Nicola Asuni writes to let us know about a new resource for hardware hackers: a wiki about pinouts — hardware interfaces of modern and obsolete hardware. "Created with the same MediaWiki software that was developed for the Wikipedia project, AllPinouts.org is a wiki that allows users to get and share information about hardware interfaces, including pinouts of ports, expansion slots, and other connectors of computers and different electronic devices (i.e. cellular phones, GPS, PDA, game consoles, etc.). All text is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and may be distributed or linked accordingly. The 'pinout' (or 'pin-out') of a connector identifies each individual pin, which is critical when creating, repairing or hacking cable assemblies and adapters."
by Anonymous Coward
on Tuesday June 23 2009, @04:06AM (#28436287)
About time. I've been hoping someone with some bandwidth to spare would be kind enough to collect all of this information in one place for us hackers. We appreciate it! Thanks!
by Anonymous Coward
on Tuesday June 23 2009, @06:19AM (#28436939)
Yeah, sure, then they can spend the rest of their time fighting asshats and idiots who keep trying to make incorrect changes, ask for citations on stuff that doesn't fucking need one and attempts to get the articles deleted as "Not notable". I'm sure that'd be fun.
that looks like a nice resource but it has nothing for automotive connectors.... the site in TFA does, which I found to be a pleasant surprise since there is FAR FAR less standardization in the automotive realm than there is with computers, audio equipment or even video game consoles... compound with the fact that most auto guys seem to HATE wiring if and when you do find some information its written by someone who doesnt understand how to document these kinds of things appropriately.
1) There's been pinout sites for as long as I can remember - I can recall using one a serious amount of time ago to help me interface some kit to a serial multiplexer, but all the merrier I suppose. 2) How long before some manufacturer claims their pinouts are proprietary/trade secret/patented/act of god and slaps a takedown order on their info?
They might be other sites around, but I've had difficulty in the past finding pinouts, let alone ones that were correct. Most I found tended to be fairly inconsistent in the way things were laid out. If it proves to be as good a resource as wikipedia it's a step in the right direction IMO.
The real strength of something like this (versus various otherwise-great resources such as pinouts.ru [pinouts.ru] is that once you've accomplished the difficult task of locating, implementing, and verifying a pinout, you can just go ahead and post your results so that the rest of the world doesn't have to duplicate your effort.
Please don't treat wikis as just a resource to be consumed. Don't assume that someone, somewhere, is tending the light at the end of the tunnel. Contribute what you learn.
Well that cetainly sounds exciting. However, it was slashdotted as soon as it posted. Something like this would be very useful. I am surprised it wasn't done before now.
It was - someone already mentioned Pinouts.ru [pinouts.ru], for example. Still, it's a more than welcome adition. Searching for pinouts can be very frustrating sometimes, specially for discontinued hardware/parts.
Some of the advertising is in slightly annoying locations and I detest "Flashvertising" (flashblock saves my CPU cycles). Not to say I'm against advertising, just prefer it not to get in the way of what I'm trying to do. Marketers will say that it would defeat the purpose of advertising, but personally I'm more inclined to click on a link that is not so in my face then some big flashing neon sign saying I must absolutely try product X. I'll go as saying the subtle targeted advertising in my gmail account ha
Mmm, it's possible your car is older than me. Both of my cars are probably older than 90% of Slashdotters, and neither of them have much in the way of electronics. The newer ('88 Citroen CX) gives a nod to modern automotive electronics by having breakerless ignition. There's a digital clock, too, but that doesn't work.
I've driven my old diesel CX about 30 miles with no functioning electrics of any kind.
It would well worth fixing the link... The article (and google) says www.allpinouts.org, while the link points to www.allpinouts.com...
Anyway, it probably it got slashdotted without this already.
No matter how many wiki's, handbooks, websites, etc. there are, chances are that I will get the DTE/DCE thing wrong! Probably the most confusing pinout scheme ever invented... Getting your serial cable right first time, requires triple high bio-rhythms and planetary alignmnent!
Gah. Not only does RS-232 cabling suck, but also the data transfered over that cable sucks as well!
I remember working briefly at an ISP back in 1995. My favorite thing to love to hate was the fact that Global Village modems for the Mac came with a serial cable that lacked flow control signals. The modem was set to run with software flow control only. The problem is, though, at 14.4kbps and up, the round-trip response time for XOFF to actually stop things was way too long and resulted in bits dropped all
The potential for Evil Genius Anarchy is endless. Missdirection and lies in Wikipedia lead to red faces. Similar shenanigans here could lead to at best magic smoke releases and at worst homes razed and heart-failure. Lovely.
It looks like something that might, someday, become a useful resource. But: I find it annoying that the wiki doesn't allow anonymous edits. Creating a bar which folks must jump over before contributing (even if it's as simple as creating an account) does not foster creativity, nor does it encourage folks who might otherwise feel constrained by NDA to post a particular pinout.
