On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 11:37:37 -0600, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 12/24/2013 07:30 PM, wrote:

[snip]

The little "adapters" that come with some mice are only plug adapters
and don't change protocols (which are very different). They work only if
the mouse (or KVM switch) is capable of operating in either mode.

No the little adapter that connects a USB mouse to a PS2 port will
connect any PS2 mouse to a USB port - the usb port does the
negotiating.

Maybe you misunderstood. I was talking about a mouse that can operate as
EITHER USB or PS2. THAT MOUSE can operate on either port. Most seem to
be like that now.

I didn't misunderstand. Virtually ANY mouse will work on either PS2 or
USB - a PS2 mouse is recognized by the bios on bootup - a USB mouse is
recognized by the operating system and the USB port drivers negotiate
with the mouse for regognition.

IIRC, the mouse operates as a PS2 device until it receives the
initialization command sent by a USB controller.

My experience has beeh the mouse doesn't operate AT ALL untill the
USB controller recognizes it and the OS installs the driver/starts the
service. Same with the keyboard


That doesn't make sense for the mouse I was describing (one that can
work with the adapters, and needs to be able to work with NO USB port).
There are USB/PS2 keyboards like this too.

If used as PS2 they need to be attached at bootup and recognized by
the bios - if used as USB they can be plugged in at any time and are
recognized by the USB port drivers in the OS. It can take up to
several minutes for a computer to recognize and access a newly
installed USB mouse or keyboard

BTW, I prefer USB on systems that can handle it. A PS2 mouse or keyboad
has to be plugged in while the computer is initializing. USB devices
don't have that limitation. Also, USB connectors don't fall out as easily.

A usb port IS mechanically more robust tan a PS2 connector - but I've
seen both damaged to the point they were unuseable. The big advantage
of USB is if you have ONE available you can connect your keyboard,
mouse, printer, scanner, sound device, and external drive (using a
hub) - while if you damage either the PS2 mouse or keyboard plug you
are TOAST.

On 12/25/2013 11:22 AM, philo wrote:
On 12/25/2013 11:18 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote:

snip
This was one of the limited number of "acer power" computers
that had problems with sound and compatability with certain
printers. It had been put into a low stress application for the
last 6 years - and it's time had come.

The decent rejects get raffled off to employees for home use.
Sometimes hard to get takers for 7 year old or older computers
around here (silicon valley north) (aka "the technology
triangle")

Many of the computers, LCD monitors, mice, keyboards, inkjet and
laser printers, switches, routers, wireless routers and speakers
around the office and house are dumpster rescues or poor abandoned
equipment that needed a good home. That doesn't include the phone
systems. We have a service call tomorrow on a phone system at a
drug store and when we do installations and repairs, all those
rescued parts and equipment can be recycled for use on the job.
^_^

TDD


I tell everyone I know that I will take their old machines. If I end
up with stuff I cannot use, it gets properly recycled. Years ago I'd
find them on the curb all the time...but today the scavengers get
them way before I ever have a chance. For the amount of money they
spend in gas...driving up and down the streets, after a trip to a
junk yard they probably end up with a $5 profit.

If I can't save a dead battery from a UPS, I have a place that takes
them for recycling. The last load got me $60.00. ^_^

TDD

On 12/25/2013 11:40 AM, philo wrote:
On 12/25/2013 11:32 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote:

I picked up 3 non functioning laptops a couple of months ago from a
pawnshop for $100.00. Two HP's and a 17" Toshiba which I was glad
to get. I got the Win7 HP and Win Vista Toshiba working straight
away but the older HP has a problem recognizing the hard drive.
The Toshiba has no problems now and the Win7 HP needs a battery
which I can get from Amazon for very little money. I do LCD panel
replacements on laptops for people who've smashed them but I see
if it all works on an external monitor first. ^_^

TDD

Some guy gave me eight non-working laptops, one needed a new
mini-SSD but the rest were "beyond economical repair". A few weeks
later a friend came over who had a bad keyboard on his machine and
I'll be darned I had an exact replacement and got him going in about
a half hour.


