On Aug 27, 2005, at 6:31 PM, bart sikkes wrote:
> Prolly a pretty newbie question but I don't have much experience with 
> older
> systems. I get them or buy them and usually it takes a while before I 
> try to
> even boot them. I was trying that with this vaxstation 4000/60 that 
> came
> with monitor, keyboard and mouse. But when I connect the keyboard it 
> doesn't
> boot. When I connect the keyboard while the system is running it just
> powersdown, so I expect the keyboard is bad. It is a sun keyboard so it
> might not even belong to the system and I connect it to the mouse port
> according to this site.
>
> http://eintr.net/systems/vaxstation4000-60/

   Uhh...VAXen don't talk to Sun keyboards.  If you're lucky, you didn't 
smoke the system or the keyboard.

> I tried connecting another keyboard which belongs to a console

   "Belongs to a console"...I assume you mean a terminal?  If so, what 
kind?

>  but that
> wasn't possible either. So I need to know how the "port" for the 
> keyboard is
> called on such a vaxstation system, so I can look for one. Any 
> assistance is
> this direction is welcome.

   It's called the "keyboard port".  It's a four-pin modular connector 
that looks like a phone jack.  The correct keyboard for that system 
would be a DEC LK-201, LK-401, and possibly a few others.  Don't bother 
with other-than-DEC keyboards...I've never heard of a 3rd-party company 
making one that was compatible with these systems.

   Those correct keyboards, while proprietary (hey, what isn't?), are 
quite common in the DEC world.  Many different systems and terminals 
use them, and they show up everywhere, even on eBay.  A keyboard from a 
VT-220, -320 -330, -340, or -420 will work, for example.

            -Dave

--
Dave McGuire            "You'll have to be a lot more specific than 
'that
Cape Coral, FL              girl last night.'"    -Ted McFadden