To whomever it is who is responsible for this wiki (and I know you'll be reading this, once
Creating a bar which folks must jump over before contributing...does not foster creativity
No, but as John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory shows, and is embodied by places such as 4chan: Anonymous + Audience = Fuckwad. Anonymous edits of a Wiki are a terrible idea, because you will get vandalism. If you can't be bothered to jump the (very low) bar, then it's likely your contribution wouldn't be that great in any case.
nor does it encourage folks who might otherwise feel constrained by NDA to post a
* an indiscriminate collection of information [wikipedia.org]
* an Instruction manual [wikipedia.org]
and everything must be backed up with reliable sources [wikipedia.org].
There is also no way to format the information in a Wikipedia-esque fashion that makes it as easy to find like on this site (when it comes up back up).
an indiscriminate collection of information
an Instruction manual
I looked at both of these, and none of the (bad) cases they list apply to documenting hardware. I often use Wikipedia's pages on Unicode encoding, do you also mean that they should be removed?
You might not have noticed - because of meetly done transparent linking - but most of the unicode reference is on WikiBooks. Wikibooks is far more permissive then Wikipedia.
> I looked at both of these, and none of the (bad) cases they list apply to documenting hardware.
So maybe you should read them again. From the very page linked by the grand-parent:
Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information => See Also Notability
General notability guideline => Topic have "Significant Coverage"
"Significant coverage" means that sources address the subject directly in detail, and no original research is needed to extract the content. Significant coverage is more than
That's one reason writing content for the internet is more fun than writing it for a company: you don't have to argue about whether it's a good idea. You put it out there, you tell a few people about it, and it either works or it doesn't. If the Wikipedia content works out to be more complete and/or reliable, then I guess allpinouts.com won't last long; if people find it easier to locate the pinout for their vintage graphics tablet, or contributors find less hassle in uploading information, then it will probably become a trusted resource.
They do need to address scalability though. Still/.ed.
Well up until now, lack of a cite-able source would have been an objection - I don't think you can just add something to wikipedia that you figured out with a multimeter one night.
Now that we have allpinouts.com though, there is delicious source of sources to cite - put your multimeter derived findings on allpinouts.com, and then add it to wikipedia citing allpinouts.com as a source:)
Yay! (Score:3, Insightful)
About time. I've been hoping someone with some bandwidth to spare would be kind enough to collect all of this information in one place for us hackers. We appreciate it! Thanks!
Captcha: mischief
Re:Yay! (Score:5, Funny)
...someone with some bandwidth to spare...
Not any more, it would appear...
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
yes, ofcourse, it should mirror an entire wiki...
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Coral Cache (Score:2)
Doh (Score:2)
Third time lucky (Score:3, Informative)
And I'm just off to find some caffeine now. That is all, thank you.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Yay! (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Wikia is better (Score:2, Informative)
If you are going to make a mediawiki site use Wikia.com, all of the extra stuff that "doesn't belong" on wikipedia ends up there.
these are available:
pinout.wikia.com
pinouts.wikia.com
allpinouts.wikia.com
and any pagesyou have already made can be easily imported.
WikiBooks (Score:2)
WikiBooks would probably more appropriate.
Already been done . . . (Score:5, Informative)
> to collect all of this information in one place
I've been using the pinouts from these 2 websites for too many years
http://www.hardwarebook.info/Category:Connector [hardwarebook.info]
http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Main_Page [allpinouts.org]
Parent
Looks promising (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Looks promising (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Looks promising (Score:5, Informative)
Mod Parent Up
Debian users can also apt-get install hwb
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Does it include things other than consumer electronics, too? I'd like to be able to look up stuff like ODB2 (on-board diagnostics, for vehicles).
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Not that this wiki h
Re: (Score:2)
...which will block all relevant pages for everyone but the admins, because of "vandalism" (meaning someone disagrees with the admins' world view.)
A couple of points (pins!?) (Score:2)
1) There's been pinout sites for as long as I can remember - I can recall using one a serious amount of time ago to help me interface some kit to a serial multiplexer, but all the merrier I suppose.
2) How long before some manufacturer claims their pinouts are proprietary/trade secret/patented/act of god and slaps a takedown order on their info?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
They might be other sites around, but I've had difficulty in the past finding pinouts, let alone ones that were correct. Most I found tended to be fairly inconsistent in the way things were laid out. If it proves to be as good a resource as wikipedia it's a step in the right direction IMO.
Re:A couple of points (pins!?) (Score:5, Insightful)
The real strength of something like this (versus various otherwise-great resources such as pinouts.ru [pinouts.ru] is that once you've accomplished the difficult task of locating, implementing, and verifying a pinout, you can just go ahead and post your results so that the rest of the world doesn't have to duplicate your effort.
Please don't treat wikis as just a resource to be consumed. Don't assume that someone, somewhere, is tending the light at the end of the tunnel. Contribute what you learn.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
That's a very good point.
instantly slashdotted (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Advertising (Score:2)
Some of the advertising is in slightly annoying locations and I detest "Flashvertising" (flashblock saves my CPU cycles). Not to say I'm against advertising, just prefer it not to get in the way of what I'm trying to do. Marketers will say that it would defeat the purpose of advertising, but personally I'm more inclined to click on a link that is not so in my face then some big flashing neon sign saying I must absolutely try product X. I'll go as saying the subtle targeted advertising in my gmail account ha
Re: (Score:2)
Mmm, it's possible your car is older than me. Both of my cars are probably older than 90% of Slashdotters, and neither of them have much in the way of electronics. The newer ('88 Citroen CX) gives a nod to modern automotive electronics by having breakerless ignition. There's a digital clock, too, but that doesn't work.
