Sun Microsystems keyboards
Keyboards manufactured by Sun Microsystems.
The keyboards were made in multiple different country layouts: US, US/UNIX, French, Danish, German, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish, Swiss/French, Swiss/German, UK, Korean, Taiwanese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Turkish F, Turkish Q [1].
Notable features[edit]
UNIX layout[edit]
Not taking language variants into account, there are 2 basic variants of the layout - classical and UNIX. The UNIX layout[2] has the following properties compared to the classic layout:
- the Caps Lock placed to the left of the A key
- the Control key is in the bottom left corner of the main key block
- the Backspace key is placed directly above the Enter key
- there is a back tick key above the Backspace key
- there is a blank key in the spot where the Esc key is normally placed
- the Esc key is next to the 1 key in the main key block.
Special purpose keys[edit]
These keyboards feature a Help key and a block of special purpose keys: Stop, Again, Props, Undo, Front, Copy, Open, Paste, Find, Cut. Another special feature is the presence of the Alt Graph and Compose keys that can be used to input special characters such as © or aid in typing letters of complex alphabets like Japanese.
The Stop key in combination with A can be used to make a SPARC machine to enter the OBP prompt for maintenance or debugging purposes[3].
Type ID[edit]
Each of the keyboards identified itself to the operating system with a distinct identifier. The Solaris operating system leveraged this in the installer - if such keyboard was detected, it was not necessary to select the type of the keyboard and it was selected automatically based on this ID. Some of the keyboards have a set of dip pins that allow to set the layout dynamically. This is handy for Internationalization and localization testing.
- type ID slots
-
key ID switch on the rear of type-7
-
empty key ID slot on the rear of type-7
-
key ID switch on the bottom of type-5
Models[edit]
There used to be a black USB keyboard sold by Oracle with some server systems after the Sun Microsystems aquisition however this model was cheaply made and did not have any real traces to the original Sun Microsystems keyboards.
Type-3[edit]
The keys were split into 3 blocks:
- special keys
- main block
- numeric pad
Shipped with Sun-3 systems [4]. There were 4 diodes in the upper right corner.
Type-4[edit]
Puristic keyboard with UNIX layout, divided into 3 main blocks. Had 4 diodes - Caps Lock, Compose, Scroll Lock, Num Lock. Shipped with Sun-4 and Sun-4e workstations (End of Support Life in April 1997). The type ID switch was accessible on the bottom only after disassembling the keyboard.
Type-5[edit]
Original keyboard for Sun Microsystems workstations. Has 2 Mini-DIN connectors for connecting the keyboard to computer and for connecting the Computer mouse. They are both located underneath the keyboard.[5][6]
Type-5c[edit]
Replaced Type-5 keyboard in 1994. Has one Mini-DIN connector for mouse. The cable for connecting the keyboard to computer runs underneath the keyboard.[7]
Type-6[edit]
Has characteristic curved design with purple elements.
Type-7[edit]
Has 2 USB connectors on the rear and 1 USB connector on the bottom. There is a separate cable for connecting the keyboard to computer that runs on the bottom. The design resembles the original design of Type-5 keyboard.
- Sun type-7 keyboard
-
newest version with Oracle Sun logo
-
arabic layout
-
rare version with big return key
-
type-7 vs type-5
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ https://support.oracle.com/handbook_private/Devices/Input_Device/INPUT_TOC.html
- ↑ "Category:Keyboards with Unix layout - Deskthority wiki". deskthority.net. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
- ↑ https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E26505_01/html/E29492/ggkti.html
- ↑ https://deskthority.net/wiki/Sun_Type_3
- ↑ says, Dario (2013-12-11). "Connecting the Sun Type 5 keyboard to a modern pc". Competa. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
- ↑ "Sun keyboard to USB converter - kentie.net". kentie.net. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
- ↑ Sun Type 5c review (Fujitsu dome with slider), retrieved 2019-12-12
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