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From: roy@phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith)
Subject: Re:  An informal survey [slide-locks]
Message-ID: <1991Apr23.001727.26953@phri.nyu.edu>
Sender: news@phri.nyu.edu (News System)
Organization: Public Health Research Institute, New York City
References: <9104191503.AA25029@uh.msc.umn.edu>
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 91 00:17:27 GMT

In article <9104191503.AA25029@uh.msc.umn.edu> tjs@MSC.EDU (Tim Salo) writes:
> I once believed, without evidence, that slide-lock connectors were the
> largest single source of [LAN] network downtime.

	And something happend to change your mind?  I am firmly convinced
that not only are they the largest single source of network problems, but
they are larger than all other sources combined.

> Does anyone have experience replacing Ethernet slide-lock connectors
> with screw connectors?  (Is there a reasonably easy way to do this?)

	We do it all the time.  If you take apart the end of a cable and/or
a board-mounted connector, you will usually find that the slide-lock
mechanism can be removed fairly easily by undoing a few small (4-40?)
screws and/or nuts.  This leaves you with mounting holes on the cable and
board connector that align.  Just insert plain old RS-232-style mounting
screws that you can get from Inmac, or anyplace else, and suddenly you've
got a connector that you can count on not to fall out.  It won't meet
official 802.3 standards, but the standards people know what they can do
with themselves (I'm usually a pretty rabid pro-standards kind of guy, but
when the standard is so obviously brain dead, I gotta be a little
practical, you know?)

	I'm certainly no fan of U/B, as I think I've ocassionaly made clear
on the net, but one thing they did right (in my mind) was to violate the
standard and put screw-mount connectors on their gear.

	I once heard a horror story (probably on the net but I've long
since forgotten when and who told it) about a tranciever cable that came
partially detached.  The power and transmit pins made contact, but the
receive circuit was broken; the damn thing could talk, but couldn't hear.
Apparantly it did very bizarre things to the network.

--
Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016
roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy
"Arcane?  Did you say arcane?  It wouldn't be Unix if it wasn't arcane!"