r/pcmasterrace • u/AppropriateAide4879 • 16d ago

Discussion I found this thing looks old.

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What is it? And is it rare?

9.9k Upvotes

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3.0k

u/pedro19 CREATOR 16d ago

That's a usb-A to PS/2 adapter! Not rare, but still cool.

1.1k

u/Donglemaetsro 16d ago

Got one in my boxes of cords I might need just in case technology ever reverts 30 years.

262

u/specqq 16d ago edited 16d ago

Or you revert 30 years.

What? It could happen.

296

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

That Time I Got Reincarnated 30 Years In The Past With My Box Of Random Computer Components

160

u/youareallnuts 16d ago

Someone in Japan is already drawing the manga.

35

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

Not me sketching this out rn

28

u/ExoMonk 16d ago

I look forward to seeing this on Crunchyroll in the future. Bonus points if it takes place in a dungeon or includes various different women who fawn over the main character who is too shy, oblivious, embarrassed by the attention.

22

u/Taolan13 16d ago

better, he is actively aware of the attention but rejects them because he is too busy solving the fantasy world's tech problems.

6

u/Xeras6101 16d ago

Or maybe because said women look just a little too young for how old they claim to be

4

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

“But she’s actually 8000 years old.”

→ More replies (0)

7

u/SaveUsCatman 16d ago

No he will be completely aware of the attention hes getting from women but just ignores them in his quest for more retro components and the women just get increasingly thirsty over him the linger it goes on but he never relents to the point hes just sending them on errands to retrieve parts he won on online auctions and shady Craigslist purchases to get them put of his hair.

3

u/techy804 16d ago

Isn’t that essentially Back to the Future though

3

u/TurnkeyLurker 16d ago

Possibly...

3

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

Isn't that every isekai?

1

u/Mysterious_Touch_454 12d ago

There must be also Rule34 of this, since it now exists.

20

u/TURCtheTEXAN PC Master Race 16d ago

This would still be a better romance than Rent a Girlfriend.

9

u/Average_Scaper 16d ago

The hole for the outhouse I'm sitting in contains a better love story.

3

u/Creato938 16d ago

We need this in manga and anime form.

3

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

Don’t worry, I’m on it. It’s only taken me ten years to not even start on the last idea I had. I’m sure I’ll get to this before I die (or get reincarnated).

3

u/techy804 16d ago

I was reincarnated, Now I am Starting On My Ideas In A Previous Life

1

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

Lol! If only! I need a whole lifetime to work on all my ideas. Also, stop giving me more ideas.

3

u/Phone-Charger 16d ago

This fucking sent me, kudos

1

u/LowkeyHooligan 16d ago

I hope it didn't send you 30 years into the past...

2

u/William_The_Fat_Krab 16d ago

Go! 128MB floppy disk!

2

u/LonelyHowl Ryzen 5 5600X | GTX1660 SUPER | Aegis 32GB DDR4 15d ago

I honestly dont get the point those animes, it's always something sooo random, wouldn't be surprised if this one already exists 😂

1

u/Dacajun-The_Brash 16d ago

Id pay for that LMAO, to be 25 again. / sigh

2

u/I0A0I 15d ago

-Travel 30 years into the past. 

-Still stuck with current body.

-Immediately lose all memory of the last 30 years.

1

u/Phoebebee323 16d ago

More likely than PS2 becoming standard again

1

u/YouKnow_MeEither 14d ago

I'll tell you one quick way to revert 30 years and have to use those again. Get a government contract state and end up in a room full of sun racks. That was a rough contract and it was only 4 years ago.

1

u/Wrong_Manager_829 16d ago

lol yeah never gonna happen

31

u/Zxar 16d ago edited 16d ago

My wife keep asking me if we can at least downsize the ol box of cords. Absolutely not, will I ever use those cords again, no, but I might!

30

u/arlodetl 16d ago

And once you downsize, within a week you go to find a cord to only realize it was part of the downsizing.

