Foreword
The first thing to consider is that keyboards drain power. You will probably not be able to use the batteries to power the device if you are going to be using the DTV much. I suggest the use of a 5v transformer, though if you are like me, it may be more convenient to use one of the power cables on your PC. I use a 64hdd box with my DTV, so it was a trivial matter to draw power from one of its spare connectors.
Connecting Power
BEWARE! You should never have an external power supply
connected while there are batteries in the DTV. You could destroy
your DTV, cause the batteries to leak, explode, catch fire, or open a portal
into an evil parallel dimension where everyone is just like they are here, but
with lizard heads, the possibilities are endless and all bad.. I am not responsible
if any of that occurs, and I strongly urge youto remove the batteries from your
DTV if you are going to do this hack.
First things first, let's open the case on the DTV. There are four screws holding the battery-pack/lower case on.
Next, connect your power source to the points shown below. I have included details on the PC power connector if you choose that option.
BEWARE: Test the polarity and voltage of your power source with a meter before connecting anything!.
Finally, power up the power supply and DTV and make sure it still works. If you have done everything correctly, it should boot as normal. If not, double-check your connections and try again.
Connecting a PC keyboard
Before you connect your keyboard (or keyboard port), please review the diagrams below. The pinouts are different on the male and female connectors. For our purposes, we will only be using 4 pins: +5Volts, Ground, Clock, and Data. I suggest using a meter to make sure you know which wire goes to which pin.
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Pinout of 6 pin miniDIN male ![]() |
Pinout of 5 pin DIN male |
Once you have determined which wires are which, strip and tin them, and connect
them as shown in the pictures below. The silk-screening on the board is almost
self-explanatory, but the screening on mine was kind of weak and I couldn't
really read the letters.
Once you have connected the keyboard, power the DTV up with the K key held down
on the keyboard. If it boots in BASIC, and you can type, you have successfully
connected your keyboard. Otherwise check your connections and try again.
Adding an IEC port
A diagram of the IEC pins is below. Use a multimeter to make sure you
know which wire goes to which pin.
IEC Port Connector (Female) ![]() |
IEC Cable End (Male) |
Pin | Description |
1 |
SRQ |
2 |
GND |
3 |
ATN |
4 |
CLK |
5 |
DATA |
6 |
RESET |
We're only dealing with GND, ATN, CLK, and DATA, so once you have isolated those wires, strip and tin them, and connect them as shown in the pictures below.
One you have connected them, Connect a drive, power the DTV on, and try to load a directory with LOAD"$",devicenumber. If it works, you are done, if not, check your connections and try again.
I hope you have found this document helpful.
//Six of DLoC - Dec. 3, 2004
http://thedarkside.ath.cx/dtv/ports.html