Most modern bios' support Legacy device emulation, but what they call =
it
varies. Keywords to look for

USB Keyboard
Legacy Device Support
Legacy Emulation
HID Boot time support

And so on.

I personally do not relish the day when all the legacy io hardware is =
gone.

However, I'm a fan of usb/serial adaptors. A poor bit of breadboarding =
a few
months ago saw me fry one of the COM ports on my pc. Ok, I have since
upgraded* so have to working serial ports again, but I've now decided =
to use
only usb/serial devices for interfacing to my circuits from now on. For =
=A320,
they're cheaper to replace than a motherboard.

Although now, I've made 2 small max232 boards which have a long lead =
with a
db9 on them, and 4 pin connectors that plug in to the breadboard (+,- =
TX,
RX). Much quicker than plugging in the '232 and 5 caps anyway.


* I got me an ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe, and a Northwood P4 3.0 GHz. Which =
is
currently running at 3.5 GHz. And two 120 Gb SATA drives runnning =
RAID-0 for
performance. :)=20

I'm digressing now. I'll shut up.

Jon

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Russell McMahon [mailto:apptech@PARADISE.NET.NZ]=20
> Sent: 15 April 2004 10:43
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: Re: ] Alternate serial port?
>=20
>=20
> > On a second note though, the serial port is just the first thing to =

> > go. PC manufacturers have plans to rid pc's of pretty much=20
> all legacy=20
> > hardware io in the next few years. In particular, this=20
> includes PS/2 -=20
> > you'll soon
> need
> > to have a USB keyboard and mouse.
>=20
>=20
> Just added a USB keyboard to a system a week ago.
> Took it off again within a day.
> Reason: I'm currently multi-booting with either WIN98 and WIN=20
> XP and WIN98 is the 2nd choice. To make a choice other than=20
> the default the user has to use the keyboard. The USB=20
> keyboard doesn't come alive until AFTER the O/S has booted.=20
> Obvious but stupid. Also, how would you eg alter system=20
> settings or select startup option? If they remove the PS/2 =20
> port then they MUST enable the USB at some level in firmware=20
> at boot time OR radically alter boot philosophy.
>=20
>=20
>         Russell McMahon
>=20
> --
> http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList=20
mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu

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