General Computer Thread

[Gingerbread Demon]

My new motherboard purchased last year still has a ps/2 port but it's a combo port purple and green but I don't have anything to plug into it to test it. it's supposed to support keyboard and mouse at once but I've never tried that kind of ps/2 port.

 

[Finn]

The mouse/trackpad isn't working on my Gateway laptop (GWTN156-1. The cursor/pointer isn't visible and I tried the function keys but nothing happened. The external mouse won't work/show up as well.

I tried googling, but the results I came across didn't help. Does anyone here have suggestions?

Thank you

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The mouse/trackpad isn't working on my Gateway laptop (GWTN156-1. The cursor/pointer isn't visible and I tried the function keys but nothing happened. The external mouse won't work/show up as well.

I tried googling, but the results I came across didn't help. Does anyone here have suggestions?

Thank you

Did you try the usual thing of reboot with devices plugged in or reboot then plug mouse back in? Is the external mouse corded or wireless?

 

[Finn]

Did you try the usual thing of reboot with devices plugged in or reboot then plug mouse back in? Is the external mouse corded or wireless?

Yes. As far can I tell, the computer is running just fine but the mouse/trackpad isn't working and no cursor visible.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

My new motherboard purchased last year still has a ps/2 port but it's a combo port purple and green but I don't have anything to plug into it to test it. it's supposed to support keyboard and mouse at once but I've never tried that kind of ps/2 port.

The combo PS/2 ports usually need a splitter so you can use both your PS/2 KB & Mice at the same time.

Look at the wikipedia link for images of the splitter.

The splitters are usually dirt cheap or included. Those are very useful to have those dual Purple/Green ports become true Dual PS/2 ports.

The Purple side is the KB side and are the Even # pins
The Green side is the Mouse side and are the Odd # pins

Ergo the need for a splitter to make use of both KB & mice.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The combo PS/2 ports usually need a splitter so you can use both your PS/2 KB & Mice at the same time.

Look at the wikipedia link for images of the splitter.

The splitters are usually dirt cheap or included. Those are very useful to have those dual Purple/Green ports become true Dual PS/2 ports.

The Purple side is the KB side and are the Even # pins
The Green side is the Mouse side and are the Odd # pins

Ergo the need for a splitter to make use of both KB & mice.

Oh I know that just I have no devices to try the port. I've had ps2/ keyboards and mice in the past, just nothing here right now. I didn't think a board from 2021 would still offer that.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Oh I know that just I have no devices to try the port. I've had ps2/ keyboards and mice in the past, just nothing here right now. I didn't think a board from 2021 would still offer that.

The way IBM designed the PS/2 port, it has certain technical advantages that are hard to beat due to it's inherent design.

And many companies like it because you don't have to worry about USB Security where your firmware on your USB KB/Mouse can get compromised. You can just turn off / lock down all your USB ports and still have a functional computer with PS/2 KB & mice

 

[Marc]

Yes. As far can I tell, the computer is running just fine but the mouse/trackpad isn't working and no cursor visible.

almost as if it doesn’t detect any pointing device.
Might be shorter way but not on my pc at the moment.

If You’re running a later version of windows, hit the windows & S, type in device manager. When it opens you might need to tab to get into the list but use the down arrow key and check both human interface devices and pointing devices to see if the touch pad and mouse are detected and working fine.

You could have a corruption in the software or a driver has gone awol.

If you unplug the mouse/move it to a different port, does windows indicate it’s detected your actions with a pop up?

if you have device manager open it should also show.

 

[think]

made a friend that his work gave him a 500 core computer --- to experiment with --- OMG I am like do this do that- LOL
telling him to do differential fractal VR designs for fun =--= ahhhh 500 cores and the GPU there are even more than that - he was like I don't know what to do with it LOL I am like can you do this with it.. --- oh a meme too

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Old joke but can it run Crysis?

 

[Marc]

made a friend that his work gave him a 500 core computer --- to experiment with --- OMG I am like do this do that- LOL
telling him to do differential fractal VR designs for fun =--= ahhhh 500 cores and the GPU there are even more than that - he was like I don't know what to do with it LOL I am like can you do this with it.. --- oh a meme too

View attachment 28533

Sorry neither claim is accurate. A lot of older programs won't install on the lastest version of Windows and MacOS didn't exist 25 years ago and ignores the hardware changes from PowerPC to Intel to ARM/Apple M series.

and speaking of hardware changes decided to move my server from 2RU to 4 RU rack mount because there are times when 2RU is a pain and Supermicro cases are can be noisey little buggers.

