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the most cool Mac modification ever

cb911

cb911

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 12, 2002
4,134
4
BrisVegas, Australia
i'm about to attempt the coolest mod that has ever been attempted on a TiBook. i guess your all wondering what i'm going on about, so let me tell you- i was watching The Matrix for about the 30th time the other day and for some reason the keyboard that they use really grabbed my attention. i got a real good look at the keyboard and the different symbol they use on the 'enter' key, and the camera also stayed still long enough for me to see a few of the other symbols they use. then i thought 'whoa, man. thats a really cool keyboard!'
that's when it hit me! i realised that i could get rid of all the letters on my keyboard and replace them with the symbols they use on the Matrix keyboards! this would not be a problem for me, because i can touch type, and it would also stop other from stuffing around on my TiBook.

then i got on the net and had a look to see if i could find any of the symbols or code they use in the Matrix. after a whole morning of looking i didn't find anything, although i did get a font that uses the Matrix code for letters, but i haven't had a look at that yet.

i wanted to ask everyone if they could help me out. i need a nice big photo of a TiBook keyboard, so i can mock up the new keys to see how they will turn out. i would take care of this myself, but i don't have a digital camera yet.
also, any advice on what inks or paint to use on the keys would be apperciated. i was looking at an G3 Powerbook that had been modded, and the guy got a new keyboard, except he got it with absolutely no writing on the keys, completely blank. does anyone know where i could get a TiBook keyboard?

thanks all, i'll keep you updated with the latest.
 
If only...

If you had put this up last week. I had a busted TiBook keyboard at work that I tossed out. I could have taken a rubbing, or just scanned and emailed it to you.

I am searching my resources to see if I can locate an image of one. IF I can, I will let you know (as well as put it up on my homepage for you to pull down). You could print it and enlarge it to as close to real size as you need that way.
 
I'm reserving judgment on which is cooler until cb911 actually gets his done. I slid the files to him for the keyboard, which will assist.
 
Originally posted by Royal Pineapple
"most coo"l dosent sound right to me.
Click to expand...

yeah, it looks wrong to me as well. "most coo"l, i can't quite put my finger on it...
lol :D lol
man, you must be tired.
and i'll do it alright! just you wait.:)

thanks for those pics AlphaTech, i never thought of printing them out.

i also need to know if messing around with the keyboard will void or limit the warranty in any way. i know a few of you are from Australia, so you might be able to tell me how much in AU$ a new TiBook keyboard would cost if something was to go wrong.

now that i have a couple of photos of a TiBooks keyboard (thanks again AlphaTech), all i need so that i can start doing a mock-up is some 'genuine' Matrix code. if anyone has any screen shots (of the code) from the movie or knows where i could get some, let me know will ya? or if i can't find any on the net, i'll just have to watch The Matrix on my TiBook and get the screen shots that way...
 
hey, G4scott!!

i just read your whole 'Best Mac Mod.' thread. it looks pretty cool, but i'll have *genuine* matrix code. i also noticed that your little mod voided your warranty, and that is something i definitely don't want to do. especially because i got my TiBook at education pricing and an education warranty - 3 years.

i really need to know if my little keyboard mod will effect the warranty at all.

i was thinking of getting my hands on a blank keyboard and putting it in myself, but i just went through the PowerBook manual again and i'm guessng that average Joe Bloggs can't do this sort of stuff.
 
important update!

i just found the site where a PowerBook G3 owner purchased a blank keyboard from. it's here digitalhipps.com. you can buy different sets of keys, like just the function keys or the alphabet keys.
i was thinking of getting the alphabet keys and just replacing the ones i have now with the new Matrix keys. i was only going to do this mod to the alphabet keys anyway. but does anyone know if the 'alphabet' set of keys for a G3 PowerBook wil fit a TiBook? it would be really good if they did because i would only have to pay US$29 instead of the US$79 for the whole keyboard.
 
I look forward to see what you come up with. And I'd like to see the faces of any apple techs that had to work on it if you sent it in for repairs.....:D
 
Personally, I wouldn't pull the keys from your TiBook's stock keyboard. If you need to send it in for repair, that could be a major pain to put the original ones back on. It would be far easier to simply change the keyboard.

Which revision of the TiBook do you have?? If you have the latest, they changed the keyboard backing between the previous model and this one.

Spend the few extra $$ and get the full deal made for your laptop. You will be less frustrated with that option. :D
 
would changing the keys be that much of a problem? there are instructons on the digitalhipps website, looks pretty easy. and i only want to take off the alphabet keys, that's simple enough isn't it?

i would buy a full keyboard, but even digitalhipps don't sell the whole thing, they only sell the keys and you have to replace them.
AlphaTech, i've got the latest TiBook. can i even get a Apple keyboard? aren't they too hard to take completely out? it would also be alot cheaper if i just got the alphabet keys.

and i'm getting desprate for the 'code' now. can anyone help?
 
