VOGONS


Reply 160 of 381, by feipoa

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matze79: The unit arrived yesterday! I won't have time to assemble and test it for some time though. I am in the middle of building a wood shed and garden shed. I am also having issues with the neighbours who have excavated down 1 metre at my fence line, leaving my property susceptible to landslides, erosion, and a falling down fence. And the neighbours do not want to put up a retaining wall, which is insane. This fiasco is consuming all my time.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 161 of 381, by matze79

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hopefully the next rainfall will not wash away your fence 😳
those neighbours are boring. 😀

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Reply 163 of 381, by feipoa

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I found an hour to assemble and test matze79's protocal converter on a 386. With a trackball ps/2 mouse connected directly to the converter, it seems to function normally without noticeable lag at 1024x768 (Win3.11). But when I use the same mouse (Logitech MouseMan M-S38) on my KVM and through matze79's converter, I notice a very irritable lag in tracking quality. Have you noticed any lag issues when using a KVM? My KVM w/audio is an IOGEAR GCS614A MiniView, 4-port. I have three of these KVM's and have used them for about 15 years without much issue.

Asside from the issue with the serial-to-ps/2 conversion, I tend to hear some feedback through the speakers when the mouse is moved and the volume is up quite high.

What KVM w/audio units have been tested and found to be error free with tracking lag? I no longer recall if I tested all those commercial protocal converters with and without KVM. I should retest that. I should also test your converter with a ps/2 laser mouse. I'd also like to test higher resolutions of 1280x1024.

Anyone else test matze79's unit with a KVM?

By the way, component assembly was a breeze. I used a pin header instead of the round power connector. I connect the power pin header directly to the floppy power cable (12V).

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 164 of 381, by feipoa

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I double checked using an optical mouse connected to the KVM and the converter still exhibits the same irritating lag. It is not useable unless you have a lot of patience and don't mind waiting 500 ms for each direction change.

I checked the Raritan converter and the symptoms are the same, that is, with any mouse connected directly to the converter, there is no issue. With any mouse connected to the KVM, there is lag. Does anybody else have a 4-port KVM w/audio which does not have lag issues when using a serial-to-PS/2 mouse protocal converter? I'm wondering if the KVM is down sampling or emitting some signal, like auto sensing hotkey strokes (used to change the ports), which is either confusing the protocal converter, or reducing the effective sample rate.

When adding native PS/2 mouse functionality to 486 boards, I have no issue when using my KVM.

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Reply 165 of 381, by matze79

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Sounds like some sort of timing problem.
Now it would handy to hookup a osciloscop and look whats going on between converter and kvm.

my kvm switch works well its some cheapo dlink model, need to recheck type.
Do you also have some other kvm switch for testing ?

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Reply 166 of 381, by feipoa

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Does your KVM have audio and 4 ports? If so, could you confirm what the model is?

I think I have a Cybex KVM w/out audio I can try. I only bought it (many years back) because it had built-in PS/2 to serial conversion.

What ports do I probe on the KVM and what am I looking for?

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 167 of 381, by bestemor

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Did a quick test just to see if and how it worked.

- Microsoft intellimouse w/intellieye v 1.0 (first? ever usable MS optical, from 1999/dual ps2/USB)
- using a passive usb->PS2 adapter into the 'PMSAC' * ...
(*: any brand/model name suggestions for this wonder of technology yet? 😎 )
- socket478
- winXP (only)
- desktop 1280x1024 + some games 800x600 and 640x480
- with the naked PMSAC directly connected to the serial port, could not find any extension cable

Seems to be working just fine so far! Assuming it will be the same when eventually connected to an actual non-PS2 machine as well. No apparant delays of any kind. Though the low DPI on this very old mouse is noticeable in the higher resolutions... (not enough settings in the driver for more either)

PS: was expecting the led lights to activate at some point, but nothing happened.
Perhaps these are used for something 'else' ?

------------

So, next I should be looking for a USB->PS2 converter adapter - for using a modern USB only keyboard on a PS2 only machine....

Reply 169 of 381, by matze79

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One LED should indicate Mouse connected and the other Mouse Movements.
With mouse connected it should flicker when you move it.

Hmm i tested it before sending 😳 i'm wondering why it does not work ?
https://youtu.be/C9xlHtdYUhA?t=2268

Does the MCU sit tight in the socket ?

