PS/2 ports: finally dead?

[80251]

My most recent motherboard is a z390 (asrock Taichi) and it has one dual-purpose PS/2 port. Are PS/2 ports even included on modern motherboards? Or have they gone the way of the LPT and RS232c port?

 

[ir_cow]

You can still find them on higher end motherboards. Mainly because some overclocking records is done with Win Xp. The other reason is some pro gamers swear by it.

Technically is it superior due to being a signal interrupt instead of pining. Though once you start to reach 1Khz, it stops being a factor as input lag.

 

[bobbybluz]

My ASRock Z690 boards still have them.

 

[eidairaman1]

My most recent motherboard is a z390 (asrock Taichi) and it has one dual-purpose PS/2 port. Are PS/2 ports even included on modern motherboards? Or have they gone the way of the LPT and RS232c port?

Yes B550 has 1

I remember in the AT to ATX transition days there were PS/2 Splitters since those Late AT boards had 1 PS/2 Port

 

[bonehead123]

ps/2...whahdatiz ?????? hehehehe

Hello, this is 1985 calling, and we want ALL our antiquated, outdated ports/connectors/cables back, like, yesterday !!!!!

Yes I know some people still insist that they are useful, superior or whateva, but IMHO, they should have died a silent but painful death long ago, just like all the other tech from the 70's 80's, & 90's has....

 

[R-T-B]

PS/2 is a feature I like to have, honestly. Still hard to beat for keyboards.

 

[SpittinFax]

ps/2...whahdatiz ?????? hehehehe

Hello, this is 1985 calling, and we want ALL our antiquated, outdated ports/connectors/cables back, like, yesterday !!!!!

Yes I know some people still insist that they are useful, superior or whateva, but IMHO, they should have died a silent but painful death long ago, just like all the other tech from the 70's 80's, & 90's has....

Did you know that the US power outlet plug was invented in the 1920's? We gotta get rid of that crusty old ancient shit!

 

[MachineLearning]

Did you know that the US power outlet plug was invented in the 1920's? We gotta get rid of that crusty old ancient shit!

US plug is not great, UK did it far safer. Could use an update but it probably will never happen.
I agree with your overall sentiment though.

 

[eidairaman1]

PS/2 is a feature I like to have, honestly. Still hard to beat for keyboards.

N Key Rollover. It also keeps usb ports free for other traffic.

US plug is not great, UK did it far safer. Could use an update but it probably will never happen.
I agree with your overall sentiment though.

We used to not have to idiot proof everything, let them weed themselves out lol.

Personal System/2 Origin

IBM PS/2 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

PS/2 Port

PS/2 port - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Did you know that the US power outlet plug was invented in the 1920's? We gotta get rid of that crusty old ancient shit!

I preferred the PS2 Port like I did AGP, IDE-PATA, SATA, all dedicated ports for devices.

My first rig had a Serial Mouse and a Large DIN keyboard

 

[80251]

I remember those DIN connectors for the old IBM XT systems. I don't remember if the IBM AT used them though.

 

[Kwadratowicz]

Ps/2 is still in b450 board I've got, and I used it with my old ball mouse to install windows 7,cause drivers for USB where not included in win 7 installer for newer system.

 

[mclaren85]

I got two motherboards recently, Asus Tuf x570 gaming series have the PS/2 port, while MSI MEG x570s Ace max doesn't. Don't know why some motherboards have it and some don't.

 

[Bones]

So what if a given piece of tech is from the 20's, 70's... Or whenever?
If it works, it works and it's fact, not fiction PS2 ports/periphials are still useful in many cases.

The option to have it for use if needed IS useful.

I did have once a USB controller in an Asus board go bad and I couldn't do jack with it, had to rebuild an older setup just to do an RMA for a replacement because I had no keyboard or mouse functionality to do it with.
The older system did it's job, got it done and got a replacement board in.
Those "Useless" PS2 ports served their purpose yet again, saving my bacon in the process.

I've always viewed such reliance on USB for everything as a problem with no redundency if you really need it.

And I can hear it now:
"But... It's older tech..... It's useless...."

Bull shiite.

Let's see you USB only jocks pull that off in such a case - You won't and good luck dealing if and when you do run into this kind of thing.

The standard still works fine and having this at least as a backup option is good, not to mention it frees up a pair of USB ports for use with something else too if you really need them.

Not to mention it lets you get around Microshaft's CPU microcode lockout of USB based keyboards and mice with Ryzen/Newer Intels if wanting to run Win 7 instead of Win10/11.
Yes, I do that too.
Having the option to is always a good thing regardless.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

I have one on my Gigabyte B660M Gaming.

 

[chrcoluk]

One is on my b450 pro 4 board.

My older z370 doesnt have one though.

Mixed views, certainly in the past ps/2 I had always seen as less complex and so a no bull type of connector.

However you cannot unplug and replug in windows without rebooting.

However I was reminded of how useful ps/2 is when I booted up proxmox for the first time and my usb keyboard didnt work regardless of bios settings, luckily I had an old ps/2 keyboard to plugin which I am using now on the system. This problem was noticed only last year (possibly year before) on the latest proxmox build to date at the time, so even in 2020-2021 usb can be problematic for k/b on linux (and maybe bsd).

 

[TheLostSwede]

My most recent motherboard is a z390 (asrock Taichi) and it has one dual-purpose PS/2 port. Are PS/2 ports even included on modern motherboards? Or have they gone the way of the LPT and RS232c port?

Did you have a look here? It should give you a quick overview of which Z690 boards still have them. It's quite a mixed lot of boards that have them.

86 Motherboards Compared for Intel Z690 Alder Lake

We compare all the new Intel Z690 chipset based motherboards for Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake processors, so you can get an overview of which boards are worthy of your consideration and which can be skipped no matter if looking for something basic or a flagship model.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

BIOSs with no PS/2 port have inherent USB legacy support, if there is a setting in the BIOS it will be on by default, on other boards there is no setting (to turn it off). Boards with PS/2 ports will have an setting option for USB Legacy and PS/2.

 

[defaultluser]

I only cared about using a ps2 mouse until BIOS got full support for USB. The 125Hz standard polling rate is way faster than the 60 hz PS2/2 stock .

The last time I had a PS\2 motherboard was 15 years ago!

 

[Lenne]

I can't even remember the last time when I've used that ancient connector on any of my main systems. On some older systems it's fine as in some cases, it has a better compatibility.

 

[Tarte]

I like the PS\2 port.
When USB not working PS\2 still working.
It saved me several times.

 

[Aquinus]

When USB not working

If USB is not working on a modern system, something has gone terribly wrong. My SBe machine doesn't have it and I've never missed it.

 

[chrcoluk]

If USB is not working on a modern system, something has gone terribly wrong. My SBe machine doesn't have it and I've never missed it.

That may be the case, but it happens regardless.

 

[Steevo]

We are going back to star topology Twinax networks!!!
Truly remote users on dummy terminals with mechanical keyboards and no mouse!

 

[R-T-B]

The 125Hz standard polling rate is way faster than the 60 hz PS2/2 stock .

PS/2 is NOT 60hz. Being interrupt driven, it's actually more akin to something like 1000hz in resolution.

 

[Aquinus]

That may be the case, but it happens regardless.

My tower doesn't have a PS/2 port and I've never needed to use it. In fact, I haven't used a PS/2 device in over 20 years. I think the whole USB not working thing is overstated.