogs were well protected with fleece coats strapped around them.

I tell people that I used to walk my little dog (miniature poodle) in Alaska at temperatures of 40 below zero (F or C, take your pick) and he was just fine with that. Surprisingly, he has no trouble down here even when the temperatures go up into the 90's.

Go figure.

tanstaafl.

Apparently that trace is just a marker around the perimeter of the mylar sheet, and does not perform any function other than decorative.

Before trying to bridge the broken trace, I plugged the keyboard back into the computer just to see how badly I had wrecked it by soaking it in soapy water (electronics and all) in my bathtub. To my absolute astonishment it is now 100% functional. The only problem that arose was a sticking "Alt" key, and a single drop of teflon lubricant fixed that. I now have two working AnyKeys, and three more coming in the mail. Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?

I guess these keyboards are pretty robust.

tanstaafl.

However by looking at pooches skid marks it looks like he's not a fan of water

I have read this thread with interest. I also have a Gateway2000 Anykey, have used it for almost 20 years. Suddenly the "N" and "P" keys began behaving strangely -- there was a slight delay after pressing the key, then a repeat happened (NNNNNNNNN...) which I could only interrupt by pressing other keys.

I tried the CRL-ALT-Suspend Macro clear to no avail. I was sure it was a hardware issue, something under the "N" and "P" keys causing the delay/repeats. I took the top faceplate off the keyboard, but as tanstaafl will understand I have the series that does not come apart inside.

BUT, when I remapped another letter to the "N" or "P" keys, the keys then behaved normally. And when I remapped the "N" or "P" letters to another key, I got the strange delay/repeat behavior from the new key. In short wherever the "N" and "P" are triggered from does not matter, they delay/repeat.

Any suggestions where I might go next with this would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Some background, I recently moved and shipped stuff (including my keyboard) by sea, but there is no apparent damage to the keyboard it was packaged well and all arrived dry and intact. Also, I have a new computer with no PS/2 jack so am now using the nextech PS/2 to USB Adapter. Everything works on the keyboard except "P" and "N." Strange isn't it?

I have only found three things that worked to "repair" an AnyKey keyboard.

The Ctrl-Alt-SuspendMacro is the first line of defense. If that doesn't work, then disassemble the keyboard (difficult with your model) and clean the Mylar contact sheet, then re-seat and secure (with RTV silicone or with good quality packaging tape) the circuit board where it attaches to the Mylar sheet. The final, last-ditch desperation step (although in your case it will probably have to be the next thing you try) is soaking and "swishing around" the keyboard in warm, soapy water followed by a couple days of drying. That worked for me, but YMMV.

FWIW, both of my "new" replacement keyboards failed last month, in both cases the circuit boards had separated from the Mylar sheet. Some previous owner had repaired this problem before, with two small pieces of Scotch tape. I re-did the repair much more robustly, with full-length strips of clear packaging tape and to my delight, both keyboards subsequently worked perfectly. I'm typing this on one of them now.

If I had to guess, I would say that your current problem with the "N" and the "P" keys is caused by this separation, although there is some doubt because it is only the "N" and "P" keys that have failed. Each one of those circuit traces from the Mylar sheet to the circuit board (there are about a dozen of them IIRC) controls about 10 separate keys, odd that just two of them would fail. It might well be a mechanical problem, dirt on the contacts on the Mylar sheet for those two keys that might be fixed by non-disassembled washing.

About your only other solution would be a good thesaurus where you could look up alternative words without "N"s or "P"s in them...

tanstaafl.