Tom's Hardware > Forum > CPU & Components > Other Components > What does PS/2 stand for?
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is_jason   02-25-2003 at 10:25:37 AM

I was just wondering what PS/2 stands for, i can't find it anywhere.

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Teq   02-25-2003 at 10:41:31 AM
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Personal System 2

First introduced by IBM in the mid-80s.

<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b> )</b>

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orbz   02-26-2003 at 12:17:49 AM
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Playstation 2 :wink:

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elzt   02-26-2003 at 07:33:10 AM
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I think he meant that port for connecting a mouse or keyboard to a PC. But I really don't know what it stands for... never thought of it before.

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zpyrd   02-26-2003 at 07:36:46 AM
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PS/2 - This is a PC made by IBM. It can run OS/2 and DB/2. Of course, it can run anything a normal PC can run, but it's just a nifty IBM naming convention that caught on.

PS/2 port - This is a standard serial port connector used to plug mice and keyboards into PCs. It's got 6 pins and is small and round


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Teq   02-26-2003 at 06:14:09 PM
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The small round connectors were first introduced on the IBM "Personal System 2" back in the mid-80s. When you see "PS/2 Port" you can interpret it as "The same port as in the PS2 computers".

One of the biggest rules in computers has always been that each different type of port should have a unique connector ("If it fits it works" ). The PS2 mouse and keyboard connectors are identical, but not interchangeable (on most systems)... why this caught on as a standard I will never know.



<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b> )</b>

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elzt   02-27-2003 at 04:09:51 AM
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Thanks for the answer. :)

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svol   02-27-2003 at 07:30:45 PM
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It was probably to irritate users. The big AT plug for the keyboard and the small PS/2 made more sence. But I guess the AT plug wasn't modern enough.

Luckely they got colour codes nowadays for the newbies.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:

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Teq   02-27-2003 at 07:54:50 PM
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Ey-yup... they should have stayed with the big AT plug on the keyboards...

But, on the original IBM PS2, complete with 286 processor and 1mb ram, it didn't matter which you plugged in where. They are both serial ports and the BIOS sorted it out.

Go figger...



<b>(</b>It ain't better if it don't work.<b> )</b>

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svol   03-02-2003 at 02:00:36 PM
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LOL... the stupidities in modern PCs.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dims when I turn it on :eek:

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