On Fri, Sep 17, 1999 at 02:29:38AM -0400, William T Wilson wrote: > On Fri, 17 Sep 1999, Aaron Solochek wrote: > > > USB should be fine, it was designed so that you could just plug > > something into it and be ready to go..... However you are not supposed > > to mess with ps/2 while the computer is on... That really doesn't stop > > me, sometimes nothing happens, sometimes the machine reboots... > > The machine will only reboot if you accidentally touch one of the signal > or voltage pins to ground, which is very possible to do with a PS/2 > connector. :} > > It's true that you're not supposed to mess with PS/2 connectors while the > machine is running, but I for the life of me cannot explain why. Other > than the keyboard being confused as to which lights (num lock, etc.) are > supposed to be lit, I have never suffered any ill effects. And even that > goes away the first time you actually press one of those keys...
In contrast, I've killed a computer (requiring a new motherboard) by hot-swapping a PS/2-style mouse. It is a stress on the system -- most of the time you'll get away with it, sometimes it weakens it, and sometimes stuff can break. Don't hot-swap stuff unless the documentation says it'll work, or you're willing to fix it. I think the actual mechanism for damage a mix of overcurrent leading to electromigration and overheating. You'd have to check with an autority on chip reliability to be sure. Jon Leonard
