hardware problem (ps/2 mouse)

[Pecosian]

Out of curiosity, was it an optical mouse? because those will not run on serial ports unless they have a source of external power. Serial ports do not provide power on their own for optical mice, that sort of thing came into effect with ps/2 and usb ports, at least as far as mice are concerned. So if you plan on using a mouse on a serial port you're either stuck with a standard ball mouse or you'll need an optical mouse made for serial ports.

[ele5125]

thanks guys, I went out today and got a Microsoft Weel mouse optical that uses usb and ps/2 interchangeably, after a short while i got it working. Thanks for all the help,

it is cool, useing the intelipont software that comes with it, i can assign keys to each button, so i assigned ctrl d to the weel, so when i press it, i bookmark a web site, ctrl d is bookmark for microsoft IE, mozilla, and i asume netscape navigator as well.

[vvirtho]

Pecosian - I have an optical 3-button mouse (Q500) and it is running just fine on a serial port. It uses the generic MS serial mouse driver. Just out of curiosity, what make/model optical mouse did you have trouble with? ----- vvirtho

[Pecosian]

Does it? I was under the impression that an optical mouse would not work on it's own out of a serial port unless it was made specifically for a serial port, sorry.

[vvirtho]

Pecosian -
It was what you said about needing an external power source . . . the mouse does have a serial connector as opposed to PS/2 and no external power source. Isn't the 'power' provided to the serial port via its connection to the motherboard (and to the MB via the power supply unit)? Please correct me if I'm mistaken. I just wanted to let you know that I had an optical that worked on a serial connection.
. . . . vvirtho

[Pecosian]

Here are some pages with diagrams of DB9, DB25, PS/2 and USB ports and you can see that the DB9 and DB25 ports have no 5 volt outlet whereas both the PS/2 and USB do. This is why I said I didn't think an optical mouse could run without external power on a serial port, because where is it getting enough power to work the optical sensor? I may be wrong but it just doesn't seem to work.

PS/2:
http://panda.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu/~acha...ro/PS2/ps2.htm
USB:
http://www.usbman.com/Guides/BelkinM...e_assembly.htm
DB9 & DB25:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconVall...4/serial1.html

vvirtho-
What's the make/model of the mouse again? I looked up Q500 but it comes up as an INWIN Q500 case.

[vvirtho]

Shown as a Model# DMP3 Manf: Chakers Inc. Serial# 0706230 Q500 Digital Mouse - 100% Optical Design Even though it says digital, it is actually an optical mouse. Good luck on trying to get any info on it. I was lucky enough to find a little data on it at the time of purchase. If you like I can pass it along, unless you are able to find something (I checked any and all combinations but it has been a good 6-8 months at least). Thanks for the links - I'll check them out later today (right now I'm trying to gather some port info).
. . . . V

[ele5125]

Thanks for the web sites, I took a look at the first one already, i might bread board some simple circuits to use the ports just for fun, I will need money for components though, since i dont have a wide selection of transistors. It has inspired me.

[Pecosian]

I'm guessing these are the specs for the mouse: http://www.ibsstore.com/product.asp?...cat=60&prod=34
Yeah it is DB9, that's kind of interesting. This is the first I've heard of an optical serial mouse, wonder where it gets its power from, oh well. Thanks

[vvirtho]

Percosian -
Specs seem right - I didn't see a picture, but it's nothing fancy and I really like it. I'm glad I didn't have to pay what they're asking for them though! If I ever decide to take one apart - I'll keep you in mind. Still working on getting port descriptions but will get to those links you provided later today. Thanks again!

V.