“a couple of dedicated machines”
Is this a new installation? Has this process control system ever been in a state that did not produce the reported discrepancy? What changed and when?
Did you virtualize the site’s legacy system?
You’re looking for what’s called a “pigtail”. Ps/2 seems to be another name for 6-pin “mini-din”, which is a standardized connector format.
Here’s an example.
wiki.archlinux.org/title/Laptop/Lenovo
^here’s a good place to look for compatibility and hardware support.
You said your parents believe it to be a poor choice because of the machine age. Do you mind me asking what you purchasing it primarily for?
So for any one else wondering, I went looking for receipts and it seems to check out. Source material claims to be affiliated with the University of Oxford. The database is difficult to navigate, but i was able to find this link to the 4.08.16 english text.
etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.4.…
Even as someone who is way out of depth, the database is interesting to explore.