• Siegfried@lemmy.world
    70·
    7 months ago

    The actual retro problem was when those tighty boys would start unscrewing the port instead of themselves

  • jeffw@lemmy.world
    631·
    7 months ago

    Pretty sure the little slit was so that you could use a flathead screwdriver. Had to do that a couple times

    • qprimed@lemmy.mlEnglish
      13·
      7 months ago

      those slots were near useless.

      edit to say: one trick was to use the blank expansion slot plates to gently break the vice like grip the screw had in the hex stand-off. the metal used on the cheap “digit remover” cases was sometimes soft enough to loosen the thumb screws via the driver slot without the thumb screw breaking.

      still nearly useless though.

  • mozingo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    393·
    7 months ago

    This happens because the connector is at an angle. Since it’s at an angle, the screw presses against the side and jams itself in place. All you have to do is tilt the connector the other direction and the tight screw loosens right up. Easy peasy.

    • SuperApples@lemmy.world
      21·
      7 months ago

      I tighten them and it saved my monitor! Robbers broke in to our house, stole a bunch of stuff. The computer monitor was still there, connected to the computer, dangling from the table.

      How do I know they tried to steal it? Because they tried to cut through the cable with PAPER SCISSORS, because they didn’t know how to unscrew the cables.

      I feel sorry for the dumb robbers. I hope they didn’t pawn it and are still enjoying playing Wii Fitness without the balance board, which they neglected to take with the console.

    • al177@lemmy.sdf.org
      4·
      7 months ago

      Other than niche Keysight gear that’s has three layers of nameplates because it’s '90s vintage NOS, LXI and USB-TMC have replaced GPIB.

      • Fosheze@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        7 months ago

        You would think that but where I work we are still manufacturing NEW equipment with GPIB. Industry moves at a glacial pace and plenty of compainies will still pay to have GPIB as an option.

    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
      14·
      7 months ago

      I like DVI. I prefer it most of the time.

      I like the screw in connector because I don’t have to worry about it falling out of the PC or monitor, and it is more robust, less likely to be pulled/bent/broken.

      Unfortunately, even monitor vendors don’t seem to agree that DVI was/is good, and I’ve seen a lot of displays shipping without it recently. GPU makers have entirely gone to displayport/HDMI. It’s the end of an era, as far as I’m concerned.

      I’ve switched almost entirely to DP, since I can’t get DVI anything anymore. I don’t hate DP. I like it more than the friction fit HDMI which is prone to pulling itself out of the port for no good reason just as your opponent is about to come around the corner and all you can do is stare at yourself in the black mirror that your monitor has become and listen in horror as fartmaster69420 frags you again, bragging about it and telling you that you suck, and how he does unspeakable things to your mother over VC in his prepubescent voice.

      Anyways. I miss DVI.

        • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          7 months ago

          You obviously don’t use HDMI the same way I’ve seen it used by some people.

          I do IT support for a living and I’ve had a non-zero number of tickets where I literally have to go over and plug in someone’s display because they managed to disconnect it.

        • borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          2·
          7 months ago

          I’m trying to figure out what this person is doing that would lead to an HDMI cable, or any cable really, getting pulled out of the port on the monitor or the computer while gaming. The only situations i can think of would be more of a hinderance to playing the game than the monitor blanking out, like the laptop or desktop falling off a desk or something.

          • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
            1·
            7 months ago

            I was mostly being fatecious for effect/comedy.

            But working IT support, I’ve had users complain that their computer doesn’t work, then travel to their location and find the HDMI connection fell out.

            I’ve wasted countless hours troubleshooting a plug. It’s a big reason I like the latch on DP and I prefer DVI when possible. No user error with things just getting unplugged.

            I use DP for my computer, HDMI for all my TVs, and it works fine. I don’t make it a habit to mess with the cables, for laptops I tend to try to use docks so I’m only plugging in one cable while I’m stationary, and my displays are always connected to the dock.

            The example rant I provided had no basis in reality. Just something I came up with because I thought it would be funny. The only point that had any actual real world relevance is the fact that HDMI can become unplugged if not properly seated, or if it’s pulled at all, or if the friction fit is generally loose from wear&tear. That’s all. I’m just trying to be funny beyond that.

            Either way, I’m not going to tell you how to live your life; so if you prefer HDMI, that’s fine. You use what you want to use. I’m not about to tell you that your choices are invalid because I don’t prefer it. Your decision doesn’t affect me, so you can do as you wish. I won’t try to change your mind.

            Have a good day.

            • borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              1·
              7 months ago

              Oh dude, you totally misinterpreted my intent. I’m a DisplayPort only household. I’ve got DP cables going from PCs and docks into KVMs, and from KVMs to way too many monitors, and all of them are DisplayPort with active adapters when necessary. I refuse to buy any cable that isn’t DisplayPort at this point. I guess except for my TV but that shit is in the wall and if rats start tugging on that shit or the TV falls off the wall we got bigger problems.

