Commander X16 Deluxe Keyboard -- SysReq/PrtSc, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break

davidpgil · Post by **davidpgil** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:05 pm

Hi -- I have just decided I'd like to get the Commander X16 Deluxe Keyboard but I have one small but somewhat irksome concern. I see the keys typically labeled SysReq/PrtSc, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break have been replaced with Commander X16 equivalents. I think this is fine, but it seems somewhat inconsistent with the rest of the keyboard which seems to visually support more traditional characters. I understand this was likely done due to space constraints on the key, which is fine.

I am wondering if the newly labeled keys still function as "SysReq/PrtSc, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break" when this keyboard is not used with the Commander X16. I plan to use this keyboard to drive all my computing accross my many computers on my trust PS/2 KVM switch.

Also -- I would like to ask WASD Keyboards if I can modify my buttons to include the missing text. I am currently waiting for their response.

Lorin Millsap · Post by **Lorin Millsap** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:12 pm

Hi -- I have just decided I'd like to get the Commander X16 Deluxe Keyboard but I have one small but somewhat irksome concern. I see the keys typically labeled SysReq/PrtSc, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break have been replaced with Commander X16 equivalents. I think this is fine, but it seems somewhat inconsistent with the rest of the keyboard which seems to visually support more traditional characters. I understand this was likely done due to space constraints on the key, which is fine. I am wondering if the newly labeled keys still function as "SysReq/PrtSc, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break" when this keyboard is not used with the Commander X16. I plan to use this keyboard to drive all my computing accross my many computers on my trust PS/2 KVM switch. Also -- I would like to ask WASD Keyboards if I can modify my buttons to include the missing text. I am currently waiting for their response.

We do not repurpose the keys on a hardware level. So they will do their original functions on other systems. Hopefully that answers your question. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Perifractic · Post by **Perifractic** » Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:08 am

In addition I regret we don’t allow customisation of our design, sorry. Hopefully it won’t prove too hard to remember those functions the more you use them. Perifractic, X16 Visual Designerhttp://youtube.com/perifractic

BruceMcF · Post by **BruceMcF** » Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:10 am

1 hour ago, Perifractic said:

In addition I regret we don’t allow customisation of our design, sorry. Hopefully it won’t prove too hard to remember those functions the more you use them.

Some of those are the kinds of functions I don't use often enough to remember them every time.

Back in the day it is the kind of thing I might have stuck a repurposed label above those keys with reminders, though I would of course never suggest doing any such thing to such a lovely mechanism as this.

davidpgil · Post by **davidpgil** » Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:38 pm

Thank you for your thoughtful responses. It is good to know that the traditional functionality will exist unscathed.

However, I do have an interest in redesigning those keys on my keyboard when it arrives just so I can feel a sense of finality. @Perifractic, would you mind if I could have the name of the font used for those keys? I would be willing to pay WASD to make custom key caps for me. I like to tinker, and I think it would be a fun little project to find a way to make the full functionality able to exist descriptively on those keys even if they are indeed rarely used keys.

Perifractic · Post by **Perifractic** » Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:22 pm

Thank you for your thoughtful responses. It is good to know that the traditional functionality will exist unscathed.
However, I do have an interest in redesigning those keys on my keyboard when it arrives just so I can feel a sense of finality. [mention=3]Perifractic[/mention], would you mind if I could have the name of the font used for those keys? I would be willing to pay WASD to make custom key caps for me. I like to tinker, and I think it would be a fun little project to find a way to make the full functionality able to exist descriptively on those keys even if they are indeed rarely used keys.

You can find more info on the fonts here https://www.forum64.de/index.php?thread/68200-what-a-font-was-used-on-commodore-64c-and-128-keyboards/

Perifractic, X16 Visual Designer
http://youtube.com/perifractic

davidpgil · Post by **davidpgil** » Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:27 pm

Thank you @Perifractic -- I'll update this thread when I actually get these made. Might make for good fun.

Scott Robison · Post by **Scott Robison** » Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:11 pm

Back in the day I lived near the WordPerfect offices in Utah, and I recall the keyboard templates they included with the software. There were two, one for PC/XT style keyboards with the function keys to the side, and another for PC/AT style keyboards with the function keys at the top of the keyboard.

I think a clever graphic designer could come up with something nice that could have cut outs that fit over the keyboard to provide the extra labels in a way that doesn't distract from the keyboard itself. It doesn't have to be as big as this example, just including it as a reference to what I'm talking about.

Perifractic · Post by **Perifractic** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:31 am

Funnily enough I’ve been chatting to a guy who has created some really cool keyboard overlays and is sending me some for Commodore 64 games et cetera. I’ll ping him to take a look at this thread.

Perifractic, X16 Visual Designer
http://youtube.com/perifractic

BruceMcF · Post by **BruceMcF** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:41 am

6 hours ago, Scott Robison said:

Back in the day I lived near the WordPerfect offices in Utah, and I recall the keyboard templates they included with the software. There were two, one for PC/XT style keyboards with the function keys to the side, and another for PC/AT style keyboards with the function keys at the top of the keyboard.

Man, talk about a blast from the past ... we had XT's in our econ grad student computer lab, at UTK in the early 90's, and since it was a WordPerfect + Lotus123 setup, IIRC the side function key versions of those templates available. (Why XT's and not AT's? I assume they were hand me downs after the profs got ATs).

Since there was no copy protection on the installed executables or data files on the hard drives, enterprising graduate students with computers at home would do a sneakernet of the necessary files on a stack of floppies. And since my PPC640 was 3.5" while these XT's were 5.25", I used a 1571 and 1581 and Big Blue Reader to put together my 3.5" WordPerfect boot disk.