There are sites on the web where I've bought parts for out of production
computer equipment where the seller has parts removed from older
equipment, It's akin to an auto wrecking yard and a good idea for
a business that has older stuff that still works and does the job. Not
that too many years ago I had customers who were still running DOS
because it just worked. o_O

TDD

"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...

There are sites on the web where I've bought parts for out of production
computer equipment where the seller has parts removed from older
equipment, It's akin to an auto wrecking yard and a good idea for
a business that has older stuff that still works and does the job. Not
that too many years ago I had customers who were still running DOS because
it just worked. o_O


I have two old laptops that run win 98 and DOS not because I want to, but
because to program some other older equipment that is all that will work.

Not too long ago where I worked there was a search for an old PS2 type 3.5
inch floppy drive so it could be used on an expensive piece of lab
equipment.

Industry tends to hold on to equipment for a long time.





---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com

On 12/25/2013 1:03 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

"The Daring Dufas" wrote in
message ...

There are sites on the web where I've bought parts for out of
production computer equipment where the seller has parts removed
from older equipment, It's akin to an auto wrecking yard and a
good idea for a business that has older stuff that still works and
does the job. Not that too many years ago I had customers who were
still running DOS because it just worked. o_O


I have two old laptops that run win 98 and DOS not because I want
to, but because to program some other older equipment that is all
that will work.

Not too long ago where I worked there was a search for an old PS2
type 3.5 inch floppy drive so it could be used on an expensive piece
of lab equipment.

Industry tends to hold on to equipment for a long time.

Some of the things I work on that have old tech are control systems,
routers and phone systems. A lot of the stuff still has RS-232 serial
interface connections and 3.5" floppies. I have actually seen mini USB
ports next to the serial console port on newer Cisco routers and
switches. It took them a while to take a hint but there is so much gear
out in the world which works on older tech. I believe I read something
about The International Space Station being controlled by something akin
to DOS software. It's not DOS but something similar that can be found in
a lot of aerospace systems. The darn laptops the astronauts bring to the
station have much more computing power than the computer that runs the
space station. ^_^

TDD

On 12/25/13 12:15 pm, philo wrote:

In my experience over 4 decades or so, is that "heat" is the enemy of
any electronic gear especially computer systems.

Absolutely!


I am sure the drives I've replaced on machines run 24/7 failed due to
heat rather than simply "being on" all the time. They were set to "spin
down" after and hour or so of non-use.

Spinning down and starting up again may be good for the electricity
bill, but it's not so good for the drives.

Prce

On 12/25/2013 11:33 AM, philo wrote:

The chance of malware physically damaging a hard drive is probably not
possible. I have seen on very rare occasions where a partition table got
corrupted...but using a partition editor, was able to fix it.

Two computer wizzards could not. So, next time
I'll mail them to you.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

OK, I'm convincing myself that there's no point fighting against the inexorable change in technology, like I have been doing by trying to keep this two port PS2 KVM switch running. It's going to become harder and harder as fewer and fewer computers come with PS2 ports, and fewer and fewer PS2 keyboards and mice are manufactured.

Probably the most practical solution is to swallow hard, open my wallet and buy a USB KVM switch, USB mouse and USB keyboard.

But, isn't it likely that in 5 or 10 years, USB ports are going to become obsolete, and I'll be in much the same situation all over again? If that's the case, I might be better off to just wait to see what's likely to replace USB ports, and see if I can get a KVM switch that uses that new kind of port.

The other side of the coin is that nowadays, just about everything uses USB ports; my cell phone has a micro USB port where I plug the charger in, my digital camera has a mini USB port to upload photos onto my computer, my multifunction printer uses yet another kind of USB port. And, from what I can see, there's a consious effort being made to make each new generation of USB port backward compatable with those that came before. So, with such a huge existing base of USB peripherals, computer makers will undoubtedly be equipping their computers with USB ports for a very long time to come; in which case a USB KVM switch should last me a very long time, perhaps the rest of my life.