Moving the server was no problems but decided to move my main pc from an old 4RU to the 2RU (it can live with a 450w PSU). Problem was the board it M-ITX so the 8pin EPS-12v cable wouldn't reach.

Oh and it's tight fit!!

the tragedy struck. Moved everything back to the old case and found that it was possible to put the molex connector for my 4x2.5 drives around the wrong way. My SSD are toast and will need to get a new drive and do a rebuild.

Need to tidy my cables but will do that next week when I have some time. Also think I need a HSF for the second CPU as it's running hot and not helped by PSU fan blowing on it.

 

[Santaman]

^^ PSU fans are suckers, they blow air out of the casing, as for the HSF Supermicro makes HSF's for rack computers they have types with active cooling.

 

[Marc]

^^ PSU fans are suckers, they blow air out of the casing, as for the HSF Supermicro makes HSF's for rack computers they have types with active cooling.

This one seems to be blowing the air and yes I know they have HSFs but have you looked at the prices and the noise levels?

You want quiet and the bastards charge you extra

There's a Noctua that would do nicely but you have to contact them for an adapter kit (which is free but still a pain) as SM use narrow socket 2011 rather than square (thank you intel for once again come out with 2 standards).

New server case so might quieter than the old one but it's probably not running the fans as hard (the Supermicros ran around 3500rpm, Roswill has 3 x 120mm and 2 x 80mm but they're molex rather than 4pin PWM so can't get any RPM figures).

 

[Santaman]

^^ Yeah.. Supermicro is not cheap, I also assume that these server grade heatsinks with fan won't be quiet either.. yeah, so the Noctua with adapter kit might be the way to go.
PWM fans can be more quiet indeed, depends also on the fan's PWM profile though.

 

[Marc]

^^ Yeah.. Supermicro is not cheap, I also assume that these server grade heatsinks with fan won't be quiet either.. yeah, so the Noctua with adapter kit might be the way to go.
PWM fans can be more quiet indeed, depends also on the fan's PWM profile though.

lasts well though.

I got the 2RU case back in 2012 and it's run pretty much non-stop since though i've upgrade the motherboard going from a single E3 to dual e5s on a second hand motherboard that's almost as old as the case.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

the tragedy struck. Moved everything back to the old case and found that it was possible to put the molex connector for my 4x2.5 drives around the wrong way. My SSD are toast and will need to get a new drive and do a rebuild.

Molex Connectors are notched and have 45° slants on 2x edges that prevents it from going in the wrong way.

You would literally have to be using ALOT of brute force to shove them in the wrong way.

 

[Marc]

Molex Connectors are notched and have 45° slants on 2x edges that prevents it from going in the wrong way.

You would literally have to be using ALOT of brute force to shove them in the wrong way.

after 30+ years of dealing with computers for a living I know that hence being surprised it happen.

And no I didn’t use a lot of force.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

after 30+ years of dealing with computers for a living I know that hence being surprised it happen.

And no I didn’t use a lot of force.

As a fellow 30+ year PC fixing vet, I'm surprised it happened as well.

 

[Santaman]

Depends on it, some Molex connectors can become a bit wobbly, I've got a few very old PSU's that have molex connectors that you, by accident, could plug in wrong, I think with age/heat the plastic will deform/shrink maybe enough to make it possible, as for a server environment, that would probably accelerate the process a bit because the machines are run 24/7/365.

 

[Santaman]

Grmmph, one of my machines was in need of a new BIOS battery, so I opened it up and discovered that it used one of those laptop thingies with the battery attached to a pair of wires which plugs into a tiny socket on the mainboard.. so the heap of good CR-2032 batteries I have were useless.. until I remembered that I have a few broken mainboards around.. which have a battery socket.
Ripped a socket off one of the broken boards and soldered the wires to it so now it has a battery socket on a wire which means that next time the battery is empty I can just replace it with a standard CR-2032..