Keyboards
& Keypads
- KB1700, KB3000, KB5000, and LK8000 Series
Technical Support
Answers to frequently asked questions concerning Keyboards and
Keypads can be found in this section. Check
here for additional
support and downloads.
You can find the Keyboard Programming Manuals
and Keyboard
Programming Utilities in the Support and Downloads
page.
If you need further information, please email your question to Logic
Controls' Technical Support team at: support@logiccontrols.com
or call us
at 516.248.0400. Phone
support is available Monday thru Friday from 9:00am to 5:30pm
EST. One of our trained technical staff will assist you with
your questions.
the problem?
get a "BAD E2RAM" error. What is the problem?
I get a keyboard error. What should I do?
but it seems that some key strokes were missing or incorrectly outputting.
What could be the problem?
keys do not work. How do I program them?
programmable keyboard?
characters. What should I do?
using the *.TPL extension?
keyboard?
read from the keyboard or writing to the keyboard, a "NO Programmable
Keyboard Detected!" error appears. Is there a solution?
'ALT' but it doesn't work with the Windows utility. How do I enter 'ALT' in the
Windows utility?
Q. Whenever I write data to my keyboard I get a BAD E2RAM error. What is the problem?
A. There are Windows and DOS versions of keyboards and corresponding programming utilities. When programming the DOS version keyboards with the DOS programming utilities, be sure to shut down Windows and restart the computer in MS-DOS mode. This programming software is a DOS based software and must be run in pure DOS environment. For Windows that cannot be boot up in DOS mode, you will have to boot the computer with a DOS boot disk or program the keyboard with another computer that could work under DOS. After programming, the keyboard can be used under any Windows environment.
Q. I tried to program keys to the keyboard with my notebook computer but I get a BAD E2RAM error. What is the problem?
A. The notebook computers are designed with internal keyboards. The extension keyboard port does not work as a normal desktop PC keyboard port. Use a desktop PC to program the keyboard. Then it can be used with your notebook computer in normal operation.
Q. When I boot my computer with only my programmable keyboard attached, I get a keyboard error. What should I do?
A. Reconnect your standard computer keyboard to your programmable keyboard and restart your computer. Start your keyboard programming utility software and load your template on screen. Under the extended menu, press F3 to bring up the options menu (or click the Modify Properties icon in Windows utilities). Set Enable RS232 Output to “NO”. Save your template and rewrite to the keyboard.
Q. Can I program ASCII codes and Scan Codes into the same key?
A. No, each key can only be either ASCII or Scan Code. Not a combination of both.
Q. How do I program a ‘F1’ key into the programmable keyboard?
A. With Windows version utilities, just enter [F1] (square brackets included) in the location you want to program it as F1.
With DOS version programming utilities, be sure the key you are programming is in Scan Code mode (F8). Move to the location you want to program, press F8. Then press ESC key followed by F1 key.
Q. How do I program an 'ALT+key' combination into a single key?
A. With Windows version utilities, just enter the following string for the key: [Alt][X][0F0][Alt] where X is the Alt-key you would like to program.
With DOS version programming utilities. Be sure the key you are programming is in Scan Code mode (F8). Press ESC key followed by the ALT key and then the particular keys you would like to program. To deactivate the ALT function (simulate release of the ALT key) for entering following keys without the ALT function, a break code has to be inserted. Press ESC followed by the letter “f” and “0”, making the code “0f0”. Then press ESC followed by ALT key.
Q. How do I program a 'CTRL+key' combination into a single key?
A. With Windows version utilities, just enter the following string for the key: [Ctrl][X][0F0][Ctrl] where X is the Ctrl-key you would like to program.
With DOS version programming utilities, be sure the key you are programming is in Scan Code mode (F8). Press ESC key followed by the CTRL key and then the particular keys you would like to program. To deactivate the CTRL function (simulate release of the CTRL key) for entering following keys without the CTRL function, a break code has to be inserted. Press ESC followed by the letter f and 0, making the code 0f0. Then press ESC followed by CTRL key.
Q. How do I program the Windows Keys into my programmable keyboard?
A. With Windows version utilities, just enter the following strings for the keys:
Left Windows Start key: [Win]
Right Windows Start key: [RightWin]
Right Windows Menu key: [Menu]
With DOS version programming utilities, be sure that the key you are programming is in Scan Code mode (press F8).
To program the Left Windows Start key, press ESC followed by the letter e and 0, making the code 0e0. Then press ESC followed by the number 5 and b, making the code 05b.
