9 Nov
2001
9 Nov
'01
8:05 p.m.
On Nov 10, 0:36, Don McClure wrote:
PS/2 doesn't use a ground pin, or pin 2, IIRC.
It does use ground, on pin 3. From (ironically) the IRIX manpage for
pckeyboard:
------
/ 5 3 \
| --- 1 |
| --- 2 |
\ 6 4 /
------
_____________________
|__Pin_Assignments___|
|Pin | Description |
|____|_______________|
| 1 | Data |
| 2 | Reserved |
| 3 | Signal Ground |
| 4 | Power +5V |
| 5 | Clock |
|_6__|_Reserved______|
So I'm going to find small female crimp on
connectors to fasten to the
pins
on a Radio Shack mini-DIN plug, when I can get to an
electronics supply
store. Radio Shack doesn't seem to have them. I just don't solder often
enough to become proficient at it.
I can think of somee alternatives. The first is to buy a cable with 6-pin
miniDIN to bare ends; these usually have all 6 wires connected. Second, an
old SGI or Sun cable, or any other 6-pin miniDIN cable you can cut one end
off, in order to solder a 9-pin D.
Thirdly, you can get heatshrink sleeves that contain solder. I'm not sure
those would be very good to connect straight onto miniDIN plug pins,
because the heat required might melt the plastic, but it might be OK, and
neater and easier than a crimp. They're called "One-Step(TM) Solder
Sleeve(TM)" terminals, and they're made by Tyco/Raychem. You can get them
in the UK from Farnell (http://www.farnell.com) and probably from various
US suppliers (including Farnell, I expect).
Or just buy a cable from one of the SGI resellers, such as Greg Douglas
(www.reputable.com)?
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York