Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!husc6!uwvax!dogie!uwmcsd1!ig!agate!ucbvax!samsun.UUCP!darrelj From: darrelj@samsun.UUCP (Darrel VanBuer) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: Ethernet transceiver connector slide-locks Message-ID:Date: 20 Jun 88 21:49:04 GMT References: <8806181919.AA22300@orc.olivetti.com> Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: Unisys Santa Monica Lines: 16 Slide locks are not perfect, but when correctly implemented do not cause much trouble. Sun's violation of the 802.3 spec (and the more implicit specs in the orginal Ethernet document -- where you have to read the connector manufacturers' catalogs to get all the rules for correct adjustment) is a major headache. By putting a chassis between the connector flange and the slide, they steal about 1.5 mm of pin insertion out of a total of 3 mm pin insertion, leaving the connector quite wobbly. At one time, we dealt with this by modifying the drop cable to remove two washers which the spec says SHOULD be between the lock posts and the connector flange, resulting in a cable end which complements the Sun error, and gets a good fit. Of course this cable now fails to properly fit a conforming computer or extension cable :-(. When properly fit, a slide lock is quite strong. With poor QC or design, they are abysmal.