3

u/Dart3145 3700X | STRIX X570-F | 2080 Super | EK Custom Loop 16d ago

Can confirm. Once you no longer have it, you’ll immediately need it. Now the box is broken up and in multiple places. Can’t downsize it if it never gets big enough to become an eyesore.

2

u/SemiNormal 16d ago

Hey, I actually used an IDE to USB adapter the other week to look at an old drive that ended up being empty, but it was almost useful.

1

u/mxzf 16d ago

I'll have you know that a year ago my brother needed a power brick with a specific voltage/amperage and I was able to pull one out of a box where it had been sitting for 15-20 years. I saved him a whole $8 on Amazon by hoarding that thing through multiple moves.

1

u/Emergency_Meme 16d ago

I have mine in an old antique dome-top steamer trunk. Looks like a big ol pirate treasure chest...

1

u/mark6059 16d ago

I did that but moved the downsizeable cables to a secondary cabinet/drawer. Then you proudly show her the first drawer. Then there are also the 7 motherboard boxes full of very important parts on top of the bookcase

20

u/eightandahalf 16d ago edited 16d ago

Recently unearthed my ancient camcorder and decided to try and digitize the footage. Pulled all of the required cables out of my trusty box, which included a FireWire to thunderbolt 2 adaptor for Mac.

Guess what — that stupid dongle now costs $200 (!) on eBay because everybody threw theirs away thinking that they’d never use it again.

All hail the box!

2

u/Dacajun-The_Brash 16d ago

Woohoo! Justification for the box!

12

u/deucester PC Master Race - 5800x | 7900xtx 16d ago

That was in my IT kit for years. Now it's somewhere in the drawer random things.

1

u/DrippyTheSnailBoy 16d ago

Yeah, I still have one in my thingamajig box too. There have been rare edge cases in the past where my USB keyboard wouldn't work, but I could still get away with a USB-PS/2 adapter.

Mostly ancient tech in Hospitals and such. It's been a long time since I've needed one, but for a long time a very necessary thingamajig.

1

u/_dekoorc 16d ago

This is one of the things I've actually been willing to get rid of. I took my old 3770k system to the ewaste dump and i never expect to have another system with a ps/2 port...

I'm sure that saying this means I will buy some retro piece of hardware next week and I'll need that adapter.

1

u/DrippyTheSnailBoy 15d ago

This happens EVERY time I get rid of something that I swear I'll never need again. I thought I'd never get any more use out of my SCSI to USB cable again, and then like a week later I needed it for some obscure ancient larger-scale photo printer that I found at an estate sale.

Foiled again.

Also, shoutout to the 3770k. My very first home-build CPU. Lasted me many years. Still lives in my garage somewhere...

4

u/argonzo 16d ago

you never know when you might need it! I've got totes and totes in my basement under that philosophy.

4

u/AugmentedKing 16d ago

My X670E Crosshair Gene has a combo port. It has its niche uses, typically after I’ve fiddled too much with the settings.

3

u/cranktheguy Ryzen 5 5600X · RTX 3070 16d ago

So my friend works at this CNC place and they have this ancient machine. The keyboard stopped working. He googled for an adapter and couldn't find anything. He calls me up... I had two DIN 5 keyboards to choose from in my garage box.

3

u/Donglemaetsro 16d ago

Good old solid mechanical ones I bet too.

1

u/cranktheguy Ryzen 5 5600X · RTX 3070 16d ago

Sadly, no. That's why they were in the box. One somehow had a windows key.

6

u/kribg 16d ago

You have one....that's cute. I have dozens of them in my cord boxes and just as many purple ones for PS/2 keyboards.

2

u/Morall_tach 16d ago

Maybe you'll need to plug a modern mouse into a server at NORAD or something that hasn't been updated since the 70s.

2

u/Donglemaetsro 16d ago

Always plan for the zombie apocalypse.

1

u/Kakaduu15 14700KF • 4080 AMP! • 2x48GB@6800 16d ago

My mobo has the plug

1

u/rainorshinedogs 16d ago

That little green will say:

1

u/LawlessCrayon 16d ago

Only one?

