🚀 go-pugleaf

It seems like everyone knew about these things except me, so I feel like
posting a summary might be a bit of a waste.  Thanks to everyone who
replied via news or email, I got a very clear picture of a dongle.  I
am somewhat amazed that I've never seen one, given that I've been
dabbling heavily in computing since 1979.


The original question:

>  In the current thread on copy-protection, the term "dongle" appeared.
>  What is a dongle?  I've never before read it or heard of it.


The answers, trimmed for brevity:

=========================================================================
From: rdippold@qualcom.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold)

A little device that hangs off one of the ports on your computer,
usually the parallel (printer) port for most PC stuff.  It passes
through regular data to the printer, so you can still use your
printer.

Given the condition of the backs of most PCs, they often qualify as a
monumental pain in the ass.  Luckily, removing dongle copy protection
is usually less complex than removing a good complicated encryption /
interpreter loader copy protection.  But it gives software companies
warm fuzzies.

=========================================================================
From: helfman@aero.org (Robert S. Helfman)

The lore states that 'dongle' is derived from the name of the
original developer: Don Gall.

=========================================================================
From: "Joi L. Ellis" <msjle@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu>

A dongle is a small device that typically plugs into a serial or
parallel port, but they can be found for keyboards, too.  They allow
software to protect itself from illegial copying, since the software has
the ability to detect the dongle's presence or abscence and responde
accordingly.   If the software is written correctly, the dongle is
invisible to all the other applications and hardware on the system.

=========================================================================
From: rnelson@wsuaix.csc.wsu.edu (roger nelson)

It is a plug that looks like a gender changer.
It plugs into the parallel port and the program will not run without it.
On PC's the dongle usually goes in the parallel port, but I have also
seen them go into mouse/joy stick ports on other computers.

They are somewhat inconvienent, since they take up the port, unless they
pass through the port signals.  I have ARC/INFO on my machine and ARC/TIN,
both require a different dongle, so I have six inchs of garbage hanging
off the back of the machine plus the printer cable.
It would be unacceptable if I had other applications that required dongles.

=========================================================================
From: Michael Hermann <hermann@kirk.fmi.uni-passau.de>

A dongle is a piece of hardware which you have to connect
to one of your COM or  LPT ports. The software has a routine
which checks whether there is a dongle on your port and will
only run if there is.

This prevents copies from being run... (as long as they are
not modified to prevent the check..)

=========================================================================
Subject: Re: What is a "dongle"?

I have no idea where the term originated, but a dongle is a device that
physically attaches to the computer.  It's usually plugged into the
printer port on PC-type compuuters.  The dongle is, in some way,
identifiable to the machine as being present and unique.  The technique,
and the term, go back at least as far as my 8-bit days.  Dongles were
common a few years ago with some Commodore 64 games.

The technique has become more and more sophisticated, now.  Dongles may
actually contain vital parts of the application's code, or clocks that
can expire a limited license.  The biggest problem is, in some
situations, you may need several different dongles, and they may not
operate properly with each other.  This usually means you have to reach
behind the machine and change the dongle.  (one company has this solved,
though)

=========================================================================
From: steve@fulcrum.oz.au (Steve Taylor)

It's a hardware whatsamathingy which plugs into your serial/parallel port.
The program which is protected will send a mysterious bytestream to this
port, which the dongle will recognise, and send back appropriately mutilated by
circuitry inside the dongle. The program will continue to run only if it gets
the correct answer. Most dongles claim to be transparent to other users of the
port, so you can (i.e) plug your printer into the back of the dongle. I've
never used one, so I can't comment on whether this causes any problems.

=========================================================================
From: Doug Stevens <dougs@tvnews.tv.tek.com>

A dongle is a device that attaches to one of the ports of the PC (usually,
the printer port) that allows the software you are running to verify that
you are a valid (that is, paid-for) user. With this software, you can't
pirate the code and run it without the dongle. The dongles usually respond
to output from the PC with some difficult-to-predict input.