              I was just genuinely confused about the apparent frequency of these cable mishaps, like monitor video cables are as frequently ripped out as n64/psx/ps2 controllers lol.

              • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
                1·
                7 months ago

                All good. Working in IT support has its set of challenges. I’m not sure what users are doing with their equipment, but they keep getting in dumb situations where a complaint of “my computer doesn’t work” has about a 50% chance of the problem being an HDMI cable that’s either damaged or unplugged. Every once in a while it’s a powered off PC, and the user just thinks that the power button on the display “turns off [their] PC”. Those are fun.

                For people who make a living working in some computer program, some people are so willfully ignorant of how a computer functions… Usually they simply state that they’re “not very techy” and think that’s an acceptable excuse for why they haven’t learned the basics of operating a PC in the past two decades.

                My point is, I have no idea how it keeps happening, all I can say is that since DP became the default standard for workstations, those calls have all but completely stopped happening. Calls like that on VGA/DVI were rare, usually because the install tech was too lazy to actually screw in the connector, then it was the HDMI hellscape, now it’s displayport bliss. Hard to be a lazy installer when you only need to push in the connector to have it properly latched into the system.

                It still happens, usually when someone breaks the DP connector, but like I said, that’s pretty rare.

                Oh, in case you thought I worked with complete idiots, most of the people I support are professional white collar workers. Office drones in lawyers offices, accounting offices… Even dental practices. These are people with certificates and diplomas representing 4+ years of education per person, and yeah, they still can’t figure out that the button on the screen doesn’t power off the computer.

          • thereisalamp@reddthat.com
            1·
            7 months ago

            I do have this problem with the monitor I hook up to my laptop for gaming occasionally. It’s looser because it gets plugged and unplugged more commonly and can occasionally slip out of I move my laptop to my lap so I can lean back when my back starts to ache.

            But this is not a common situation I think

      • Red Army Dog Cooper@lemmy.ml
        5·
        7 months ago

        VGA has outlived DVI… I can buy a new monitor with VGA and get a new VGA cable at almost any store … DVI is hard to find anything but a DVI to VGA adapter

            • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
              2·
              7 months ago

              You’re entitled to that opinion. I don’t hate you for it. I would be lying to say I understood.

              DVI could operate in three modes, either DVI-A, which was basically just VGA adapted to the DVI connector, DVI-D, which is the primary digital mode, then there was dual link which doubled the bandwidth for the DVI digital mode, allowing higher resolutions and higher refresh rates.

              By comparison HDMI can only do a single digital link.

              DVI is great IMO.

              • Red Army Dog Cooper@lemmy.ml
                1·
                7 months ago

                I am not going to lie, while I appreciate the 3 modes that is the part that I think I ended up hating, not that it could do that but that so many times you would get either a cable or a port that would only accept -a or more often -d made it incredably hard.

                I can also appreciate that on paper DVI is amazing and should still be arround, (also Displayport should be more popular than HDMI … HDMI should be the port in the grave) it does not mean I do not have this irrational hatred for DVI that makes no sense at all…

                • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.caEnglish
                  1·
                  7 months ago

                  I’m not judging. I just wanted to detail a couple of my favorite things about it.

                  I’m not foolish enough to think I’m going to change your mind about it. Your criticisms are valid, and you are free to like or dislike anything you wish.

                  Have a good day.

      • thawed_caveman@lemmy.world
        4·
        7 months ago

        I’ve recently plugged and unplugged a lot of monitors, and the way DP keeps itself attached it with those little claws, and you have to push a button to release it. But when there’s 4 monitors plugged into the same GPU, you can’t access those buttons. The struggle was real.

        In comparison the DVI connector just needed a screwdriver

  • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
    15·
    7 months ago

    All I can say is that we are fortunate that the overlap between “VGA ports everywhere” and “battery operated impact drivers” is almost zero on the timeline. Imagine trying to unscrew a VGA plug by hand that was tightened down to ugga-dugga-foot-pounds of torque. Of course that assumes that didn’t shear the screws first.

      • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
        7·
        7 months ago

        Na, some of us still deal with these style connectors. Not so much for video, but it’s still used for rs-232 (control signal) and other data. They are great when you dont want the connector to ever fall out.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          3·
          7 months ago

          I’ve seen plenty of medical devices with rs232 ports. And I’m sure there’s a lot of legacy machinery out there which require them.

          If you have a factory and your computer-controlled machinery was installed in 1995 but still works just fine, you’re probably not going to invest in newer equipment until it becomes a problem.

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
      1·
      7 months ago

      Screw loosie in tight as you can by hand, give the plug a moderate side to side jiggle, loosen tighty first then loosie.