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! 📸[left side of my keyboard][IMG1] 📸[right side of my keyboard, featuring Bean the cat][IMG3] 📸[top view of my keyboard][IMG4] 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. 📸[dongle with a dongle][IMG5] 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. 🕸️ 📸[Bean again, because he slid himself closer while I was taking pics…he clearly wants his fans to know how he's doing][IMG6] References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [IMG1] [IMG2] [IMG3] [IMG4] [IMG5] [IMG6]