usb3sun is an adapter that allows you to connect USB keyboards and mice to the Sun 8-pin mini-DIN interface.
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see also:
note: this repo uses submodules! clone with --recursive, or if you forgot to do that:
$ git submodule update --init --recursive- user guide
- hacking and assembly docs
- firmware
- breadboard prototype
- pcb docs coming soon!
- maintainer docs
usb3sun now has a usb-c port for easy firmware updates!
usb3sun can now reprogram your idprom with just a few keystrokes, making it easier to boot your workstation with a dead nvram battery!
usb3sun includes an audible buzzer to emulate the bell and click functions that would normally be included with a Sun keyboard.
usb3sun also emulates the power key in two ways:
- soft power key (Right Ctrl+P)
- sends the power key scancodes (30h/B0h)
- can turn on your workstation (only when usb3sun is powered externally)
- onboard power button (near the display)
- doesn’t send any scancodes
- can turn on your workstation (even when not powered externally)
usb3sun has an oled display that shows:
- keyboard led indicators (caps, compose, scroll, num)
- visual buzzer (click, bell)
- the settings menu
usb3sun has an onboard reset button in case the firmware gets stuck, and a 0.1″ debug header (pins available as an option) that allows you to power the adapter externally for flashing or debugging.
usb3sun has persistent settings for:
- forcing click mode (no/off/on)
- click duration (5–100 ms)
- your hostid
features planned for a future firmware version:
- settings for bell/click tone frequency
- led indicators on your USB keyboard itself
- added experimental support for leds on your usb keyboard — led updates are not yet reliable, and currently has bugs that can cause usb devices to stop responding
- this board requires firmware 2.0 or newer
- #2 — fixed a limitation where the workstation drops you into an ok prompt when resetting the adapter
- #11 — fixed a bug where the adapter can hang until power cycled after being reset, especially when reset frequently
- #10 — added support for logging over UART_TX/UART_RX without disabling the sun keyboard interface
- reworked component layout and routing for sun interfaces and led indicators — none of the user-facing component locations have changed
- replaced transistors Q1 through Q4 (2N7000) with dual transistors Q1 and Q3 (2N7002DW)
- removed solder jumpers JP1 and JP2, which were added in rev A2 in case of errata
- pio_pkg_list.txt = dependency tree at time of release
- added support for adapters with pcb rev B0 — these use pinout v2, while older revs use pinout v1
- added a mouse baud setting that can be set to 9600 baud (default), 4800, 2400, or 1200 baud
- this adds support for NeXTSTEP and Plan 9, which require the mouse to run at a lower baud rate (#8)
- you can now choose whether to save or discard settings changes when you close the menu
- this change was made as part of a workaround for usb devices that malfunction when saving settings (#14); if you have any affected devices, hold Shift while pressing Enter to reboot the adapter after saving settings
- the displayed version number can now include uncommitted and/or unreleased changes (
2.0+/2.0+1/2.0+1+) - several other improvements to the user interface
- you can now close the menu by pressing Esc
- the menu now automatically closes after Reprogram idprom and Wipe idprom (AAh)
- the menu now shows four menu items, rather than three menu items and the version number
- Click duration now beeps to preview your changes, regardless of whether clicks are enabled
- Reprogram idprom now tells you what hostid is being programmed into your idprom
- updated our usb host stack, making usb devices enumerate faster
- Adafruit TinyUSB Library (2.0.1 → 3.1.0), Pico PIO USB (0.5.2 → 0.5.3)
- this may affect compatibility with your usb devices; please report any regressions or improvements
- added support for logging over UART_TX/UART_RX without disabling the sun keyboard interface (#10)
- this feature requires pcb rev B0 or newer, due to the pinout changes required
- please report any regressions with the buzzer or sun mouse interface; the buzzer had to be moved from pio to hardware pwm, and the sun mouse had to be moved from hardware uart to pio
- added a debug cli over UART_RX — this lets you press keys and move the mouse without a usb keyboard or mouse
- the firmware can now be built as a normal program for linux, thanks to a new hardware abstraction layer; as a result:
- added an interactive demo (
run-demo.sh) that can be used to play with or develop the user interface - added a test suite (
run-tests.sh) for the setup and pinout routines, sun keyboard interface (reset sequence), buzzer (click and bell), settings (reads, writes, upgrades), and menu (confirm-save, hostid, i/o) - we can catch some memory access violations with dynamic analysis by AddressSanitizer (asan)
- added an interactive demo (
- added some build tests (
run-build-tests.sh) to catch compile errors with custom build flags - fixed some potential future compatibility issues in the settings formats (variable-width integer types and variable struct padding)
- your existing settings in their v1 formats will be upgraded automatically
- fixed a compile error when debug logging was enabled (PICOPROBE_ENABLE, now known as DEBUG_OVER_UART)
- fixed all compile warnings under -Wall with the current toolchains for
picoandlinux(via nix-shell) - fixed incorrect debug log output for report id, usage, and usage page when enumerating usb hid devices
- fixed missing newline in debug log output when reporting ErrorRollOver inputs from usb keyboards
- fixed missing newline in UHID_VERBOSE output when reporting inputs from non-boot-protocol usb devices
