Is it possible that punching cables into a
patch panel can render NIC cards useless?
or is it just a coincedence? I had 2 pc's
that the cards stopped working after punching
the cables into a panel.Does the card itself
make any difference? ( All cards were 10/100,
2 pc's worked fine, 2 died)

If the cards were "live" and attatched to the cables you were installing, maybe. Remember, just having the computer shut off may not be enough (wake on LAN) because a minimal amount of power ma still be going to the NIC. If you can't easily get to the NICs to disconnect them then powered down and unplugged for the computrer (or shut off at the powerstrip/surge protector switch).

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

DMC,
Dag, I do that all the time. Never had it blow a NIC card for me. After reading MJC's post I'm thinking maybe I've been real lucky. I'm not going to do it anymore, I can assure you.
I thought those category 5 cables were just like big phone lines, I never worried about unplugging one of those either. Once I tried to splice a phone line with my teeth when it was live, that was a "loser"...but that's another story.
Anyhow, man if just plugging them in live caused a fried card,....dag!
Hope it's something else,that's fixable. Please post back if you discover what happened.
Peace

nim,

As you found out, phone lines carry voltage, and Cat5 is just another type of "phone" line, so it too carries voltage. The safest way to work on electronics, all kinds, is completely powered down and grounded. It protects both you and the components you are working on. Back inthe days when I was studying elctronics the one thing all my instructors kept hammering into our heads was, never work on a live circuit unless ther is no other way...

dmc,

I'm not sying that is what happened, but if the cards were on the the chances are greater. There is also the possibilty that something is not wired correctly. You can try switching one of the good ones out and putting one of the "bad" ones in its place to see if there is a problem with the wiring. (While everything is powered down, of course)

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Depending on how you have setup your power button and other power management settings in BIOS,
there may be some active voltage present in your system even when it is not actually running.

To be absolutely sure, you should always completely disconnect from the wall outlet or UPS.

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."
-- Homer Simpson

So...we can still remove or place USBs while powered up, right? Serial or PS2 mouse? Other than that uplug it from the wall. Am I right? I've been living on borrowed time, I guess.
FYI, I recently purchased an ECS K7VMA motherboard which comes with a handy little red "idiot light" (designed for people like me, I guess) that is situated about a quarter inch away from the first RAM memory Dimm slot on the MoBo. My case has a front on/off switch and another switch on the back of the unit that can be thrown. I've noticed that the back switch seems to really shut off all power to the MoBo whereas the front switch leaves some voltages on. And as TJAY and MJC have said one way or another, even after turning off the back switch that little red light next to the memory stays on for another 4/5 seconds. What's my point? Even when you pull the plug from the wall, wait a few seconds before you stick your non/static fingers in that thing. There is, indeed, some amount of energy still resident and slowly dissapating.
Peace
and, DMC, what's the latest on those NIC cards?

USB devices are designed to be able to be "hot swapped"...that is the exception to the rule. So unless a device explicitly says that it is "hot swappable" assume that it isn't and follow safety precautions and power completely down.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Going to find out this weekend when I try to connect
more cables to the patch panel, they will definitely
be unplugged at both ends.Could a patch panel be
mis-labeled as far as 568A vs 568B sequence??