Also, I buy a new computer every 4 or 5 years because even old refurbished Pentium IV's have all the capability I need anyway. It would be nice to have a 4 port KVM switch instead of just the two port one I have now. That way, I could keep using my old computers rather than just scrapping them. But, I really don't know what I'd use those two extra computers for. Perhaps merely for back-up in case my business computer crashes.

nestork writes:

OK, I'm convincing myself that technology has changed, and that trying
to keep using that PS2 KVM switch is going to continue to be an uphill
battle.

Probably the most practical solution is to buy a USB KVM switch, USB
mouse and USB keyboard.

But, isn't it likely that in 5 or 10 years, USB ports are going to
become obsolete, and I'll be in much the same situation all over again?
If that's the case, I might be better off to just wait to see what's
likely to replace USB ports, and see if I can get a KVM switch that uses
that kind of port. The other side of the coin is that there are so many
peripherals that use USB that it's likely that computer makers will have
USB ports on their computers for a very long time because there will
continue to be a demand for them for a long time. So far as I know, it
was only mice and keyboards that used PS2 ports. Nowadays, everything,
including printers, cell phones and digital cameras use one kind of USB
port or another.

Not quite that simple.

I just bought a 2 way KVM.
It does USB and DVI. It also handles audio
but I'm not using that.

I think USB will be around for a long time, but they keep
speeding it up, USB, USB-2, USB-3, USB 3.1.
Fortunately for a mouse and keyboard, the higher speed USB standards
don't seem to come into play.

Video on the other hand...

--
Dan Espen

Yes, but my understanding is that any "SERIAL" port, by definition only sends one bit of data at a time; not even a whole byte; only one lousy bit. For something like a mouse or keyboard, that's all you need because MOST of the computer's time is spent waiting for you to press the next key on the keyboard or following the mouse's motion and waiting for you to click one button or the other. You can get away with sending one bit at a time when computer clock speeds are measured in Megahertz and typing speed is measured in five alphanumeric character strings, or "words" per MINUTE.

But, wouldn't USB, being a serial port, be inherently too slow for video? To my knowledge, video ports haven't changed since I bought my first computer back in 1991. So, why not just keep using the VGA ports they use now? They seem to perform adequately. Why try to turn a tortoise into a hare by trying to push a video signal through a serial port?

On Thu, 26 Dec 2013 04:08:49 +0100, nestork
wrote:


'Dan Espen[_2_ Wrote:
;3172395']
Not quite that simple.

I just bought a 2 way KVM.
It does USB and DVI. It also handles audio
but I'm not using that.

I think USB will be around for a long time, but they keep
speeding it up, USB, USB-2, USB-3, USB 3.1.
Fortunately for a mouse and keyboard, the higher speed USB standards
don't seem to come into play.

Video on the other hand...

--
Dan Espen

Yes, but my understanding is that any "SERIAL" port, by definition only
sends one bit of data at a time; not even a whole byte; only one lousy
bit. For something like a mouse or keyboard, that's all you need
because MOST of the computer's time is spent waiting for you to press
the next key on the keyboard or following the mouse's motion and waiting
for you to click one button or the other. You can get away with sending
one bit at a time when computer clock speeds are measured in Megahertz
and typing speed is measured in five alphanumeric character strings, or
"words" per MINUTE.

But, wouldn't USB, being a serial port, be inherently too slow for
video? To my knowledge, video ports haven't changed since I bought my
first computer back in 1991. So, why not just keep using the VGA ports
they use now? They seem to perform adequately. Why try to turn a
tortoise into a hare by trying to push a video signal through a serial
port?
I ru n usb video on computers all the time as second displays -
usingUSB2VGA2 adapters. Might not do full motion photo realistic
gaming too well - I've never tried it. I believe USB3 is faster than
the old parallel printer interface.

On 12/25/2013 12:09 PM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
O


I tell everyone I know that I will take their old machines. If I end
up with stuff I cannot use, it gets properly recycled. Years ago I'd
find them on the curb all the time...but today the scavengers get
them way before I ever have a chance. For the amount of money they
spend in gas...driving up and down the streets, after a trip to a
junk yard they probably end up with a $5 profit.

If I can't save a dead battery from a UPS, I have a place that takes
them for recycling. The last load got me $60.00. ^_^

TDD



Yep, I was in the industrial battery business before I retired and the
company made a lot of money from the scrap batteries....

