The green one is usually for the mouse, and the purple one is usually for the keyboard.
Some modern motherboards come with only a single port that is half purple and half green, and you can plug either a keyboard or a mouse into it. This is good, because mice have been using USB for a long time, while keyboards are still commonly PS2. Saves space on the mobo for more USB or other ports.
The keyboard male connector has a notch cut on the metal part of the plug, as shown in the picture. Mice don't have that part.
All of the mice I've ever seen, do. Including the USB->PS2 adapter I am using, and the KVM.
Do not unplug and replug these in while the computer is on (it can damage the motherboard).
I've never heard of such a thing happening, and I have plugged and replugged PS2 cables many times without incident. Yes, it's *possible* that it might damage the motherboard, but it's also *possible* that you'll get hit by lightning in the next thunderstorm. What is more of an issue is that older OS like Win95 or 98, as well as XP sometimes (prior to SP2?), may not cope with PS2 mice and keyboards being plugged and unpugged. Simply rebooting fixes that, though.
(USB isn't actually as fast as ps/2, but it doesn't need to be).
Erm, no. PS/2 ports were invented in 1987, while USB is from 1996. The first USB standard, 1.0, had a 'full speed' of 12 Mbs. PS/2 are serial ports, and for a keyboard operate at 9600 bps. Mice might be faster, but it's still not going to be anywhere near USB speeds. Now whether you actually mean 'data speed' or 'responsiveness' I'm not sure, and the data rate for these peripherals is irrelevant because both PS/2 and USB are 'fast enough' so you do not see any issues. USB does use a shared bus so I guess you could potentially run into issues there.
What's the problem with the back plate anyway? Did you take the one that came with the case out, and put the one that came with the motherboard in? I know I nearly bent one of my cases when I took out the default back blate, since it had be jammed in there by the manufacturer (and my motherboard is a stupidly "unique" motherboard in its component placement, so I couldn't use the default one).
Yes, almost all motherboards will come with their own back plates, and you shouldn't use the one that comes with the case unless it matches your motherboard. They can be real bitches to get out, and sometimes your motherboard one will not 'quite' fit into the case properly, and you have to jam it in real hard - tapping it firmly with a mallet or hammer may be required (or similar improvised bashing tools).
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 30 2010, 12:30 am by Lanthanide.
None.