Keyboard Amiga 6 Pin

6-pin mini-DIN keyboard connector used on the Amiga A4000 and CDTV, carrying bidirectional KDAT and KCLK signals over an open-collector serial interface.

6 PIN MINI-DIN FEMALE 6 PIN MINI-DIN FEMALE (PS/2 STYLE) (A4000/CD32/CDTV) at the computer

PinNameDirDescription
1/DATAIN/OUTData
2n/c-Not connected
3GND-Ground
4+5VOUT+5 Volts DC (100 mA max)
5CLOCKINClock
6n/c-Not connected

The Amiga A4000 and CDTV connect an external keyboard through a 6-pin mini-DIN female socket at the computer, sharing the same physical shell as the PS/2 keyboard connector. The interface carries the synchronous serial keyboard protocol defined in the Amiga Hardware Reference Manual: two open-collector signal lines, KDAT and KCLK, with pull-up resistors present in both the keyboard unit and the host computer. Pins 2 and 6 are unconnected on the A4000/CDTV variant, distinguishing it from the Amiga CD32, which repurposes those positions for a combined serial port. The pin table above applies to the A4000 and CDTV only.

Notes

  • Direction is computer relative to keyboard.
  • Both KDAT (/DATA, pin 1) and KCLK (CLOCK, pin 5) are open-collector lines; pull-up resistors are fitted in both the keyboard microprocessor and the host computer.
  • Signal levels are active-low: +5 V on the line corresponds to logic 0, and 0 V to logic 1.
  • KCLK is unidirectional (driven by the keyboard); KDAT is bidirectional (driven by both keyboard and computer). The computer acknowledges each received byte by pulling KDAT low for at least 85 microseconds.
  • Data is transmitted at approximately 17 kbits/sec (60 µs per bit) in 8-bit serial words with a rotated bit order (transmitted sequence: bits 6-5-4-3-2-1-0-7).
  • Key-down and key-up events are both signalled; the upstroke key code equals the downstroke code plus 0x80.
  • Inside the A4000, KDAT connects to the SP pin of the 8520 CIA-A, and KCLK connects to the CIA-A CNT pin.
  • The Amiga CD32 uses a physically identical 6-pin mini-DIN socket but assigns pin 2 to serial transmit and pin 6 to serial receive; the CD32 pinout is documented on a separate page.

Signals

  • /DATA — Bidirectional keyboard serial data line (active-low open-collector); connects to CIA-A SP pin inside the computer.
  • n/c (pin 2) — Not connected on A4000/CDTV.
  • GND — Signal and power ground.
  • +5V — Power supply to the keyboard unit.
  • CLOCK — Unidirectional keyboard clock output (active-low open-collector); connects to CIA-A CNT pin inside the computer.
  • n/c (pin 6) — Not connected on A4000/CDTV.

References

Category:Input Device Connectors