Jade Falcon wrote:

Mistakes happen. Don't be an idiot and buy a hard adapter for the same price of none hard one.

It's a mistake most of us have never made. Hey, at the same time, you need to stop using ALL of your USB sticks. They are long, and they can bend ports. Heck I busted a WLAN adapter once. All of them HAVE TO BE ON EXTENSIONS otherwise you will RUIN YOUR COMPUTER. All dongles HAVE TO GO. While we are at it we are at it, you ALL have to use caddy CD drives because the trays ARE LONG AND EASY TO BREAK.

A hard adapter is by NO means the weakest point of the computer. You REALLY need to wrench them to get anything out of it, ESPECIALLY on DIN and DSUB/DB connectors. Both will work fine, and as long as you don't start ripping your cords every which way, there is 0 issue.

You can feel safer with a cable adapter, but don't go to people saying how it's gonna bust up their computer when it really isn't. You can break a port with a regular cable too! Give it a good yank, and bye bye port. Heck, how about destroying cards? Locking VGA/DVI connectors are terrible because if like most people you like to throw your monitors across the room, the VGA/DVI cable may rip the card apart.

Interesting discussion. I've never worried about lateral force on these connectors. What has worried me is the longitudinal force. How many push/pull connection/disconnection cycles are these connectors designed to withstand? Whenever I push in a keyboard cable I feel nervous that the connector is finally going to break from the motherboard. It's a particular concern with early 80s machines. The keyboard connector probably has to endure more force/area than any other part of the computer.

The problem here is the long hard AT to ps/2 adapters. Vga and dvi cables and USB flash drives are not all that big of a problem. It takes very small tug on a keyboard with an at to ps/2 adapter to brake something. That same is with a video card with a hard vga to dvi adapter. Regular cables take a hard yank to break something.

They also often stick out much farther then anything else. The hard adptors cost the same as the soft ones so there is no point in buying one.

Jade Falcon wrote:

The problem here is the long hard AT to ps/2 adapters. Vga and dvi cables and USB flash drives are not all that big of a problem. It takes very small tug on a keyboard with an at to ps/2 adapter to brake something. That same is with a video card with a hard vga to dvi adapter. Regular cables take a hard yank to break something.

They also often stick out much farther then anything else. The hard adptors cost the same as the soft ones so there is no point in buying one.

Have you ever broken a port by yanking on it with a hard adapter? Is this from experience? How many other people do you know who have done this. And if you have done this, how hard did it take?

I done it with passive vga to dvi adapters a few times with bench setups. And seen quite a few hard ps/2 to at adaptors brake off in a pc. It doesn't take much, and small tug from the side, the longer the adapter the less it takes. Ever move a keyboard or monitor thinking you had enough cable? Only to find you didn't? No big deal if your pc is light or you have a flexible cable. But with a 4-6in hard cable and a heavy pc you may not be so lucky.

More often then not the adaptor bakes and the mobo is fine. But why risk it? I mean, take your time and being carfull will prevent this, but for the same price you don't really have to worry about it.

I guess one could get an jerkstopper cable and never have to worry.

Yeah, idk. To the OP, do what you want. Treat your machines with care and respect, and you won't break anything. If you're the kinda guy that throw his keyboard across the room after an intense round of DOOM, buy a wire adaptor.

Ampera wrote:

Jade Falcon wrote:

Mistakes happen. Don't be an idiot and buy a hard adapter for the same price of none hard one.

It's a mistake most of us have never made. Hey, at the same time, you need to stop using ALL of your USB sticks. They are long, and they can bend ports.

Actually, I managed to bend a USB stick slightly by bumping into it with my foot (tower case on floor at work, USB ports about 2 cm above floor, stick sticks out, accidentally stepped on it). The stick still works.

OTOH, I've also accidentally yanked a PS/2 cable out of a case by pulling on a keyboard a few times, and the port didn't break (Intel OEM board). Maybe it's only a problem on budget budget bad quality boards?

