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Old trackball won't work on modern laptops

Since I have to do a largish schematic and won't be in the office the whole time I wanted to connect my trusty old trackball to a laptop. This old mouse still boasts a, gasp, 9-pin serial connector. But you know how it is, when you get used to a tool no matter how ancient you don't want to miss it. Just as I still miss that wonderful Fahrvergnuegen of my first car...

Tried it on two laptops, a Dell and a new Twinhead that surprisingly also came with a RS232 serial port. Neither recognized that anything "new" was connected nor could I find any setup in Windows (one is XP, the other NT/2000). I am sure I can dig out the old mouse drivers but they are from the days when Windows were still those glass thingies that you use Windex on.

How do you get an old serial port mouse working on a "modern" laptop?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg
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Is it Logitech? Try their site. It ought to work as an ordinary serial mouse PROVIDED you INSTALL it.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

It is.

Tried that. That model is long gone from there. I bet if I'd call they'd suggest to try the Smithsonian museum ...

Well, on the risk of totally embarrassing myself here, how do I do that in them thar newfangled Windozes?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

In sci.electronics.cad Joerg wrote: : How do you get an old serial port mouse working on a "modern" laptop?

Start by installing Linux on the laptop.....

Stuart

Reply to
Stuart Brorson

Then my mouse would work. However, a slight inconvenience would be that the CAD program the mouse is supposed to be used with would quit working ...

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Wine?

Whine?

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

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"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" came out in April.
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Reply to
Tim Wescott

Why yes! Such a useful suggestion ;-)

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

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| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Reply to
Jim Thompson

(a) Find the original floppy disks (Remember floppy disks?)

or

(b) Settings -> Control Panel -> Add Hardware -> See if the model is between the pre-defined devices.

or

(c) Try a USB to serial converter, then go back to (a) & (b)

Roberto Waltman

[ Please reply to the group, return address is invalid ]
Reply to
Roberto Waltman

[...]

You might lose that bet. New trackballs are generally just old trackballs with geehaws added. Usually the new trackball faithfully emulates the old one until the driver enables the new stuff.

Products", then "Trackballs not listed". Choose your operating system and download. I believe this gets you their "generic" driver that works with just about anything (anything Logitech, anyway). Standard 5-byte,

1200 baud protocol with 3 buttons. No new geehaws.

The download should include instructions.

HTH,

-=Dave

Reply to
Dave Hansen

Plug it in _before_ booting, and perhaps wiggle it around as Windoze is looking for devices. Alternatively, connect a GPS receiver sending NMEA data before booting - Windoze usually recognizes that as a serial mouse.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI  Vancouver BC, Canada
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca  
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
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Reply to
Peter Bennett

As a possibly longer-term solution, Linux as the base, then run Windows in a VMWare (or other virtualisation) box. Keep that M$-beast in its cage :)

Reply to
David R Brooks

Damn! I was just about to suggest that too... ;-)

Meindert

Reply to
Meindert Sprang

Oh, you mean them floppy CDs :-)))

Got them but those are DOS drivers.

It ain't :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Yes, but it seems that the new generation of mouse driver writers doesn't remember what RS232 is.

Thanks, done that, tried to install, didn't work. It only supports newer USB devices.

Only USB it sez. Why is it that electronics get dropped like a hot potato in less than a decade while I can still go to Kragen's and buy a spare part for a Studebaker?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Isn't there a simple adapter to convert between serial and PS/2?

AND: Haven't you already wasted $50 of your time trying to be cheap-ass, when a new track-ball can be had for $49 ?:-)

I thought you would have learned that time is money by now ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

I do. But there comes a time when I need a little breather from staring at a CAD screen or figuring out how to cram umpteen analog functions into the space of about two quarters. Also, it's not about money, I like this old mouse and I know it won't give cramps like most others.

BTW, Logitech says on their site that their driver (MouseWare) will not support serial mice under 2k and XP. Great. But they did say that 2k and XP have native drivers for that. Question is, who knows where?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Joerg wrote in news:u_dsh.62711$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr13.news.prodigy.net:

control panel - add hardware - let it search and if it does not find it do a manual instal...

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Reply to
me

Oh yes, it will see a NMEA device as a mouse. Real treat every time I start my pc and forget to unplug the GPS, my mouse cursor is all over the place.

--
Stef    (remove caps, dashes and .invalid from e-mail address to reply by mail)
Reply to
Stef

Try turning off the machine. Plug in track-ball. Boot up. See if pointer moves. I'd bet that it will.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

Did that on both machines. Neither found it.

If I just knew how, respectively where to get or find the needed driver.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

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