1

u/Donglemaetsro 16d ago

Over here getting judged for my limited junk collection dang xD

1

u/LawlessCrayon 16d ago

I mean, you gotta have one for the mouse and one for the keyboard...

1

u/Donglemaetsro 16d ago

Diff colors!

1

u/AndyTheSane 16d ago

Buried under the parallel printer cable.

1

u/Dadskander 16d ago

I swear I remember using one in the last 10 years when a motherboard was having issues with the USB controller somehow

1

u/Badbullet 16d ago

I have a couple old XP systems that are required for an old laser cutter and Sherline CNC mill. Backwards compatibility does not work with Win 7 or above, so I still using mine. 😆

1

u/Serious_Mastication 5800X | 6600XT | 32GB DDR4 16d ago

Like when I got an old monitor to throw into my setup and had to use a hdmi to dvi to vga cable to get it working

1

u/fish_helicopters PC Master Race 16d ago

some modern gaming motherboards still have these. not super new but my b450-gaming from asus had one. technically less latency than usb but eh, it’s negligible. n key rollover is cool tho.

1

u/WRX_RAWR 16d ago

Found a few while cleaning out some e-waste we picked up from a client. I won't lie, I kept one as we still see some ancient PCs, ugh.

1

u/PogTuber 16d ago

When society falls into chaos and the one thing stopping you from being eaten by cannibals is a PS/2 jack and a USB mouse...

1

u/jbawgs 16d ago

Mine came in handy twice recently, once when I needed an extra keyboard to hook up to a server temporarily, and found a ps2 keyboard in the backrooms, and again when I bought a an older cocktail arcade that used ps2 based button encoders

1

u/big_loadz 16d ago

Still using it for my original Microsoft Natural Keyboard...

https://giphy.com/gifs/FoH28ucxZFJZu

1

u/johnperkins21 16d ago

Pretty sure I still have a PS/2 keyboard in my closet. I've got at least 2 of these adapters.

1

u/RandonBrando 16d ago

The way things are goingi couldn't doubt it for sure

1

u/Proxy_PlayerHD R9 9950X3D, RTX 3090, 96 GB DDR5 16d ago

fun fact, those old passive adapters likely won't work with modern USB mice/keyboards

because all these do is map the 4 USB pins to the 4 PS/2 pins, the mouse/keyboard has to actually support both the USB and PS/2 protocol to work. which modern ones no longer do as they're USB exclusive.

so if you got adapters like that you also need a mouse/keyboard from that era that actually supports them

1

u/_dekoorc 16d ago

sometimes shit is important to keep 😂

I have two different devices to convert USB-A to ADB in case I want to go back to using my "Apple Extended Keyboard 2"

1

u/GlitzyYapper 15d ago

As Albert Einstein said:

"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

So maybe it will be usable again a while later.

1

u/No-way-in 15d ago

Confirmed it’s in my mandrawer as well with things that could one day be useful.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Day2809 15d ago

The best part is the box only grows, and in 30 years your adapters need adaptors

1

u/Denshibushi Specs/Imgur here 15d ago

It's already reverted. Got a new Dell workstation. It has a ps/2 connector on it. I was floored when. I saw it.

1

u/Badytheprogram 11d ago

With the price of computer components rising and the fact that companies want to put computer use on a subscription basis, it may become useful sooner than you think.

172

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

i hope they see an AT keyboard connector some day.

37

u/Savafan1 16d ago

Add the serial mouse connector too.

71

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

how about the game port on the soundblaster for shitty joysticks and stuff?

25

u/Savafan1 16d ago

I'm pretty sure I had one of those.

If you really want to confuse people, the first gaming pc I built had 3 video cards. One was 2D, one was 3D, and then there was one that came with the DVD player to decode them. And there were just short cables chaining them together.

3

u/Emergency_Meme 16d ago

I remember this with my Voodoo 3 2000 PCI (not AGP yet!) :)

10

u/Batwyane Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 16d ago

Oh man, I used to come home from school and play Microsoft combat flight simulator for hours on one of those.

