Joystick/Mouse Port Protector?

[Florida]

Joystick/Mouse Port Protector?
Are there any individual port protectors out there? I remember those adapters you could connect to the port, did they do any good? I never connect a mouse or a joystick to the Amiga while it is running so it is wear and tear I am worried about; I was so lucky to score a brand new Amiga 500 the other day and I want to protect the port. Is it overkill to be concerned?

[motrucker]

As long as you don't hot swap these devices you are OK. The danger is in plugging a device in with power to the computer. This will easily blow a CIA chip (or one of the jelly bean chips).
As long as you don't plug the mouse/joystick in with power on, you can rest easy.

[runequester]

Well, I get concerned about swapping out frequently just from physical wear and tear.

I have a couple of those switch box things you plug two joystick into, and that makes me feel more comfortable. One is going bad but thats easier to replace than if you accidentally damage the port on the computer itself

[Rebel-CD32]

If you ever intend on using a CD32 controller or a Playstation to CD32 adapter, so you can use all seven buttons instead of just two, you'll need one of AmigaKit's newer Joy/Mouse Switchers. I've tried two older models that have been around for years and they don't have all pins connected and won't work with the extra buttons on a CD32 pad.

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=42&products_id=961

[Gazbonk]

I remember buying short extension leads for hot swapping joysticks & mice they were about 15cms in length they came as a pair with a plastic ring round the two cables to hold the leads together, one of the leads was grey and the other was black with a red coloureed band around it.

There was also extension leads of about four feet in length, so you could sit on the sofa instead of sitting on top of the tele playing games, these leads were great for playing formula 1 when you had to share the joystick with the next player when it was there turn.

[kedawa]

Aside from mechanical wear, how could connecting or unplugging a joystick cause any sort of harm anyway?

[zipper]

There were some plugs which did have a metal protection sleeve that could cause shorts easily when plugged in carelessly.

[Daedalus]

@kedawa

As zipper said, if the plug has a metal screen on it, it can short out some of the pins if not inserted precisely. However, those plugs aren't that common, and I've never seen one on a joystick.

Electrically, the risk from hot-plugging is that there'll be a voltage spike or surge as the device powers up which can give abnormal or unexpected signals on the other lines. This could, in extreme cases, destroy input or output circuitry like the CIAs. However, a standard "dumb" joystick doesn't *actually* do anything electrically until a direction or fire button is pressed, and even then, doesn't use the +5V normally at all, so there isn't really a risk from hot-plugging them at all.

[magnetic]

There were some plugs which did have a metal protection sleeve that could cause shorts easily when plugged in carelessly.

Correct the danger is with the 9pin plugs that have the metal grounding.. the plastic plugs should be OK to plug in and out.. i've been doing it for years on amigas..

Just use a 9 pin mouse extender (plastic connectors)

[Kesa]

magnetic[/B];681952]Correct the danger is with the 9pin plugs that have the metal grounding.. the plastic plugs should be OK to plug in and out.. i've been doing it for years on amigas..

Just use a 9 pin mouse extender (plastic connectors)

:eek:

[kedawa]

Ah ok.  None of my input devices have that shielding, so I wasn't aware there was any risk of causing a short circuit.