Tim wrote:
Wolfgang Gill wrote:
So, now, tell me how that equates to being wired "straight through"?
Well, if a cable isn't "crossed" it's "straight-through", even if not
all pins are connected.
Hint: Don't argue with an electronics engineer about basic wiring.
Not arguing, myself. But I have built a lot of different kinds of
cables.
I've build literally 10,000 of machines (Probably more, lost count
after the first 1000 or so). And only 1% have failed due to hardware
faults, and cabling wasn't one of them. It's NO use to explain things
into GREAT detail to people that have little understanding of the
concepts as it is, and confuse them even more.
It's a very bad, VERY BAD, idea to outright lie to people. Do not tell
"Lie" is a very strong word in any language.
false people information as if it were fact. Over-simplifying things to
the point that they are wrong is misleading. The people who take you at
face value later have to unlearn all the bad information that they found
out, which is a difficult thing to do.
Finding the balance between flooding a newbie with more info
than he can assimilate and giving completely accurate information
is a delicate operation.
If one is hiding parts of cables out of the way, one should be
careful how it's done. Kinking or mangling cables can produce
problems. If you're *never* going to use the extra length, I'd
suggest just cutting it off.
Now that's the part that's misleading.. "Cut it off if you don't need it",
that's a REALLY, SMART thing to say to people that bearly understand this
concept at all. (**Shakes Head**)
If you know how transmission lines work, and bear in mind the
frequencies involved, taking excess cable and rolling it up, folding it
up, bundling it under drives, etc., can lead to all sorts of problems.
So can cutting it off, in my experience.
I repeat, if you're NEVER going to use the excess, it's fine to cut it
off. Doing so will do NO harm to the signalling, and can remove a
plethora of wierd problems that people may encounter due to stuffing
cables into any spare space.
True in theory, not so true in practice. I've seen cables which were
cut in this manner develop short circuits from whiskers from the
stranded wires touching in weird ways which are not easily seen with
the naked eye. Expecially in 80 wire cables, the stranded wire
is *quite* thin. So I wouldn't recommend it for someone who had
never shortened a cable before, unless he had some guidance nearby.
Thinking about someone just getting out a pair of scissors or dikes and
whacking away makes me cringe.
Also, it means that one cannot use CS (not that I want to) without
further surgery on the cable.
I take comments that "I've built thousands with no problems" with a
grain of salt. How many PCs get problems that the builder will never
hear about? Lots. How many problems go undiagnosed? Lots. How many
people magically fix their systems by fiddling with the cables? Lots.
True. When I have a problem with a machine, the first thing I do
is remove and reseat all connectors. We used to do this regularly
with the RAM on the board. Anyway, memory gets removed/reseated,
and everywhere there is a significant connector it gets at least
jiggled if not removed/reseated. Solves a lot of problems.
[snip]
Mike
--
p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}
This message made from 100% recycled bits.
You have found the bank of Larn.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!