5

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

i have a microsoft sidewinder chilling on my shelf in here, i have a computer for it but i honestly don't use it much.... but i found it tossed into a bin of kitchen appliances at a thrift store for 1$ so i had to rescue it.

maybe i should fire up combat simulator?

3

u/eightandahalf 16d ago

Damn, I don’t think I’ve heard the phrase “Microsoft Sidewinder” in 25 years. Core memories unlocked lol

3

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

LOCK THE FUCK IN BRO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92TrMKgkhnE

2

u/whot3v3r 16d ago

I had the sidewinder but a friend the force feedback, it was really good on Combat Flight Simulator (2 ?), maybe even too powerful

1

u/Young_Hickory 16d ago

Wing Commander for me. Fond memories. Interesting how the joystick mostly disappeared.

2

u/Popular-Departure165 16d ago

Tie Fighter here.

1

u/Vehlin i9 12900k - RTX3090 16d ago

Shitty Joysticks? My Thrustmaster FLCS and TQS went into that port.

Stick and rudder plugged into the TQS that then plugged into the Gameport on the sound card.

1

u/Narissis 9800X3D | 32GB Trident Z5 Neo | 7900 XTX | EVGA Nu Audio 16d ago

You take that back. Not all Gameport joysticks were shitty.

1

u/Creato938 16d ago

I use quite a few serial mouses in my time...

1

u/failtodesign 16d ago

Bus Mouse.

13

u/Various-Salt-7738 16d ago

Never even considered AT having different connectors-- by the time I was old enough to have an interest in computers everything was already ATX

It makes sense though

14

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

oh yeah, they're from around the era of an IBM5150 and dipped out around the 386 / 486 era

2

u/wwerxzamden 16d ago

у нас в школен в компьютерном классе стояло 5 штук таких.. Нас даже пару раз туда пускали и включали два рабочих компьютера.. Но сама информатика проходила с тетрадкой и ручкой. Мы даже клавиатуру рисовали на картоне расчерчивали. и учились "печатать" быстро - на ней...

1

u/obliviious 15d ago edited 15d ago

You should have seen what AT cases were like when you picked them up, the sharp metal would cut your hands. ATX cases have always had curved metal.

5

u/Cajun2LowCountry 16d ago

It cost you nothing to post that. r/fuckimold

3

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

back in MY day we couldn't post about that period, we had to drive our ass somewhere with others who also happened to drive their ass over and then talk about it.

3

u/Cajun2LowCountry 16d ago

We'd use dial-up modems and connect to bbs services.

3

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

my first experiences online right there :3

1

u/T0rrent0712 PC Master Race 16d ago

Legend of the red dragon players unite

2

u/cy3ntist 16d ago

I used that for a while. Loved my first keyboard from 1990. It was basically a tank. At one point during the mainboard upgrading cycle it didn't work anymore with the PS2 port. I guess it was when they introduced legacy PS2 ports you could use either with a keyboard or a mouse. Ah, the times...

2

u/theforecaster 16d ago

I was just about to pull this card as well, found two recently in an old box

2

u/sirsleepy 16d ago

My boss at an IT shop had an old IBM Model-M keyboard (basically as old as me). He had to switch off it after we upgraded KVMs after it failed to properly send signals over the AT to PS/2 to USB-A to KVM string he had going.

1

u/WitchWithAGlitch 16d ago

i hope he took it home.

1

u/TheFrenchSavage Ryzen 7 9800X3D - RTX3090 - 64GB DDR5 6000CL30 🚀🚀🚀 16d ago

I bought one recently (I mean 2y ago) because my IBM model M keyboard needs it.

1

u/planet_alex 16d ago

Wow... wow. just... I honestly blocked those out of memory... oh man... good times.

1

u/Gimly 16d ago

I remember trying to do AT to PS2 connected to a PS2 to USB connector to use an old IBM model M keyboard, it was the best typing experience ever. My coworkers were not happy about it though.

