PS/2 Y Adapter

[iann070]

I was looking thru an electronics catalog today and saw some PS/2 Y Adapters so you can connect a PS/2 keyboard and a PS/2 mouse up to the ThinkPads PS/2 connector, I then noticed that they had about 3 different type depending on the laptop (Generic, IBM, Dell).
What's going on here, after a Google search there seems to be different pinouts for the different Y adapters, talk about standards.
I still don't see how there are different ones, I have used a PS/2 mouse connected straight to my ThinkPad T21 and it worked OK, so that means the ThinkPads PS/2 connector is standard, and as all PS/2 keyboards and PS/2 mice all have the same pinouts, then why the different Y adapters?

[schen]

I've used Y Connectors in the past for both Dell and IBMs as well as both Generic and IBM manufacturered connectors. I simply didn't run into any differences.

[JHEM]

I still don't see how there are different ones, I have used a PS/2 mouse connected straight to my ThinkPad T21 and it worked OK, so that means the ThinkPads PS/2 connector is standard

Yes, a standard MOUSE port, not a standard PS/2 port.

All mice will work when connected to the Thinkpad's port, but not keyboards.

The "difference" in the Y adaptors is one ground wire not connected on some.

Regards,

James

[iann070]

I ordered a PS/2 Y Adapter the other day from an electronics store, they had 2 in their catalog with 2 different part numbers, being:

CA164 - (For Notebooks)
CA166 - (For ThinkPads Only)

So I ordered the CA166 and they sent me the CA164 instead, I've just measured the pinouts with a multimeter and all the pins are wired straight thru' as follows:

1 - 1 - 1
2 - 2 - 2
3 - 3 - 3
4 - 4 - 4
5 - 5 - 5
6 - 6 - 6

So I'm guessing this adapter isn't going to work.
Would I damage the thinkPad if I tried it out?

I've searched the net for the correct pinouts for the Y adapter but there seems to be conflicting information out there.