Re: Damned BIOS

From	Rich <rich@example.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.misc
Subject	Re: Damned BIOS
Date	2014-09-02 21:14 +0000
Organization	My Linux Box
Message-ID	<lu5bvm$iio$5@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	(2 earlier) <c6mg0mFrso0U1@mid.individual.net> <c6mhv6Fshr9U1@mid.individual.net> <c6mkqpF1eqaU23@mid.individual.net> <c6mmlpFtklfU1@mid.individual.net> <c6mpfuF1eqaU24@mid.individual.net>

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Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> wrote:
> On Tue, 02 Sep 2014 21:12:35 +0100, polygonum wrote:

> > On 02/09/2014 20:41, Bob Eager wrote:
> >> I never understood that to be a problem withh keyboard ports; only with
> >> mouse ports.
> > 
> > You could be right - I was always paranoid about the possibility and
> > never destroyed a motherboard by not plugging in either when powered up.
> > Hence dead PCs were always created by others who might have said
> > anything about what they did.

> Given that the interface was often via the same chip, I've always 
> wondered. The mouse bit might be (partial) folklore based on blowing up 
> add-on mouse ports in the days before they were standard.

Since the ports were not designed for hot plugging (all pins were equal
length) it was in theory possible to connect at least one data pin and
the power pin before the ground pin made contact.  The result of this
could be an extremely large (compared to normal signal levels) leakage
current from the Vcc supply into the data pins.  This could possibly
burn something out if the something wasn't designed with this current
flow in mind (and it usually wasn't, because there wasn't supposed to
be a floating ground, a hot Vcc, and a current sink over the data pin).

I never tried hot plugging an old ps2 style keyboard, so I have no
first hand knowledge if the theory actually played out in practice

Thread

Damned BIOS Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-02 15:05 +1000
  Re: Damned BIOS Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 08:06 +0000
    Re: Damned BIOS Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-02 19:38 +1000
      Re: Damned BIOS Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 12:06 +0000
        Re: Damned BIOS Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-03 12:15 +1000
      Re: Damned BIOS Johny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2014-09-02 15:39 +0100
        Re: Damned BIOS Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-03 12:22 +1000
          Re: Damned BIOS Scion <a.b@nospam.invalid> - 2014-09-10 10:16 +0000
            Re: Damned BIOS Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2014-09-14 15:27 +1000
              Re: Damned BIOS Johny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2014-09-14 14:25 +0100
    Re: Damned BIOS RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-09-02 18:19 +0000
      Re: Damned BIOS polygonum <rmoudndgers@vrod.co.uk> - 2014-09-02 19:52 +0100
        Re: Damned BIOS Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-02 19:41 +0000
          Re: Damned BIOS polygonum <rmoudndgers@vrod.co.uk> - 2014-09-02 21:12 +0100
            Re: Damned BIOS Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-02 21:00 +0000
              Re: Damned BIOS polygonum <rmoudndgers@vrod.co.uk> - 2014-09-02 22:08 +0100
              Re: Damned BIOS Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 21:14 +0000
              Re: Damned BIOS Will Honea <whonea@whonea.net> - 2014-09-02 23:10 -0600
                Re: Damned BIOS Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-03 05:58 +0000
              Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-14 08:26 +0200
      Re: Damned BIOS Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-09-02 21:09 +0000
  Re: Damned BIOS Johny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2014-09-02 14:29 +0100
    Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-02 16:35 +0200
      Re: Damned BIOS Scion <a.b@nospam.invalid> - 2014-09-10 10:18 +0000
        Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-10 13:46 +0200
          Re: Damned BIOS Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-10 13:00 +0000
            Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-10 19:28 +0200
              Re: Damned BIOS Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-10 19:11 +0000
                Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-14 08:44 +0200
                Re: Damned BIOS Bob Eager <news0002@eager.cx> - 2014-09-14 07:17 +0000
              Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-14 08:33 +0200
        Re: Damned BIOS Johny B Good <johnny-b-good@invalid.ntlworld.com> - 2014-09-10 13:53 +0100
          Re: Damned BIOS Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-09-14 08:30 +0200

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