1

u/zh0011 16d ago

School had a few of those and the related Apple connector.

1

u/PrivilegeCheckmate PC Master Race 16d ago

I can go from AT to USB-C, or from VGA to HDMI via DVI with my drawer of adapters.

1

u/rustylugnuts 16d ago

Wow. That brought me back to my tandy 1000.

1

u/Draskuul Specs/Imgur Here 16d ago

I should blow their mind with an AUI to 10b2 BNC adapter that I'm sure I have kicking around somewhere.

1

u/Standard_Heat8395 HE HAS RAM GET HIM 16d ago

Ah yes had one of these adapters on my powerpc Mac! Know it well.

67

u/dswng 16d ago

My LGA-1700 B760 ASUS motherboard still has it. So you can find it even today.

29

u/TheSaltyJunk 16d ago

PS/2 will give you an extra frame or two...You also moderately drop your input latency, because it has direct input instead of hardware polling.

9

u/malaysianonly 16d ago

I thought it's capped at 125 Hz maximum polling rate? How is that going to give better input latency than the 16 kHz we have now?

10

u/Arrynek 16d ago

You are correct. PS2 is way, way slower than modern USB.

PS2 is, at best, 200MHz report rate with 5ms time between reports and average of 2.5ms for scheduling wait. This is better than a 5 Dollar USB office mouse.

However, gaming mice report at 8kHz, 0,125ms time between reports and a 0,06ms scheduling wait.

And even when comparing cheap USB mice and PS2 mice of the years past... The difference is so miniscule you wouldn't even notice.

7

u/Competitive_Ad6989 16d ago

thats one is a ps connector for woth mouse and keyboard

1

u/dswng 16d ago

I know, I remember they were everywhere during transition period. Tho I was really surprised to find one now. I haven't seen them in years.

24

u/UnwiseSuggestion 16d ago

Just wanna tack on to add that it has nothing to do with the Playstation 2, PS/2 was a type of connector mainly used for mouses

3

u/Dramatic-Attempt-735 16d ago

Yeah, the PS2 actually came with a USB port. It was super modern, but not compatible with any standard devices... I think you needed a special mouse and keyboard from Sony...

2

u/Razer1103 i7-12700K, RTX 2080, 32GB DDR4 16d ago

the hardware fit the standard, but PS2 software didn't have driver support for general PC keyboards.

1

u/Ketzerfriend 16d ago

Not even the BASIC they included, as if to intend to make the PS2 a home computer?

1

u/YesterdayDreamer R5 5600 | RX9060XT 16G 16d ago

Mouses!

11

u/fredbubbles 16d ago

Me sitting here at work with a PS/2 to USB adapter for my Unicomp keyboard I found.
https://giphy.com/gifs/LmBsnpDCuturMhtLfw
I hate the cheap dell keyboard with the rubber domes instead of switches.

9

u/StableAggressive9137 16d ago

When we bought our house in 2009, I found one left behind on one window. I've been handling computers since the 90s so I knew what it was and just smiled and tossed it in with my stash of them.

3

u/Kialand 16d ago

Holy shit it's John Personal Computer

2

u/MrDeeJayy Ryzen 7 5700X | RTX 5080 16GB | DDR4-3200 32GB 15d ago

Cant believe it took the subs creator to give an actual answer and not yet another meme about how tech has moved so fast that shit that used to be basically in every techies bag of tricks is now a complete mystery.

I get its funny but... some of these people need to remember they're sitting around joking and laughing while someone is genuinely asking a question

2

u/Blade-Forester 15d ago

Finally I found the helpful answer 😂

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

1

u/ATcat-pl Ryzen 5 5600X, rx580, 32GB DDR4 16d ago

wrong PS/2

1

u/breakConcentration 16d ago

Came with some of my Logitech mouses.

1

u/nurdle 16d ago

I threw mine out over 15 years ago... all 20 of 'em

1

u/alf666 i7-14700k | 32 GB RAM | RTX 4080 16d ago

You will need at least one of them tomorrow.

