There is a commercial product available -- look at http://www.vetra.com/Elimina2.htm $49/each
Black Box also made the "Keyboard Ghost" but all I can find on their website today is the "Mouse Ghost". It was more expensive ($79 I believe). A much cheaper possibility is to check the BIOS error-reporting settings -- many allow you to set them to ignore keyboard errors. If you can do that there is no cost at all! Another cheap (but somewhat ugly) solution is to take apart old keyboards (which are almost a dime a dozen at thrift stores) and chop off all the keys (they're normally-open switches, so the keyboard chip won't notice their non-existance), which makes a much smaller package than the full keyboard. But then you have to put the remainder in some sort of box or pot it in epoxy. You could to a Google search on "keyboard emulator" to see other approaches. HTH, --Dana ---------- From: Mike Jesch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [STN] Keyboard Dummy Plug Date: Monday, February 04, 2002 3:06 PM On 4 Feb 02, at 9:34, Michael Barnes wrote: > I've got some Compaq computers donated I am planning on using as > firewall/gateway boxes. One glitch I ran into is, the Compaq BIOS has no > setting to ignore the lack of a keyboard (that I can find anyhow). Most of > them are Compaq ProLinea 590s. I don't want to leave these sit with a > keyboard attached that could lead to problems. Does anyone know how to > build or procure a dummy plug I can insert to make the computer think there > is a keyboard attached? There was an article about this very subject in the July 2001 Nuts & Volts magazine. The guy ended up building a keyless keyboard emulator, consisting of a small microcontroller chip, and about 5 discrete components. He used a PIC 16F84 and built it into a little perfboard gizmo. The Nuts and Volts website is at http://www.nutsvolts.com/toc_Pages/jul01toc.htm But they don't have a full copy of the article on the site, just a link to the code for the PIC. If you're up to doing a project like this, including burning the code into the PIC, I could send you more information on it. According to the article, it really is more than just a little dummy thing; it has to have at least some intelligence, since one of the things that occurs during the POST is a check, where the PC ROM is looking for particular responses from the keyboard. Hope this helps, Mike Jesch ======== An American Classic =========================== There's a good reason why Reader's Digest has long been one of America's favorite magazines. Find out why that's true by trying a risk-free subscription now! http://click.topica.com/caaacQ3bz8Rp2bAlBLbf/TopOffers ================================================= -- Visit http://www.ShareTheNet.com for info about ShareTheNet Visit http://www.topica.com/lists/sharethenet for info about this list To Unsubscribe send email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ============================================================ Good, Better, BEST! What's better than a year's subscription to Ladies' Home Journal? Only a FREE year's subscription! Check out this great offer now! http://click.topica.com/caaacQ1bz8Rp2bAfyICf/TopOffers ============================================================ -- Visit http://www.ShareTheNet.com for info about ShareTheNet Visit http://www.topica.com/lists/sharethenet for info about this list To Unsubscribe send email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Rp2.bAfyIC Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
