USB or serial, I can't tell

[richmac]

My keyboard has an original USB connection, but to make way for the digital
camera viewer, it's now connected to a serial port via adaptor.

When asked, should I say it's USB or serial?

rich

[Earl F. Parrish]

"richmac" > wrote in message
...
> My keyboard has an original USB connection, but to make way for
the digital
> camera viewer, it's now connected to a serial port via adaptor.
>
> When asked, should I say it's USB or serial?
>
> rich
>
>

As far as I know there are no serial-connected keyboards which work
with PCs. They are either USB, PS2 or the older larger connector
which was called DIN. A keyboard has to be connected to a port
which is live almost as soon as the power is turned on. Serial
ports are activated later in the POST process. You would not be
able to strike a key to get into the BIOS or to tell the computer to
boot from the CD-ROM drive. Additionally the IRQ for the serial
ports does not have a high enough priority for the keyboard
controller which is normally set at IRQ 1.

You probably meant a PS2 port. Many of the current herd of mice
will work on the PS2 port or USB port. I would expect the same
thing with keyboards. Some mice will also connect to a serial port.

--
Earl F. Parrish

[richmac]

Thank you. You're right, of course.
So the question is, if asked, what do I call a keyboard/mouse that is USB
plugged into PS2 adpator into the computer.
Do I say it's USB or PS2?

As a matter of fact, would using an adaptor change the internal workings of
an appliance at all?

rich

"Earl F. Parrish" > ???
???...
>
> "richmac" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My keyboard has an original USB connection, but to make way for
> the digital
> > camera viewer, it's now connected to a serial port via adaptor.
> >
> > When asked, should I say it's USB or serial?
> >
> > rich
> >
> >
>
> As far as I know there are no serial-connected keyboards which work
> with PCs. They are either USB, PS2 or the older larger connector
> which was called DIN. A keyboard has to be connected to a port
> which is live almost as soon as the power is turned on. Serial
> ports are activated later in the POST process. You would not be
> able to strike a key to get into the BIOS or to tell the computer to
> boot from the CD-ROM drive. Additionally the IRQ for the serial
> ports does not have a high enough priority for the keyboard
> controller which is normally set at IRQ 1.
>
> You probably meant a PS2 port. Many of the current herd of mice
> will work on the PS2 port or USB port. I would expect the same
> thing with keyboards. Some mice will also connect to a serial port.
>
> --
> Earl F. Parrish
>

[Earl F. Parrish]

"richmac" > wrote in message
...
> Thank you. You're right, of course.
> So the question is, if asked, what do I call a keyboard/mouse that
is USB
> plugged into PS2 adpator into the computer.
> Do I say it's USB or PS2?
>
> As a matter of fact, would using an adaptor change the internal
workings of
> an appliance at all?
>
> rich
Since it is connected to the computer through the PS2 port, it would
be listed as a PS2 mouse with an IRQ of 12. The same thing would
happen if you use a serial to PS2 adapter or the reverse to connect
the device to the computer. It is what actually plugs into the
computer which determines what type of device it is. This should be
reflected in Device Manager. If you should later plug the mouse
back into a USB port, it would be redetected as a USB mouse. It
might be assigned #2 if it is not plugged into the same USB port as
before.

A PS2 mouse might stay illuminated if it is an optical mouse and
your motherboard supports keyboard power on options. A PS2 mouse
would be available in DOS programs if you boot from a floppy disk
and the program in use has mouse support. USB mice may not be
available in DOS.

--
Earl F. Parrish