personal tech
Even the greatest scientific minds are at risk of rogue 9-pin connectors
WHO, ME? This week we meet a reader we’ll call “Marc”, who graduated in the early 1990s and quickly landed his first job providing PC support for Very Important Professors (VIPs) at his alma mater’s graduate school.
Marc recalls that some of those VIPs later won Nobel Prizes, though at the time of this incident none had yet achieved that honor.
One of the tools that facilitated their research was an IBM PC equipped with an Intel 286 processor.
Marc urges us to recall the physical design of the humble nine‑pin RS‑232 connector. While the plugs were deceptively simple, in the early 1990s not all manufacturers used the same pin configuration.
In a standard serial RS‑232 interface the power pin is clearly defined. However, IBM employed a different pinning for its proprietary mouse, even though the connector looked identical.
You can probably anticipate where this anecdote is headed.
One VIP was engaged in critical research, but the mouse had stopped working.
Marc brought a replacement mouse, plugged it into what appeared to be the correct port, and restarted the PC.
The machine immediately began to emit smoke – acrid, unmistakable electrical smoke that threatened to destroy the VIP’s scientific work.
Marc reacted instinctively, yanking the power cord from the wall socket with what he described as the speed of a Baguazhang assassin. (Baguazhang is a Chinese martial art.)
After taking a moment to collect himself, Marc realized his error: he had inserted the new mouse into the wrong – though physically identical – nine‑pin port, allowing power to flow into the wrong circuitry.
Power had therefore surged into the incorrect port, causing the smoke.
After a few minutes of carefully restoring the connections, Marc powered the system back on. The smoke was gone, and the mouse functioned perfectly.
He tested the PC to ensure it remained functional, found no lasting damage, and opened the VIP’s office door to air out the lingering smell.
Marc notes that his VIP eventually received a Nobel Prize. History will remember his achievements, but it will never know the technician who nearly set his PC on fire while swapping a mouse.
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