I've installed win98SE on two different super socket 7 motherboards, using two different serial mice I know work, and 3 different serial cables... and win98SE will not detect my mice.... why might that be?
Windows... or any other OS for that matter, does not "detect" ANYTHING on the Serial or Parallel ports. They have to be initialized with a driver for any device plugged into them to work. PS/2 ports are QUITE specific and limited to ONLY keyboard and mice, so it's very easy to have Windows do an initial check for those ports.
The serial mouse is a non-Plug and Play device and in order to get it detected, go to the Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel. Go to Add Hardware, press Next a few times and select Yes, detect hardware, next, and it should detect the mouse.
One more thing: run CuteMouse in the DOS prompt (press F8 and select Command Prompt Only) to see if the mouse gets detected from there.
Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser
wrote:I've installed win98SE on two different super socket 7 motherboards, using two different serial mice I know work, and 3 different serial cables... and win98SE will not detect my mice.... why might that be?
Did you restart between each tries ?
Afaik, Windows 9x doesn't automagically detect these kind of device if the system is running.
However, it may probe for serial mice and serial modems during startup..
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
//My video channel//
Some of the answers above are not correct.
Windows 4 looks at the serial ports every time it starts.
If there is a MS compatible mouse installed, it is getting activated.
In case a mouse connected to serial port 1 or 2 is not being detected, there are only the following possibilities:
-Mouse is not MS compatible
-Port(s) have been deactivated (BIOS or Windows hardware profile)
-Usage of an improper extension cable
-Hardware fault
From my experience, Windows 98 SE has some problems with serial mouse identification after you change the motherboard.
I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.
wrote:The serial mouse is a non-Plug and Play device and in order to get it detected, go to the Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel. Go to Add Hardware, press Next a few times and select Yes, detect hardware, next, and it should detect the mouse.
One more thing: run CuteMouse in the DOS prompt (press F8 and select Command Prompt Only) to see if the mouse gets detected from there.
I have had an instance with a serial mouse, where neither Win98SE nor CuteMouse could install/detect the mouse; but WinXP autedetected it and it worked fine.
(all this on an AthlonXP machine)