On 12/25/2013 04:07 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 12/25/2013 11:33 AM, philo wrote:

The chance of malware physically damaging a hard drive is probably not
possible. I have seen on very rare occasions where a partition table got
corrupted...but using a partition editor, was able to fix it.

Two computer wizzards could not. So, next time
I'll mail them to you.




Just let me know...my gmail addy is philo565

I never charge for a job if I'm not successful.

I am fairly good at data recovery but do not have "clean room"
facilities here, so if the drive does not spin up there is nothing I can do.



If the drive has read/write errors or file system corruption I can often
get most of the data back.

On 12/25/2013 05:11 PM, nestork wrote:

OK, I'm convincing myself that technology has changed, and that trying
to keep using that PS2 KVM switch is going to continue to be an uphill
battle.

Probably the most practical solution is to buy a USB KVM switch, USB
mouse and USB keyboard.

But, isn't it likely that in 5 or 10 years, USB ports are going to
become obsolete, and I'll be in much the same situation all over again?
If that's the case, I might be better off to just wait to see what's
likely to replace USB ports, and see if I can get a KVM switch that uses
that kind of port. The other side of the coin is that there are so many
peripherals that use USB that it's likely that computer makers will have
USB ports on their computers for a very long time because there will
continue to be a demand for them for a long time. So far as I know, it
was only mice and keyboards that used PS2 ports. Nowadays, everything,
including printers, cell phones and digital cameras use one kind of USB
port or another.







Yes, if both of you machines are USB only you might as well get a
USB-capable KVM now.

On 12/25/2013 01:03 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...

There are sites on the web where I've bought parts for out of production
computer equipment where the seller has parts removed from older
equipment, It's akin to an auto wrecking yard and a good idea for
a business that has older stuff that still works and does the job. Not
that too many years ago I had customers who were still running DOS because
it just worked. o_O


I have two old laptops that run win 98 and DOS not because I want to, but
because to program some other older equipment that is all that will work.

Not too long ago where I worked there was a search for an old PS2 type 3.5
inch floppy drive so it could be used on an expensive piece of lab
equipment.

Industry tends to hold on to equipment for a long time.





Yep, I just worked on a computer that controlled a laser cutting
machine...it was running OS/2

The hard drive was bad and I was able to replace it, reload OS/2 and
even reload their software,,,but all their custom setting were lost so
it was an unsuccessful repair.


I ended up not charging them.



As to those 3.5" drives...those used on IBM PS2's are extremely rare

If you still need a floppy for a PS2 you should try


comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware it's got a number of collectors there

On 12/25/2013 11:15 PM, philo wrote:
On 12/25/2013 12:09 PM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
O


I tell everyone I know that I will take their old machines. If I
end up with stuff I cannot use, it gets properly recycled. Years
ago I'd find them on the curb all the time...but today the
scavengers get them way before I ever have a chance. For the
amount of money they spend in gas...driving up and down the
streets, after a trip to a junk yard they probably end up with a
$5 profit.

If I can't save a dead battery from a UPS, I have a place that
takes them for recycling. The last load got me $60.00. ^_^

TDD

Yep, I was in the industrial battery business before I retired and
the company made a lot of money from the scrap batteries....

I sometimes get electronic advertising displays from stores that are
headed for the dumpster because I can reuse blinking light and such to
make toys for me and other kids. I got a really neat 7" LCD video
advertizing unit that played a video with sound when a shopper pushed a
blinking button. It has a big battery pack with alkaline D cells. All
the parts can be used for many things and I'm amazed at all the
electronic stuff that hits dumpsters at retail stores. There are
probably customer returns that have something simple wrong with them
that the manufacturer doesn't want back, gives the store credit and
tells them to dispose of it. I remember the junk table at Radio Shack
being a gold mine for all sorts of stuff. ^_^

TDD

On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 23:35:39 -0600, philo* wrote:

On 12/25/2013 01:03 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...