- removed the splash screen from debug logging — this significantly slowed down the setup routine
- removed the fake sun emulation feature — this wasn’t too useful, and was broken by the pinout changes
- several changes to config.h
- added DEBUG_OVER_CDC to disable logging over usb cdc
- added UHID_LED_ENABLE to opt into experimental usb hid led support
- added UHID_LED_TEST to blink leds on all usb keyboards
- added pin definitions PINOUT_V2_PIN, KTX_ENABLE, DISPLAY_ENABLE, DEBUG_UART, SUNK_UART_V1, SUNK_UART_V2, and SUNM_UART_V1
- removed SUNM_BAUD in favour of the new menu setting
- renamed PICOPROBE_ENABLE to DEBUG_OVER_UART
- renamed PICOPROBE_BAUD to DEBUG_UART_BAUD
- renamed PICOPROBE_TX to DEBUG_UART_TX
- renamed PICOPROBE_RX to DEBUG_UART_RX
- SUN_KTX, SUN_KRX, SUN_MTX, and SUN_MRX were split into pinout v1 and v2 variants
- DEBUG_OVER_UART no longer disables logging over usb cdc (see DEBUG_OVER_CDC)
- SUNK_ENABLE was moved to platformio.ini, and takes precedence over DEBUG_OVER_UART in pinout v1
- SUNM_ENABLE was moved to platformio.ini
pcb rev A3 (2023-10-15)
- fixed the inconsistent and excessive brightness of the led indicators (D2, D3)
- fixed a bug where the VBUS indicator led (D2) can be dimly lit without VBUS being connected
- changed J1 from UJ2-ADH-W1-TH to the compatible USB-U267-BWS due to stock shortage
- cleaned up unused kicad libraries, and checked in libraries that were missing from the repo
firmware 1.5 (2023-07-18)
- pio_pkg_list.txt = dependency tree at time of release
- added a macro to reprogram your idprom — this makes it easier to boot your workstation with a dead nvram battery
- added a macro to wipe your idprom — this makes your idprom contents invalid, as if you had a dead nvram battery
- added a hostid setting — this sets the hostid used when reprogramming your idprom
- changed behaviour of builtin led to turn on at the very start of setup — this may help troubleshoot problems with CDC serial port initialisation
firmware 1.4 (2023-07-17)
- pio_pkg_list.txt = dependency tree at time of release
- fixed a serious bug where opening the settings menu can make the adapter start releasing keys at the wrong times
- fixed a serious bug where special key bindings (Right Ctrl) can get stuck down if Right Ctrl is released early
- you can now press special key bindings (Right Ctrl) together with other modifiers (e.g. Shift+Undo for Redo)
- improved performance of keyboard processing — this reduces the latency of key presses by up to 90 µs
you should update your firmware if you have any of the following symptoms:
- modifiers like Shift stop working after closing the settings menu
- modifiers like Shift appear to have a delayed effect after closing the settings menu
- when a key gets stuck down, it remains stuck even after pressing and releasing another key
you can also work around these bugs by resetting the adapter.
firmware 1.3 (2023-07-16)
- pio_pkg_list.txt = dependency tree at time of release
- added firmware version to display — this replaces the logo, which became a bit redundant
- added marquee display for long menu items — this fixes a bug where they would wrap in an unreadable way
pcb rev A2 (2023-06-30)
- added usb-c port J4 — this makes firmware updates much easier, and makes it possible to debug the sun keyboard and mouse interfaces simultaneously
- added polyfuse F3 after power supply switches — this protects the adapter under more fault conditions, in addition to faults in the downstream usb ports
- changed led resistors R12 and R13 from 200R to 1K — this reduces the luminous intensity from ~80% down to ~10% relative to 20mA
- changed tactile switches SW1 and SW2 from TS-1187A-C-H-B to TS-1187A-B-A-B — this reduces the extended parts fee with jlcpcb
firmware 1.2 (2023-06-11)
- pio_pkg_list.txt = dependency tree at time of release
- added audible usb plug/unplug notifications
- added persistence for settings — including click duration!
- added “force click” setting — this replaces the old disable/enable click option in the settings menu, which toggled the same state as the host machine, with an independent override
- changed the initial click mode state to off
- changed the initial led indicator states to off
- fixed theoretical(?) race condition in buzzer management
- fixed errors in the README bindings table
pcb rev A1 (2023-05-10)
- added display mechanical support — committed later in 74b367a12600d
- added tactile switches for reset and hard power key
- added header pins for debug logging over UART0
- added mounting holes for display mechanical support
- added LED indicators for VBUS and VSUN
- improved enclosure compatibility by moving mini-din beyond bottom edge
- improved ground plane islands by stitching vias
- made all corner mounting holes padded on both sides — previously this was only the case for the hole connected to GNDPWR, but not the other three
firmware 1.1 (2023-05-06)
- pio_pkg_list.txt = dependency tree at time of release
- fixed regressions due to dependency updates
- fixed panic regression with Pico Pio USB 0.5.2 by removing non-idempotent workaround for a bug that was fixed upstream (sekigon-gonnoc/Pico-PIO-USB#77)
- worked around unsolved usb hid regression (adafruit/Adafruit_TinyUSB_Arduino#296) by pinning Adafruit TinyUSB Library to 2.0.1
- fixed panic when combining PICOPROBE_ENABLE and CFG_TINYUSB_DEBUG
- changed default DISPLAY_ROTATION to 0 — this better suits pcb rev A0 than the old value, and is equally suitable for the breadboard prototype
- changed debug/upload protocols to cmsis-dap — this fixes compatibility with new picoprobe firmware
- pinned sensitive dependencies to reduce future breakage — note that not all dependencies are pinned yet (platformio/platformio-core#4613), but see above for known-good dependency tree
pcb rev A0 (2023-04-28)
- initial release
firmware 1.0 (2023-01-08)
- initial release