So I thought it would be pretty straightforward; last night I thought the idea of LSDJ's keyboard mode sounded cool, so I went and got everything I thought I needed and started putting it together. This is roughly the design I settled upon:
FEMALE PS/2 (%)__________,_____[} GB LINK
USB (power to kbd) []___/I had to use a USB's 5 volts to power the keyboard because the link cable I'm using isn't powered. I used a female PS/2 connector instead of splicing the keyboard directly to the cable cuz I didn't want to sacrifice it. Other than some slightly dodgy deployment of shrink-wrap tubing, I'm happy with how it turned out, except as you've already guessed it doesn't work and I have no idea why. I hook everything up, turn on LSDJ, make sure the sync mode is set to keyboard, press start, and test a few keys. Nothing. I tested the pins with my multimeter; the keyboard is receiving 5 volts of power, and I use it with my computer without a hitch, so it can't be the keyboard itself.
My specific questions are: could I have misunderstood the instructions for either building the cable or setting up LSDJ? and is there a way for sure to tell whether or not the Game Boy is synced with the keyboard? If it helps, I'm using a Game Boy Pocket and LSDJ v4.7.3.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can give!
Edit:
Nvm, I found the problem: I accidentally connected the PS/2's data to pin 3 instead of pin 4 on the GB link.
Edit 2: Double nvm. As it turns out none of the GB link's wires corresponded to the pins i thought they did, so I tested, desoldered, spliced everything up correctly this time, tested again, hooked it all up, and it still doesn't work! and this time I double checked every connection so the build itself should be fine it's just I have no idea how to use it. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of sync indicator on the project screen? I don't see anything.
Final Edit: It works! Along with all the other things I messed up, I also realized that I had apparently forgotten how electricity works and neglected to ground the GB link so that signals would actually flow into it, even though it explicitly reminds you to do this in the LSDJ wiki tutorial. My take-away from this is don't cut corners or take shortcuts. If I had tested out my design on a solderless breadboard first instead of jumping straight to the connections I could have avoided multiple mistakes and instead of a lumpy, tapey mess, my cable would be much cleaner.
Last edited by pack (Apr 13, 2016 3:11 am)