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New Product: KeyWiz-QD™ - GroovyGameGear
RandyT:
--- Quote from: Guaranos on May 25, 2007, 07:47:17 am ---I know that it was usually the fuse popping, and not technically the port shorting out, but you can also fry the microcontroller that controls the port itself. I was avoiding making the distinction to save some people's eyes from glazing over, since most people, even some in a technically proficient group like this one, will probably just consider the port "dead."
From the wikipedia article on PS/2 connectors:
"PS/2 ports are designed to connect the digital I/O lines of the microcontroller in the external device directly to the digital lines of the microcontroller on the motherboard. They are not designed to be hot swappable. Hot swapping PS/2 devices usually does not cause damage due to the fact that more modern microcontrollers tend to have more robust I/O lines built into them which are harder to damage; however, hot swapping can still potentially cause damage. Shorting one pin to another on a PS/2 port can easily kill one or both microcontrollers."
The full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS/2_connector
--- End quote ---
But as with most wiki entries, it's not entirely correct and it doesn't tell the whole story. For instance, shorting one pin to another is impossible unless you physically damage the connector. And, unless it's the wrong two pins, namely GROUND and +5v, you still have little to worry about except the broken connector. It also states that "modern microcontrollers have more robust I/O lines that can handle this, yet somehow they can still be damaged ?!? How? Who wrote this and what is their background?
It also goes on to give an example of swapping out a USB mouse for a PS/2 mouse and then the PS/2 mouse won't work. This is related to an OS issue and has nothing to do with the physical properties of the PS/2 port. If the driver wasn't started at boot time, the PS/2 mouse won't have a chance of working. But PS/2 mice and PS/2 keyboard devices are different birds anyway.
I am probably one of the few individuals who can say that they have hot-swapped the PS/2 port on the same system many thousands of times. Every KeyWiz interface is tested, by myself, 100% for functionality before it is shipped, on my trusty old emachines P2. I never turn the machine off to do this and it's still functioning as happily as when it was built so many years ago. With this number of practical, real world hot-swaps, "luck" doesn't enter into the picture.
The nice thing about wikis is that you can fix them ;) (and I did)
RandyT
Tiger-Heli:
I'm probably only in the hundreds of swap times, but never a problem here either.
patrickl:
I did blow a PS/2 port once.
bleargh:
Can't say I've ever blown a PS/2 port, but I've seen several Dell servers that'd lock up entirely if you hotplugged the keyboard. I, uh, even have a few of them...
RandyT:
--- Quote from: patrickl on May 25, 2007, 12:48:31 pm ---I did blow a PS/2 port once.
--- End quote ---
How? (and I'll refrain from the obvious puns.... :laugh2:)
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