I've driven my old diesel CX about 30 miles with no functioning electrics of any kind.
Unreachable.... (Score:5, Funny)
Ethernet plug not properly wired?
www.hardwarebook.info has been around... (Score:3, Informative)
...for about 10 years. (Yes, it moved to .info just recently.)
incorrect link (Score:5, Informative)
Serial cable pinouts (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Gah. Not only does RS-232 cabling suck, but also the data transfered over that cable sucks as well!
I remember working briefly at an ISP back in 1995. My favorite thing to love to hate was the fact that Global Village modems for the Mac came with a serial cable that lacked flow control signals. The modem was set to run with software flow control only. The problem is, though, at 14.4kbps and up, the round-trip response time for XOFF to actually stop things was way too long and resulted in bits dropped all
Wiki? (Score:2, Flamebait)
The potential for Evil Genius Anarchy is endless. Missdirection and lies in Wikipedia lead to red faces. Similar shenanigans here could lead to at best magic smoke releases and at worst homes razed and heart-failure. Lovely.
As opposed to ... (Score:2)
This is, of course, completely separate to wiki-pinups .. which is just pages and pages of semi-nude pictures of Jimmy Wales ... *shudder*.
I'll help! (Score:2)
Start here. [dell.com] Scroll down to "Pin Assignments", then scroll a bit more to "Composite Video Connector"
Pin Number 1: LUMA COMPOSITE CHROMA
*whew* OK, done for now. More to come...
Re:/.ed (Score:5, Interesting)
/greger
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Either the firewall I'm behind doesn't like HWB, or the storm has moved there too.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
/.ed? Feh. It's still working for me.
It looks like something that might, someday, become a useful resource. But: I find it annoying that the wiki doesn't allow anonymous edits. Creating a bar which folks must jump over before contributing (even if it's as simple as creating an account) does not foster creativity, nor does it encourage folks who might otherwise feel constrained by NDA to post a particular pinout.
To whomever it is who is responsible for this wiki (and I know you'll be reading this, once
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
No, but as John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory shows, and is embodied by places such as 4chan: Anonymous + Audience = Fuckwad. Anonymous edits of a Wiki are a terrible idea, because you will get vandalism. If you can't be bothered to jump the (very low) bar, then it's likely your contribution wouldn't be that great in any case.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I agree, but ... the deletionists would go ballistic and start screaming "its unencyclopedic".
Apart from that, wikipedia probably would not accept a reverse engineered pinout, on the basis of lack of sources.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
There are far worse unencyclopedic things in Wikipedia, e.g. this [wikipedia.org].
Because Wikipedia is not ... (Score:4, Informative)
* an Instruction manual [wikipedia.org]
and everything must be backed up with reliable sources [wikipedia.org].
There is also no way to format the information in a Wikipedia-esque fashion that makes it as easy to find like on this site (when it comes up back up).
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
an Instruction manual
I looked at both of these, and none of the (bad) cases they list apply to documenting hardware. I often use Wikipedia's pages on Unicode encoding, do you also mean that they should be removed?
Unicode reference is in WikiBooks (Score:2)
You might not have noticed - because of meetly done transparent linking - but most of the unicode reference is on WikiBooks. Wikibooks is far more permissive then Wikipedia.
Re: (Score:2)
> I looked at both of these, and none of the (bad) cases they list apply to documenting hardware.
So maybe you should read them again. From the very page linked by the grand-parent:
Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information => See Also Notability
General notability guideline => Topic have "Significant Coverage"
"Significant coverage" means that sources address the subject directly in detail, and no original research is needed to extract the content. Significant coverage is more than
Re: (Score:2)
Fight! Fight!
Sorry, I mean
Edit war! Edit war"
Wikibooks (Score:2)
However there is Wikibooks where Instruction Manuals are permitted and reliable sources are not needed.
Re:Why not put this Wikipedia? (Score:5, Interesting)
That's one reason writing content for the internet is more fun than writing it for a company: you don't have to argue about whether it's a good idea. You put it out there, you tell a few people about it, and it either works or it doesn't. If the Wikipedia content works out to be more complete and/or reliable, then I guess allpinouts.com won't last long; if people find it easier to locate the pinout for their vintage graphics tablet, or contributors find less hassle in uploading information, then it will probably become a trusted resource.
They do need to address scalability though. Still /.ed.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I see no reason to have a separate Wiki for this.
Well up until now, lack of a cite-able source would have been an objection - I don't think you can just add something to wikipedia that you figured out with a multimeter one night.
Now that we have allpinouts.com though, there is delicious source of sources to cite - put your multimeter derived findings on allpinouts.com, and then add it to wikipedia citing allpinouts.com as a source :)