There are sites on the web where I've bought parts for out of production
computer equipment where the seller has parts removed from older
equipment, It's akin to an auto wrecking yard and a good idea for
a business that has older stuff that still works and does the job. Not
that too many years ago I had customers who were still running DOS because
it just worked. o_O


I have two old laptops that run win 98 and DOS not because I want to, but
because to program some other older equipment that is all that will work.

Not too long ago where I worked there was a search for an old PS2 type 3.5
inch floppy drive so it could be used on an expensive piece of lab
equipment.

Industry tends to hold on to equipment for a long time.





Yep, I just worked on a computer that controlled a laser cutting
machine...it was running OS/2

The hard drive was bad and I was able to replace it, reload OS/2 and
even reload their software,,,but all their custom setting were lost so
it was an unsuccessful repair.


I ended up not charging them.



As to those 3.5" drives...those used on IBM PS2's are extremely rare

If you still need a floppy for a PS2 you should try


comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware it's got a number of collectors there

Try finding one for the infamoud PS1 - - - - -

On 12/26/2013 08:43 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote:

Yep, I was in the industrial battery business before I retired and
the company made a lot of money from the scrap batteries....

I sometimes get electronic advertising displays from stores that are
headed for the dumpster because I can reuse blinking light and such to
make toys for me and other kids. I got a really neat 7" LCD video
advertizing unit that played a video with sound when a shopper pushed a
blinking button. It has a big battery pack with alkaline D cells. All
the parts can be used for many things and I'm amazed at all the
electronic stuff that hits dumpsters at retail stores. There are
probably customer returns that have something simple wrong with them
that the manufacturer doesn't want back, gives the store credit and
tells them to dispose of it. I remember the junk table at Radio Shack
being a gold mine for all sorts of stuff. ^_^

TDD



When my daughter was a kid I took a small , discarded control panel home
from work and mounted it on a board and added all kinds of buttons and
switches. They went to lights, buzzers and bells on the panel and to
locations all over her room.

It was her favorite toy and the had a very hard time getting the adults
who came over to stop playing with it.


I still have an in-house intercom system made from three different
'crank' phones.

nestork writes:

'Dan Espen[_2_ Wrote:
;3172395']
Not quite that simple.

I just bought a 2 way KVM.
It does USB and DVI. It also handles audio
but I'm not using that.

I think USB will be around for a long time, but they keep
speeding it up, USB, USB-2, USB-3, USB 3.1.
Fortunately for a mouse and keyboard, the higher speed USB standards
don't seem to come into play.

Video on the other hand...

--
Dan Espen

Yes, but my understanding is that any "SERIAL" port, by definition only
sends one bit of data at a time; not even a whole byte; only one lousy
bit. For something like a mouse or keyboard, that's all you need
because MOST of the computer's time is spent waiting for you to press
the next key on the keyboard or following the mouse's motion and waiting
for you to click one button or the other. You can get away with sending
one bit at a time when computer clock speeds are measured in Megahertz
and typing speed is measured in five alphanumeric character strings, or
"words" per MINUTE.

But, wouldn't USB, being a serial port, be inherently too slow for
video? To my knowledge, video ports haven't changed since I bought my
first computer back in 1991. So, why not just keep using the VGA ports
they use now? They seem to perform adequately. Why try to turn a
tortoise into a hare by trying to push a video signal through a serial
port?

I suppose serial ports have their advantages,
they're used even for disk (Sata). Probably their simplicity.

Anything digital is going to be more accurate.

Here's a page I found discussing VGA vs. DVI:

http://www.diffen.com/difference/DVI_vs_VGA

I changed my setup from VGA to DVI a long time ago.
I can't say I see a visible difference.

--
Dan Espen

On 12/26/2013 10:25 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 23:35:39 -0600, philo wrote:

On 12/25/2013 01:03 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

"The Daring Dufas" wrote in message
...

There are sites on the web where I've bought parts for out of production
computer equipment where the seller has parts removed from older
equipment, It's akin to an auto wrecking yard and a good idea for
a business that has older stuff that still works and does the job. Not
that too many years ago I had customers who were still running DOS because
it just worked. o_O


I have two old laptops that run win 98 and DOS not because I want to, but
because to program some other older equipment that is all that will work.

