8 pin mini-DIN female connector at the computer.
The Sun 8-pin mini-DIN keyboard/mouse connector was introduced with the Sun-3/80 (circa 1989) and used across the SPARCstation and Ultra workstation lines through at least 2001. It carries two asynchronous serial channels — one for the keyboard and one for the mouse — on a single connector, operating at 1200 baud with TTL-level signals and a fuse-protected +5 V supply. Type 4, Type 5, and Type 5c keyboards all use this interface; the mouse daisy-chains via a second mini-DIN-8 jack on the keyboard chassis. The official connector component is the Hosiden TCS7587-01-401.
| Pin | Name | Dir | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GND | - | Ground |
| 2 | GND | - | Ground |
| 3 | VCC | OUT | Power , +5 VDC |
| 4 | Mouse In | IN | Mouse In |
| 5 | Keyboard Out | OUT | Keyboard Out |
| 6 | Keyboard In | IN | Keyboard In |
| 7 | Power On | IN | Power On (Configurable as Mouse Out on 3/80, 4300, 4400 and 600MP CPUs!) |
| 8 | VCC | OUT | Power, +5 VDC |
Notes
- Direction is Computer relative Keyboard/Mouse.
- The female mini-DIN-8 socket is on the computer’s main logic board; the keyboard presents a matching male cable.
- All data signals operate at standard TTL levels (logic high min 2.4 V at 0.32 mA source; logic low max 0.4 V at 14 mA sink). The +5 V supply on pins 3 and 8 is protected by a resettable fuse rated at 700 mA maximum keyboard current.
- Serial protocol: asynchronous, negative logic, 1200 baud, 1 start bit, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. Open-collector drivers are terminated with 3.3 kΩ pull-up resistors on the keyboard PCB.
- Pin 7 is the active-low keyboard power-on signal (labelled Kbd-pwk, PowerOn*, or KBD_PWR_ON_L depending on the system manual); pulling it to ground signals a power-on keypress. On earlier systems (Sun-3/80, SPARCstation 4300, 4400, and 600MP) this pin may instead carry mouse transmit data.
Signals
- GND — Signal and power return ground (pins 1 and 2).
- VCC — Fuse-protected +5 VDC supply to keyboard and mouse (pins 3 and 8).
- Mouse In — Asynchronous serial receive data from the mouse, TTL level, 1200 baud.
- Keyboard Out — Asynchronous serial transmit data from host to keyboard (TTL, 1200 baud).
- Keyboard In — Asynchronous serial receive data from keyboard to host (TTL, 1200 baud).
- Power On — Active-low signal driven by the keyboard power key to initiate system power-on; also used as mouse transmit on selected older CPU boards.