A89: Computer Serial Ports [WAS: Re: Holy god what did i do???????]
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A89: Computer Serial Ports [WAS: Re: Holy god what did i do???????]
There really is little chance of shorting out your computer through the
serial port. 'They' have designed the UARTs to take a few thousand
volts peak for a few microseconds before any damage occurs.
One of the reasons to go to USB is it is a serial BUS, whereas rs-232 is
designed to be communication from a single point to single point, USB is
host(computer) to multiple slaves (up to 127, in theory) and is designed
around the ability to 'plug n play', meaning that windows (or another
well equiped operating system(insert your favorite flavor here)) will
recognize what type of device it is, and find a suitable generic driver,
unless the user presents the real driver. The current serial port is
not plug n play. The parallel port is (sortof), as windows will often
detect what printer you have, and install the corresponding driver.
Furthermore, the USB is a far more rigid standard, in that protocol is
set, and electrical standards are set. I think it is TTL compatible,
but the cable is smaller, the connector is smaller, and this helps with
case and MB size and cost.
At any rate...
-Adam
Daniel7073@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 12/5/98 7:15:50 AM Pacific Standard Time, TurboSoft@aol.com
> writes:
>
> << l don't have to restart my computer to plug my graphlink in after it's
> already
> on.. >>
>
> Right, but the chances of shorting out your com port (or the whole computer)
> are non-existant if you turn the computer off first. Of course, with the time
> that Windows takes to start up, it is a handy shortcut. With DOS, it wouldn't
> be a problem, necause you'd have the computer off, the link plugged in, and
> DOS fully loaded in about a minute or less.
>
> Daniel Imfeld
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