#Superbase PRO
4 messages in this thread
Oh no, I won't take it in the wrong way. What I claim or don't claim to know
about hardware isn't the issue here… and one thing for certain is that the
machine WAS off. Power on or off has _zero_ to do with the zapping of the port
due to static. If anything, you could try to prevent a zap of that type by
touching a good, solid ground on the machine so that you and it would equalize
– again, power on or off isn't the issue, nor is laziness. The issue is that
plugging in a dongle can kill your machine; a damn good reason to NEVER plug
one in. My embarassment was internal – here's a situation where I swore up and
down what a good reliable program it was, and not only did it fail to work, but
in doing so, it damaged my machine. "Sure, mom, use _this_"
Riiiight.
I think you missed thge central point, but I'm not offended or mad or anything;
I _like_ these threads! <grin> –Ben–
Well, then ANY plugging in/removing things can damage your machine. Games that
require a joystick in port 1 for example. Does anybody here own one of those?
…Steve
I don't – well, yes I do, sorta – Marble madness – but I only use the mouse in
port 0, so I have no problems. And you're quite right. Things that require you
to plug in gadgets (anywhere) to your Amiga put it at hazard to various degree
every time you do it, depending on what the relative humidity is where you are
(that was the source of my mistake – in florida, I can do things with impunity
that you would be well advised to NEVER do in northern climes) and what kind of
rug you crossed to get to your machine, or whether your cat decided to be
affectionate during the 60 seconds or so before you plugged in your dingle, and
suchlike factors. You _can_ make the whole thing MUCH safer by doing the
following:
Obtain a conductive (anti-static) mat, with a ground strap. Connect the ground
strap to your Amiga, on a screw at one of the ports on the rear. Always,
always, always, touch and HOLD this mat while attaching or removing anything
from your Amiga. You are also well-advised to touch the mat before touching
your Amiga for the first time every time you walk up to it. Finally, it's also
a good idea to connect that ground lead to the grounding screw on a wall socket
near the machine (the third, rounded prong). THese things help, but do NOT
assure you of protection in every case. In fact, unlikely tho it sounds, you
have put your finger on a problem – computers, the Amiga in particular, are
very sensitive to static problems, and in fact should be treated with extreme
care.
An interesting aside here is that you can damage your hardware and it may not
fail for several days – "pinhole" dialectric (insulator) punctures commonly
occur with static discharges, which then deteriorate into larger, more
conductive holes. Life's a botch, and IBM designed it that way. –Ben–
So if it doesn't matter whether or not the power is on…..i.e. it's a matter
of static electricity…..then couldn't you blow a chip by plugging in your
mouse or a joystick too irrespective of whether the Amiga is powered up or not?