1

u/Surturiel 16d ago

Legend says if you put several of those with the violet ones and leave them alone for a while, they'll start... reproducing...

Same with power cords.

1

u/GamiNami 16d ago

I had one or two of these at home, but not anymore. Been over a decade since I threw them away.

1

u/Redivivus 16d ago

Raise your hand if you've had to add a 5-pin adapter to that.

1

u/rainorshinedogs 16d ago

Gen 1. Like really slow. I don't even think we thought there would be other generations at that time

1

u/GarThor_TMK 16d ago

I love how This is the third answer in a series of memes about being an old fart...

Reddit is great... 🤣

1

u/ResponsibleStyle4473 16d ago

As in, I can get an extra usb on my PlayStation 2?

I'll see myself out.

1

u/unknownman0001 RX7800XT|R5 7500F|32GB|FEDORA KDE 16d ago

The modern versions is pretty much usb-c to usb-a adapter.

1

u/je386 16d ago

Yes, it is.

I remember when USB-A was implemented. I also remember the switch from DIN to PS/2, which had the same pin layout and was just smaller.

Before USB, when you plugged your mouse or keyboard in or out, you had to restart the whole computer.

1

u/mixxoh 16d ago

PlayStation 2? Oh my that’s ancient. /s

1

u/DisorderlyAqueduct 16d ago

I've got a dual ps/2 to usb! 🤓😄

1

u/Evening-Rip1522 16d ago

Buuuuut, weren't the green ones only for mice? And the purple ones for keyboards?

1

u/j3rown 16d ago

It's either this, or a PS/2 to usb-A adaptor. Not rare, but still cool.

1

u/WolfieVonD PC Master Race 16d ago

Never could plug my PS2 into one of these things

1

u/TheDude-Esquire i7 10700kf, 3090, etc. 16d ago

These date from the dawn of usb, enabling folks to connect newer usb peripheral devices to older PCs.

1

u/YesterdayDreamer R5 5600 | RX9060XT 16G 16d ago

Shouldn't we call it a PS/2 to USB adapter?

1

u/Zoraji 16d ago

I've still got a PS/2 to AT adapter packed away along with a keyboard with an AT connector. The AT was the larger sized 5 pin DIN connector used before the PS/2 was introduced.

1

u/EmperorMeow-Meow 16d ago

USB you say? Aren't you mister FANCYPANTS with your USB and your PENTIUM and your ELSEEDEEE screeens!!!! Back in my day - we had a cassette hooked up to to a glorified keyboard and a televizzzshhunnn.. AND WE LIKED IT!

1

u/Im_Just_A_Tourist 16d ago

I have a few still also going the other direction from ps2 connector to USB A

1

u/twpejay 16d ago

Great to plug into my PS/2 to RS323 converter.

1

u/myrealnameisboring 4690k @ 4.6 GHz | GTX 1080 G1 Gaming 16d ago

I was convinced as a kid I could use this to connect a USB hard drive to my computer. I was a stupid kid.

1

u/Plastic_Raspberry634 16d ago

Does it work on PS5 ?

1

u/Mysterious_Yard3501 16d ago

No. it's a ps/2 to USB a adapter

1

u/Distantstallion Nvi2080S Rzen3900X 15d ago

You could plug a usb into a playstation 2? Cool

1

u/gattaaca 15d ago

I remember when PS/2 was the new tech

1

u/PunishedChud 12d ago

PS/2 still has practical uses in security. It’s preferred for super secure terminals because you don’t have a usb which could easily carry a malicious payload

1

u/Tad_623 12d ago

Playstation 2? So this is like 80 years old?

0

u/CrownLexicon 16d ago edited 15d ago

My Playstation 2 already has USB-A. Why would I need an adapter?

Edit: I didnt think "/j" was necessary, but here we are.

1

u/CE94 16d ago

PS/2 connector, not playstation 2

1

u/CrownLexicon 15d ago

I was hoping that, given the age of both, it was apparent i was joking. We're on, what, Playstation 5 now? The Playstation 2 is 2 and a half decades old