On Saturday 16 February 2002 10:45 pm, Elizabeth Barham wrote:
> Osamu Aoki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > > > 2) Bring a keyboard, plug it in, boot, remove the keyboard (but
> > > > hopefully you have a UPS).
> >
> > I heard on this list that this may cause hardware damage. I had
> > several accident of unplugging KB and no problem afterward. (I was
> > not on Compaq but generic MB)
>
> I don't understand how it could possibly cause hardware damage. The
> only problem is if the power goes off and you're not around; if they
> keyboard isn't plugged in when it tries to reboot, it will just hang.
> (I even tested if it timed out after a long period of time but it did
> not [older 486 Compaq]).
>
i've actually experienced this on a machine with an older 486 era bios. an
unseated keyboard plug caused the absolute frying of an ide hard drive. don't
ask me how or why it occured but that experience was enough to convince me to
assure that the keyboard is always placed properly before i fire up any
machine.
