irish@ihuxb.UUCP (07/21/83)
Since first posting the article that caused the flurry of excitement about Dvorak keyboards on the HP 2621's, I've done some checking around. Among the terminals I've tested, it seems that the 2621A and 2621B don't have this "feature". I also got a note from someone who said their 2621P didn't have it. Apparently, HP has put out more than one version of the 2621P, and possibly more than one 2621A also. Anybody from HP care to do some digging around and come up with an explanation??? Laura at BTL, NOT U of T ...ihnp4!ihuxb!irish
wsm@mh3bs.UUCP (07/22/83)
There exists such a thing as an "HP2621 National Terminal", and this
is the one with the extra language configurations (Danish, English, US,
etc.). It also has the DV setting, as well as one called "45", for
a different keyboard where special characters (those above the numbers
and on the right of the letters) are in different places.
The older HP2621's aren't blessed with this capability.
>From a happy user of a "45" keyboard-
Walt Morris BTL-SF {allegra,mhtsa}!mh3bs!wsmfaunt@hplabsc.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (07/24/83)
The "45" keyboard is the same keyboard layout as the HP2645 terminal, hence its name. 2645's, 48's, etc can be hacked to a Dvorak keyboard, also. It requires shuffling the keyboard decode tables in one of the ROMs, (that cam be replaced with an EPROM, with a simple adapter)
faunt@hplabsc.UUCP (Doug Faunt) (07/24/83)
The 2621x with the "language option" has the Dvorak keyboard available, as one of the "languages". The option is composed of new ROMs that provide keyboards and a character set customized to be set up for various non-English, European languages. Some of the other HP262x terminals may also have this available. You can tell if yours has it on the 2621's by seeing if the left soft-key label says "languages" when in configure mode. I'll try to investigate more at work Monday. Faunt ...!hplabs!faunt
avsdT:deborah@avsdS.UUCP (07/26/83)
Yet more information on hp2621 dvorak option . . . I did a little personal research here at Ampex, and at least 2 2621's that I know of support the dvorak option under the languages config. menu. I believe they were bought just under a year ago, just as the changeover from 2621a to 2621b was being made. In fact, we ordered 7 2621 terminals from hp, and got half 2621a's and half 2621b's. As a curious note, my husband works at hp's data terminals division, where the terminals are designed, and he had never heard of a dvorak option on the 2621. None of the 2621's he found at work supported the option. I tried it out on a 2621 owned by someone else in our building, which was bought earlier (about 2 years ago now), and hers doesn't support the dvorak option either. The option seems to have sneaked into the 2621a software sometime in the last 1-2 years, and disappeared when the 2621b came out. I really don't know about the 2621p's, but my husband said he tried the option on one of them, and it wasn't supported. Hope all this is enlightening (?) -deborah gronke bennett fortune!dsd!atd!avsdT:deborah
faunt@hplabsc.UUCP (07/27/83)
I looked around and poked here at labs, and found NO HP2621B's, so I can't address that issue, but all the 2622's,23's,24's, and 26's I can find have yet to reveal any Dvorak tendencies, although they tend to know other languages, as well as keyboard layouts, and about META keys. I suspect it was a hack inserted by someone at DTD and will never again see the light of day. It can be added to an existing 2621 by ordering HP 93983E which is the HP2621A/P K45 upgrade kit. Option 001 may be cheaper, because it may not include the keycaps for the bit-paired keyboard, however, it is the same ROMs and will give you the Dvorak capability.
ignatz@ihuxx.UUCP (07/28/83)
Not to contribute to net clutter too egregiously, but at least one 2621p *does* support the Dvorak option. (Boy, was the owner annoyed when I forgot to change his terminal back to an English configuration...) The insomniac pgmr, Dave Ihnat ihuxx!ignatz