Not too long ago where I worked there was a search for an old PS2 type 3.5
inch floppy drive so it could be used on an expensive piece of lab
equipment.

Industry tends to hold on to equipment for a long time.





Yep, I just worked on a computer that controlled a laser cutting
machine...it was running OS/2

The hard drive was bad and I was able to replace it, reload OS/2 and
even reload their software,,,but all their custom setting were lost so
it was an unsuccessful repair.


I ended up not charging them.



As to those 3.5" drives...those used on IBM PS2's are extremely rare

If you still need a floppy for a PS2 you should try


comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware it's got a number of collectors there

Try finding one for the infamoud PS1 - - - - -



I only have one PS1 and one PS2 left and definitely do not want to part
then out...try that newsgroup I mentioned.

On Thu, 26 Dec 2013 04:08:49 +0100, nestork
wrote:


'Dan Espen[_2_ Wrote:
;3172395']
Not quite that simple.

I just bought a 2 way KVM.
It does USB and DVI. It also handles audio
but I'm not using that.

I think USB will be around for a long time, but they keep
speeding it up, USB, USB-2, USB-3, USB 3.1.
Fortunately for a mouse and keyboard, the higher speed USB standards
don't seem to come into play.

Video on the other hand...

--
Dan Espen

Yes, but my understanding is that any "SERIAL" port, by definition only
sends one bit of data at a time; not even a whole byte; only one lousy
bit. For something like a mouse or keyboard, that's all you need
because MOST of the computer's time is spent waiting for you to press
the next key on the keyboard or following the mouse's motion and waiting
for you to click one button or the other. You can get away with sending
one bit at a time when computer clock speeds are measured in Megahertz
and typing speed is measured in five alphanumeric character strings, or
"words" per MINUTE.

But, wouldn't USB, being a serial port, be inherently too slow for
video?

Note that video ports are also serial. Serial ports can easily be
faster than parallel ports. In fact, the faster interfaces are
serial.

To my knowledge, video ports haven't changed since I bought my
first computer back in 1991.

They've changed a lot. They use much higher bit rates to support
larger monitors at deeper colors.

So, why not just keep using the VGA ports
they use now? They seem to perform adequately. Why try to turn a
tortoise into a hare by trying to push a video signal through a serial
port?

Video *is* a serial port.

On 12/26/2013 10:39 AM, Dan Espen wrote:

[snip]

I suppose serial ports have their advantages,
they're used even for disk (Sata). Probably their simplicity.

PCI Express is serial.

Apparently there's a problem with parallel at really high speeds. It
becomes impossible to guarantee that all bits are present during the
increasingly narrow window.

[snip]

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always
declares that it is his duty." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 20:01:44 -0800, mike wrote:

On 12/24/2013 2:04 PM, Oren wrote:
On Tue, 24 Dec 2013 01:42:24 -0800, mike wrote:

I never learned whether teamviewer sends info thru their servers
or just uses them to set up a direct connection. That could make
a big difference for local use.

PDF:

After the handshake through our master servers, in 70% of
the cases a direct connection via UDP or TCP is established (even
behind standard gateways, NATs and firewalls). The rest of the
connections are routed through our highly redundant router network via
TCP or http-tunnelling.

Yep that's it. If the data has to go out thru my isp and back in to
get to my intranet, performance sucks.

The encrypted tunnel packets are small. I figure.

If it doesn't, I don't need teamviewer at all.

TeamVeiwer is an option.

I don't like anybody having access to my computers if it's not
necessary. VNC is all you need locally.

I can't remember the last time I used a remote software, um, um,
pcAnywhere? LOL

On Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:25:10 -0600, Mark Lloyd
wrote:

On 12/26/2013 10:39 AM, Dan Espen wrote:

[snip]

I suppose serial ports have their advantages,
they're used even for disk (Sata). Probably their simplicity.

PCI Express is serial.

Apparently there's a problem with parallel at really high speeds. It
becomes impossible to guarantee that all bits are present during the
increasingly narrow window.