Just use whatever you want, OP, and don't throw with cases or push them around like mad... 🤣

It may also be a matter of simple metal fatigue and in such a case the original quality of the board is kinda irrelevant, as in the end it will only make it happen later. And I've always tended to like longer cables and stick the excess length somewhere near the plug that's inserted into the system itself, often wrapped/looped around the external speakers so a yank will only move the speakers around a bit and no harm ever done 😀

Ampera wrote:

It's a mistake most of us have never made. Hey, at the same time, you need to stop using ALL of your USB sticks. They are long, […]
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Jade Falcon wrote:

Mistakes happen. Don't be an idiot and buy a hard adapter for the same price of none hard one.

It's a mistake most of us have never made. Hey, at the same time, you need to stop using ALL of your USB sticks. They are long, and they can bend ports. Heck I busted a WLAN adapter once. All of them HAVE TO BE ON EXTENSIONS otherwise you will RUIN YOUR COMPUTER. All dongles HAVE TO GO. While we are at it we are at it, you ALL have to use caddy CD drives because the trays ARE LONG AND EASY TO BREAK.

A hard adapter is by NO means the weakest point of the computer. You REALLY need to wrench them to get anything out of it, ESPECIALLY on DIN and DSUB/DB connectors. Both will work fine, and as long as you don't start ripping your cords every which way, there is 0 issue.

You can feel safer with a cable adapter, but don't go to people saying how it's gonna bust up their computer when it really isn't. You can break a port with a regular cable too! Give it a good yank, and bye bye port. Heck, how about destroying cards? Locking VGA/DVI connectors are terrible because if like most people you like to throw your monitors across the room, the VGA/DVI cable may rip the card apart.

Thanks for the laugh! 🤣

I agree completely.

I like those hard adapters because I swap computers out occasionally. That way, I can buy one for each computer and leave them plugged in, essentially like having a PS/2 port on every machine that I can plug in with one hand. With cable adapters, I have to hold them with one hand and twist the keyboard plug until it fits.

Never managed to break something.

Oh, and I've used DVI/VGA adapters for years without breaking anything 😲

On the other hand, I managed to break the USB port on my car stereo by touching the connected USB stick accidentally with slightly too much force. I think these are much worse.

...and if you're working in IT, I completely understand the concerns. People tend to be a lot more careless if they don't own the equipment and don't have to pay for replacement/repair.

I have been using adapters like this for USB flash drives for years https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Vertical-Female-Ad … r/dp/B009924TSY

I broke a flash drive once, then someone else who was visiting broke one, and a dog broke one, and I'd had enough of breaking them at that point. I recommend those highly. Any brand is probably fine. I also use it on my laptop where it's perfect (though on some laptops it might interfere with the optical drive for people who use them which I imagine many here do). Sometimes I give them to friends.

I've been using computers since I was very young... have had to deal with very cramped spaces and non-ideal equipment. Broke more stuff when I was younger. Pretty good about it now but I always use flex adapters if the angle adapters won't fit or aren't appropriate in a given situation.

kenrouholo wrote:

I have been using adapters like this for USB flash drives for years https://www.amazon.com/HDE-Vertical-Female-Ad … r/dp/B009924TSY

I broke a flash drive once, then someone else who was visiting broke one, and a dog broke one, and I'd had enough of breaking them at that point. I recommend those highly. Any brand is probably fine. I also use it on my laptop where it's perfect (though on some laptops it might interfere with the optical drive for people who use them which I imagine many here do). Sometimes I give them to friends.

I've been using computers since I was very young... have had to deal with very cramped spaces and non-ideal equipment. Broke more stuff when I was younger. Pretty good about it now but I always use flex adapters.

"Flex" adapters that won't fit a lot of computer cases. Are you here to pimp certain products ("spam") only?

I think we should vote...

Oh....wait a minute...the only thing the OP was asking was if it would work! I think we can ALL agree on that one!

YES, it works!

meljor wrote:

I think we should vote...

Oh....wait a minute...the only thing the OP was asking was if it would work! I think we can ALL agree on that one!

YES, it works!

Yes but the more digging around and trying out stuff, the more we know 😁