Difficult to take out??? Hell no dude, it's a snap. :D

Lift the keyboard up like you were going to install some more memory, trace the ribbon on it back to the motherboard. See that little connection?? GENTLY pull up and you have removed your keyboard. Do this with it powered off. You should be able to get either an AASP to sell you one, or call apple and say that yours has a key that fell off, or that the 2 w s x keys are not working any longer... :D Chances are VERY high that they will just ship you a new keyboard (and not ask for yours back). :D
 
so your saying that if i just rock up to my local Apple reseller, they'll just sell me another keyboard? that sounds too good to be true!! if i was going to buy one do you have any idea how much they would cost? it wouldn't be worth it if it would cost heaps.
 
Well, since there are no prices listed for it (the PBDVI keyboard), I would say that you just need to talk with them. The old keyboards (PowerBook G3 bronze) list for $70 (US). I can't see the new ones being more then a few dollars more (if at all). The older ones will not work in the new PowerBook, since they changed where it connects to.

I'd suggest calling Apple first, to see if you can fanagle a new/replacement one out of them before you go and try to purchase one.
 
IF you play your cards right, the chances of it happening are high. They DO list the keyboard as an 'user installable part', which means they send it to you. Of all the powerbook keyboards that I have replaced, not once have they asked for the old one back. Not even for desktop systems, which is cool.

Worse case, you won't be able to do it a second time for free (don't f*ck up the original one). I would suggest going with the 'dead keys' scenario. That typically gets a new keyboard sent to you. If they start to say about you needing to send the laptop to them, tell them that you have to have it, cannot live without it... You could tell them that you have to use an external keyboard to use the system until the replacement arrives... :D Apple is not cruel and heartless as most peecee companies. :D
 
okay, so my mod was a little easy, and crude :p

This keyboard mod sounds cool. What would be even cooler, is if someone could make a keyboard (Mac laptop or desktop) to light up. I'm pretty sure you could do it with the Pro Keyboard, seeing as that it has plenty of space in it. A laptop keyboard would be a lot harder, and you'd have to take power constraints into consideration... I just hope you mod works!
 
coolest ever?

seems like you would have to do more than get a new keyboard to make this a cool mod, what else do you ahve planned for the mod?

the matrix font is just japanese characters backwards, with a few roman alphabet characters thrown in for good measure. there is a thread here about some where just doa search for matrix and i think you will find it. there was a guy who knew more about it.

snapping on and off the keyboard keys is incredibly easy. you can do the whole keyboard in about 10 minutes. unless you are an oaf or something you cant screw anything up (and id assume you are good with your hands with you are planning this).

id suggest doing more than just the keyboard though. i mean all you do is buy it from digital hipps. they put the charatcers on it for you and you just snap them in place. nothing fancy about it. id suggest tweaking things out besides the keyboard if you want to have "the coolest mod ever."

people have always wanted a back lit keyboard. if you had a green glow behind the keyboard that would be cool. and add some highlights to the Ti maybe. something really subtle. not too flashy.
 
i just had a look at that neon sheeting and neon cable stuff. looks pretty cool, that's given me a few more ideas. i think i might take my keyboard out and have a look at how much room i have to work with.

AmbitiousLemon, thanks for the info about the Matrix thread. i'll have a look for it now...
 
ok, apparently the Matrix code is made up of katakana reversed and some other letters, reversed of course. i also read in a thread when i was searching that you can use True Type fonts in OS X without doing anything to it. i tried this with a 'matrix code' font that i have and it doesn't show it in Word. the extension is .ttf, should i change it or what?
when i put the font on my Mac i put it in Home>Library>Fonts. is this right?
and does anyone else have a 'matrix code' font that they know works? can i have it?

well i just renamed the font to .dfont and now it has the same icon as the other fonts. i quit word and then restarted it but the matrix font still isn't there. i'm beginning to think that i got a dodgy font...

i'm still looking for something like a matrix code wallpaper, but i haven't had much luck yet. can anyone help me out with that?
forget that last bit.

i'm going to rent The Matrix on dvd tomorrow and watch it on my TiBook, i'll also take some screenshots from the movie.
 
hm, i dont know much about fonts but ill try to find one for you that works. also even though you technically shouldnt have to maybe you should try converting the font to another type. there are apps on vt that should help with that, in fact now that i think of it there are also apps that should be able to check the font for errors and such. once you find the font i would suggest contacting digitalhipps and asking them if they could make a clear or a gree keyboard with that font, they've done custom jobs in the past and i suspect this idea is good enough that they may want to offer it for general sale so they might do it for you.
 
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