To program the Right Windows Start key, press ESC followed by the letter e and 0, making the code 0e0. Then press ESC followed by the number 5 and c, making the code 05c.
To program the Windows Menu key, press ESC followed by the letter e and 0, making the code 0e0. Then press ESC followed by the number 5 and d, making the code 05d.
Q. After I programmed a key stroke sequence, I tried it out in my application but it seems that some key strokes were missing or not correct in the output. What could be the problem?
A. Normally, the programmable keyboard only sends out a make code for each key stroke you programmed, the break codes will be sent when the key is released. This works fine in DOS. However, in Windows, certain applications require that the break codes are sent before the next key is pressed. To do so, you have to program the key sequence in Scan Code mode and add break codes manually where necessary. A break code is usually made up with [0F0] code followed by the scan code of the key.
In DOS utility, under scan code mode press ESC, then enter 'f' & '0'. Next enter the key that break code is required. For example, to simulate pressing & releasing 'F1', enter the sequence: 'ESC', 'F1', 'ESC', 'F', '0', 'ESC', 'F1'.
In Windows utility, enter '[0F0]' followed by code of the key. For example, to simulate pressing & releasing 'F1', enter the string: [F1][0F0][F1].
Q. In attempting to program my KB5000/M keyboard, the right and left arrow keys do not work. How do I program them?
A. In Windows programming utilities, enter strings [ArrowRight] or [ArrowLeft].
In DOS programming utilities, you need to program those keys in Scan Code mode (press F8) instead of ASCII mode. Press ESC key followed by the arrow key.
Q. How do I program the Number Pad section of the standard keyboard into my programmable keyboard?
A. With Windows programming utilities, just enter the string [PADx] where x is the number pad key you would like to program.
With DOS programming utilities, if you want to program the number pad section of a standard keyboard to your programmable keyboard, you must program the keys in Scan Code mode. If you program the keys in ASCII mode, the keys will only function as number keys. In Scan Code mode (F8), press ESC key and then the corresponding number pad key.
Q. The data string output is too fast for my software to recognize all the characters. What should I do?
A. Press F3 to bring up the options screen (or click the Modify Properties icon in Windows utilities) and increase the Inter-character Delay. The time delay between characters can be adjusted from 1 millisecond to 250 milliseconds. This delay is set for all characters programmed into the keyboard. Do not confuse this feature with the inter-string delay feature.
Q. Can my older templates with an *.KEY extension work with newer keyboards using the *.TPL extension?
A. Yes, but the *.KEY has to be converted to *.TPL using the KEY2TPL program which is included on the KB3000 utility disk.
Q. What is the total number of characters that can be programmed into my keyboard?
A. You can have a total of 1800 bytes programmed into your keyboard.
Q. Can my programmable keyboard emulate XT keyboards?
A. Yes, press F3 to bring up the options screen (or click the Modify Properties icon in Windows utilities) and set Emulating XT keyboard always to YES. This enables the output of the keyboard to be translated into XT scan codes.
Q. Can I use my programmable keyboard with a Macintosh computer?
A. The programmable keyboard will not work on a Macintosh computer.
Q. Can I generate a legend sheet from the KB3000 programming utility?
A. The programming utility cannot print out any legend sheets. You can prepare your own legend sheet with Microsoft Word. The Word document should be set to landscape and contain a table of 8x11 cells. You need 2 sheets to make up one full legend for KB3000 (8x22). Size of each cell should be PRINTED out as 0.75" x 0.75".
Q. When using Windows Programming Utility under Windows 2000 and trying to read from the keyboard or writing to the keyboard, a "NO Programmable Keyboard Detected!" appears. Is there a solution?
A. An upgraded programming utility would solve this problem. Please send your request to support@logiccontrols.com.
Q. I am able to program the 'Alt' key with the DOS utility with 'Esc' followed by 'Alt' but it doesn't work with the Windows utility. How do I enter 'Alt' in the Windows utility?
A. Unlike DOS, The 'Alt' key (and other 3 keys: F6, F10, & PrintScreen) is used by Windows. Therefore, you cannot use 'Esc'+'Alt' method to enter this key. You will have to change to 'ASCII' programming mode and type in the token name string directly as [Alt] (that is, '[', 'A', 'l', 't', and then ']'). Note that if you are packing other key strokes in this same key, you will have to type in the rest of the definition all using their token names. For example: entering the string [Alt][0][4][2][0F0][Alt][Shift][H][0F0][Shift][E][L][L][O][Enter] will program the key to output *Hello followed by the enter key.