Exactly correct. Even very high speed "parallel" busses will have
many clocks such that not as many bits have to make it within the
narrow clock window. Others will measure the delay on each data
channel so the delay on each channel can be "normalized", so they can
all reach the destination at the same time. Serial is much easier.
The clock is even encoded in the data so there is no "skew" even
between the clock and the one bit.

On 12/26/2013 10:35 AM, philo wrote:
On 12/26/2013 08:43 AM, The Daring Dufas wrote:

Yep, I was in the industrial battery business before I retired
and the company made a lot of money from the scrap batteries....

I sometimes get electronic advertising displays from stores that
are headed for the dumpster because I can reuse blinking light and
such to make toys for me and other kids. I got a really neat 7" LCD
video advertizing unit that played a video with sound when a
shopper pushed a blinking button. It has a big battery pack with
alkaline D cells. All the parts can be used for many things and I'm
amazed at all the electronic stuff that hits dumpsters at retail
stores. There are probably customer returns that have something
simple wrong with them that the manufacturer doesn't want back,
gives the store credit and tells them to dispose of it. I remember
the junk table at Radio Shack being a gold mine for all sorts of
stuff. ^_^

TDD

When my daughter was a kid I took a small , discarded control panel
home from work and mounted it on a board and added all kinds of
buttons and switches. They went to lights, buzzers and bells on the
panel and to locations all over her room.

It was her favorite toy and the had a very hard time getting the
adults who came over to stop playing with it.

I still have an in-house intercom system made from three different
'crank' phones.

I'm glad to see young folks hacking all sorts of technical stuff and
experimenting with electronics but the majority of electronics isn't
constructed with discrete components anymore which can make it much
harder to play with. I had a huge collection of DIP IC's that I picked
up from the Radio Shack junk tables. My favorite DIP chips are the 555
timer, the LM741 op-amp and LM380 audio amp. My favorite voltage
regulators have been the LM78XX TO220, LM317 TO220 and TO3. Switching
regulators are much more efficient but I like the simplicity of the 78XX
and LM317 three terminal regulators. I've had piles of new parts and
have lost piles of new parts to experiment with and use for repairs.
Darn, I have to setup a bench again. ^_^

TDD

nestork writes:


Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Both computers are working fine, so there's no rush to do anything.

I like Philo's idea of the PS2 card. I can put one PS2 card in each

computer to provide the PS2 ports I need. The only problem is that PS2

mice and keyboards are also going the way of the dinosaur, although I

expect that I'll still be able to buy them for years to come.

But, providing PS2 ports in each computer provides for another

consideration I failed to mention in my original post. I use one

computer for business and the other for all of my activities on the

internet. If I ever get a virus on my internet computer, I simply

reformat the hard drive and reload Windows XP. I'm wanting to retain

that feature so that a) I never have to worry about having to deal with

a virus on my business computer, and b) I can quickly and easily deal

with viruses on my internet computer by simply reformatting the hard

drive and reloading Windows XP.

Thanks again, everyone.

You'd be better off just running the 'internet machine' as a virtual
machine on the same machine as the business system. The virtual machine
can be reinstalled anytime, just like real hardware. See VirtualBox.

No, I wouldn't.

While you may be technically correct, you need to realize that I don't understand what a "virtual machine" is, and so I wouldn't know whether a virus picked up on the virtual web surfing computer inside my business computer could somehow migrate into my business computer and cause me a lot of problems. And if I don't KNOW for sure that can't happen, I'm not willing to take the risk.

By having two separate machines, then I'm at least technically savvy enough to know that computer viruses are not contagious, and can't migrate from one computer to the next by mere virtue of their proximity to one another. I always use my old computers for surfing anyway, and so it doesn't cost me anything to use a separate computer for internet surfing. But, it greatly reduces my chances of getting a virus on my business computer if I use a completely separate computer for web surfing.

So, I'd be better off with two separate computers because I'd sleep better and not have to worry about viruses.

I think I'm just going to buy a good quality 4 port USB KVM switch, and keep reformatting the hard drive on my surfing computer if and when I collect any viruses and/or malware. That's a simple solution that I understand and that has worked very effectively for me for many years.