Built a custom D8B external power supply

[captainamerica]

RJ...good me posted

[RJH_MUSIC]

Been thinking. Captainamerica, the video you sent makes perfect sense now. So I hooked up the cable that I bought Amazon that has a repeater in it. It worked just long enough to get me into the bios and then it froze the computer. Watching your video I understand now why you keyboard and mouse are connected to the keyboard port and the PS2 connector on the computer is Peter CPO. In my case the keyboard is connected using the US bring the USB add on that I put in the CPU which is why I'm sucked to the stupid 15' limitation. Since I am using a 50' cable USB cable that could be the problem so I'm gonna have to go with a shorter cable and see if that fixes it. But the PS2 mouse 1 has me stumped because it should work so I think it might be the cable so it be the cable so I yet again ordered more cables from the Internet. Now I'm in a waiting game to see when they get delivered. For the keyboard I think if I used the keyboard port with an adapter like you did instead of AUS B port I might have better success.

RJ

[RJH_MUSIC]

Lol I hate auto speech to text... I actually don't know anybody by the name of Peter cpo. That was supposed to be a computer CPU.

[RJH_MUSIC]

Oh my God not only can I not spell I can't seem to type correctly either. In my case the Keyboard is connected to the CPU using a USB port connected to the motherboard so I am subject to the length limitations of the USB protocol.

[captainamerica]

hahah no worries, I understood. So are you ok now?

[Y-my-R]

Quite honestly, I didn’t follow this thread carefully, since I’m a bit shy to touch CPU components, so I thought it’s “not for me.”
But when I looked in today, found that I also have something to contribute to the “extended cable length” topic:

I’ve had the 50 foot umbilical cord for a long time, tested it along with extension chords for the “Console Data” DB25 connectors and a long VGA cable at the time and it worked fine in multiple extended-time tests back then, passing audio and using the faders etc. on the console. All audio related stuff worked fine.

What I did NOT test at the time was to extend the keyboard/mouse and MIDI cables etc. I just this weekend decided to finally get the D8B rack unit I attached the long BFC cable to (not my every-day unit so far), ready for the new “machine closet” I found space for. I never realized that the one built-in closet that already has a power supply in it, is deep enough for a rack with the D8B in it, and is in a convenient location to route an AC duct to. So, somehow I “found” a machine closet in my space, hahaha. I’ll just have to find a good cable management solution to go above a door, but I digress, sorry.

Before I get all the cable management stuff in place, I wanted to test that all this works, incl. mouse/keyboard etc. Here’s what I use - the keyboard and mouse part works… at least for a few minutes after boot (still testing):

Since I use a “vintage” KVM switch for 3 computers with PS/2 on them (HDR, D8B and D8B board running Windows), I need to get from the D8B rack computer to the KVM - not directly to the keyboard/mouse. This might make a difference.

But to make this work, I ordered the following cables from Monoprice (too almost a month to get delivered… not “really” recommended, but the cables worked):


Console Data / DB25:
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=1596

VGA Cable:
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=6365

2x PS/2 Cable (WRONG cable… should’ve been male/male… but this is what I ordered):
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2540

NOT TESTEST YET:
4x 25ft MIDI cables (longest they have and I have MIDI couplers… but might only need 25 feet for MIDI… will see)
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8536

RESULT:
If I use these long DB25, VGA and PS/2 cables between a D8B rack unit that uses the STANDARD LENGTH (factory) BFC cable, and connect the other end to my Protec - Bytelan Keyboard-Video Switch (here’s one on ebay I found - not mine: https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/273798631327), then the keyboard/video/mouse work as expected. (I'm currently having a problem with the 50' BFC cable, so I tested with the standard BFC cable on another rack unit. Also, because I basically ordered PS/2 extension cords instead of male/male cables, I had to add an additional short male/male PS/2 cord to each cable on it’s end… making the cable even a bit longer. So, the PS/2 cable length was not the problem).

Here’s a pic of all the cables for the 50’ extension (the MIDI cables are only at 25’ in this pic):

D8B_50foot_chords.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1630 times

[Y-my-R]

Quick note:

I edited the post above, to only leave the "long cable" info, but removed anything related to my "power supply issue" I had mentioned (incl. 2 posts that were only about that).

My PSU issue turned out to be a self-inflicted and I probably fried two of my power supplies in the process (had the black and brown wires going from the PC power supply to the power distribution board reversed... even looked like I fried the console, but it booted up normal again, after I removed all connections and cards over night).

I have one more spare set of power supply components (in the D8B unit that runs Windows... the PSU is still there, but not hooked up), will move them to the D8B rack unit for the machine closet with the 50' BFC cord and then try again. But this might take me another 2+ weeks.

Anyway, sorry again for the temporary hi-jack of this thread. I'll open a new thread next time. Still hope the long cable info above is useful.

[RJH_MUSIC]

Thanks for the info. I did finally get my mouse and keyboard cables to work. Here is what I have learned in the experience. I love Amazon for availability and pricing not to mention quick shipping, but be very careful when you buy computer related cables from amazon because sometimes they just do not work. The problem with the USB Mouse turned out to be a right angle connector I bought. I think the cable was not tight enough in the connector mate. The mouse problem I cannot explain at all. I watched the video that Captain America posted and I bought 4 10 feet ps2 extension cables, (the older kind) and sometimes they worked and sometimes not. Again I think it could have been loose connectors. The original 35 foot black ps2 extension that originally did not work, began to work fine when I put a booster on it to boost the signal. So it all comes down to where the cable came from. I bough the same monoprice VGA and DB25 cables and they do work well.