Document: WM-102                                                 P. Webb
Category: Computing                                           2026-09-05

                Customizing my Compaq MX-11800 keyboard

Abstract

   It took a long time to get this keyboard the way I wanted so here’s
   everything I learned to help you not deal with my nonsense.

Body

   The beginning

      Back in January[1] I bought an Apple Extended Keyboard II from
      eBay and had a blast typing away on old-tech. That keyboard is
      still my main keyboard today. A few months ago though, I was on
      Mastodon and saw a photo of a weird keyboard layout I’d never seen
      before; the Compaq MX-11800[2]. Double function rows, a numpad,
      AND A BUILT-IN MOUSE BALL?!! No way, I absolutely HAD to get
      this thing!

      I went on eBay again, bought one, and thought how cool it’d be to
      also buy custom switches for it too! After doing some research I
      settled on Gateron Milky Yellow Pro[3] V2s…this ALSO meant I’d
      have to buy soldering tools and deal with that for the first time.
      Easy-peasy right? WRONG

   Soldering

      I de-soldered the old switches, soldered the new switches, plugged
      in the keyboard and…only a handful of keys worked. WTF!! I spent
      far too much time trying to figure it out where I went wrong
      because my soldering looked decent.

      Annoyed, I chalked up this failure to my naivete and looked into
      Mill-Max 3305 sockets[4], which allow you to hotswap switches on
      mechanical keyboards. Buying these would cut down on soldering and
      ensure I wouldn’t be locked into a switch type for the board I
      install them into! I also bought another MX-11800 from eBay and
      hoped I wouldn’t destroy this one (in my troubleshooting of the
      first one, I stripped the lil’ rings from several places).

      When the sockets arrived I set out to do a more careful job of
      de-soldering the original switches and soldering the new Mill-Max
      sockets. Added my new Gateron switches, plugged in the
      keyboard and…THE SAME ISSUE OCCURRED. Most of the keys didn’t work
      but the keys that did work WERE THE SAME HANDFUL AS THE FIRST
      BOARD. Relieved I wasn’t a failure of a nerd, I inspected the
      original switches and the new Gateron ones[5]. The Gaterons only
      have two prongs while the original switches have four. The
      originals also have diodes in them.

      So, these four prongs are all doing something which means my fancy
      Gaterons are gonna sit in their container until I buy a MODERN
      keyboard (I did take a keycap off my AEK II when I first got it,
      to put new keycaps on them but the thingies are too wide).

   My beautiful board

      All this to say, I was able to solder the original switches back
      (without issue) and every key works; even the mouse! You got this
      far without seeing how my keyboard looks, here you go!

      

      

      

      I wanted the keyboard to have a classic Mac look so I discovered
      that the color closest to the original Mac color is Pantone’s PMS
      420 C. MyPerfectColor[6] is an online service that will mix you
      any color they have access to, which seems to be no limit. I
      impatiently awaited for delivery. I use a combination of sandpaper
      grit (I think 1000 and 800) before using Rust-Oleum primer,
      letting that sit for a few days, and then the MPC Pantone spray.

      As you can see in my glamour shots though, I forgot to spray the
      mouse buttons (different piece that could detach from the
      keyboard) but the people love it, it looks intentional!

      The keycaps are Classic Light by MVKB[7]. I could not find them
      anywhere and when I was able to give up, I found a distributor in
      Australia who had ’em! Thank you, Keebz N Cables[8]!

   Usage

      Being that the Compaq MX-11800 was typically used in server racks
      running Windows, the typical three-button layout to the left of
      the spacebar doesn’t exist…so how does this work on macOS? I code
      a lot and depend on shortcuts like swapping between tabs in my
      codebase (also, in web browsers). ⌥ + ⌘ + Left/Right is one of
      those shortcuts that’s non-negotiable.

      In Karabiner-Elements I made:

      - left control → left option
      - left option → left command

      I don’t use the Control key often and when I do need it, it’s to
      the right most of the Spacebar. Actually, if I don’t use the Magic
      Trackpad, I need to use right Control to navigate between spaces.
      I also lose the two-finger swipe scroll without the Trackpad so I
      need to use PageUp/Down.

      (FUTURE PAUL EDIT: I apparently use Control to stop local servers
      as well so okay, I use Control a lot. Will take getting used to,
      using this key in a different place.)

      The loss of the third key to the right of the Spacebar throws my
      muscle memory off so I’m often pressing the wrong keys when using
      shortcuts. I may just ignore the trackball if I don’t find a way
      to make it move the cursor further when I flick scroll. There was
      less lateral scrolling to do back when this keyboard was modern!

      Because this is an old keyboard WITH a mouse, I had to look around
      for a dual PS/2 adapter and I finally found one on Newegg[9]. It
      took forEVER to ship and then to get to me. I then needed a USB-A
      to USB-C adapter so as you can imagine, this looks quite silly
      plugged into my Thunderbolt dock.

      

   Something that was supposed to take a few weeks wrt shipping took
   several months because I didn’t know what I didn’t know but now I
   know, y’know? That’s worth something. 🕸️

   

   EDIT: It has occured to me that people may want to see what the
   keyboard looked like before I painted it.