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Reply 170 of 381, by keropi

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Maybe the leds are installed with the wrong polarity by mistake?

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Reply 171 of 381, by matze79

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Could you please take a Image of the Board top and bottom and near LED's ?

Please reseat the MCU in socket. Something is wrong here.

Hm but the one i send is the one from the video.

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Reply 172 of 381, by matze79

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What ports do I probe on the KVM and what am I looking for?

Data and Clock on PS/2 Port beetween KVM and RS232 Converter.

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Reply 173 of 381, by feipoa

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matze79 wrote:

What ports do I probe on the KVM and what am I looking for?

Data and Clock on PS/2 Port beetween KVM and RS232 Converter.

I mean, what specifics in the signal am I looking for and how do we translate these signals into meaningful information in order to troubleshoot the lag issue?

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 175 of 381, by bestemor

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matze79 wrote:

Could you please take a Image of the Board top and bottom and near LED's ?

Please reseat the MCU in socket. Something is wrong here.

Hm but the one i send is the one from the video.

Well, seems like I have set myself up for total embarrassment here.... 😵

Was initially going for a 'quick' power-on test, just to see what happened, and was probably waay TOO quick at it...

OK, so I have 4 of these mice on the desktop(don't ask!), each connected directly to various computers via many cables, and I somehow mixed up which cable goes to which mouse, and had also forgotten to remove the one already connected via USB. Which in fact was the one I 'tested'....! The wrong mouse, that is.

Now, to add insult to injury, I had also forgotten that I have completely disabled all the com ports in the bios as well...
(saving ports/irqs, this being a WinXP machine)

But, that other (identical) mouse was ALSO connected - via the adapter, albeit hidden away/not touched, so at least the red light should have lit, if I get this correctly.

- Anyways - I finally(!) got the set-up right, but then this mouse model apparantly is NOT one that will work with this adapter...
Tried several of them, same difference.

Only thing that happens is that the mouse optics lights up red (as they should), and some times the GREEN light on the adapter actually turns ON, and starts to continually blink on-off(500ms intervals) - indefinitely, while the RED light is not lit at all. Other times when I attach the mouse, there are no lights at all(nor green nor red), not even after waiting, and having the computer on or off when doing it does not affect that either.

---> I hence conclude that this old (USB/PS2) MS Intellimouse of mine is not compatible after all.

SUCCESS (SORT OF)
Now, I was wondering what other settings I might have gotten wrong in my rush to test this thing, so as a last ditch effort I stick in a regular old Microsoft PS2(only) BALL mouse v1.3A !

And lo-and-behold, after booting, now WinXP even pops up with a message that I have a serial mouse connected, and installs the driver !
And both lights work as expected (even when not attached to the PC), AND the mouse itself works as well !!

But... this is a BALL mouse... sigh... Making all the efforts pointless. I have plenty serial ball mice already.

So now I have to find a optical mouse that actually works with the adpater, it seems...

- Any suggestions on specific models ?

Reply 176 of 381, by matze79

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Did you try to reconnect the mouse to the adapter after the adapter has powered up ?
i have also tested a Microsoft and a Logitech USB Mouse with PS/2 Adapter which works fine.
Also did you use the USB Adapter shipped with the Mice ?

My Favorite is the Logitech M-SBF96 😀
My Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0 USB/PS2 also works fine.

I'm very interested in this, is it still possible to get a kit?

in a couple of weeks.

Feiopa, i was mistaken the KVM is a Digitus DC OC-12A.
it runs without any problems.

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Reply 177 of 381, by rosaage

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matze79 wrote:

in a couple of weeks.

Very nice, thank you. Is there some sort of list/pre order or should I just check the forum every now and then?

Reply 178 of 381, by bestemor

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matze79 wrote:

Did you try to reconnect the mouse to the adapter after the adapter has powered up ?
Also did you use the USB Adapter shipped with the Mice ?

Not sure how long I have to wait for the power-up, but regardless, with the MS intellimice all I get is the green light blinking non-stop after connecting the mouse, nothing else... (well, the mouse itself lights up, but...)
And when I then REMOVE the mouse, the adapter STILL keeps on blinking green constantly (red is still off), 🤣...

As for USB adapter, I suppose these are all identical, PASSIVE, adapters, so... should not matter which one I use, right ?

Ok, found yet another mouse, a new old stock basic HP oem optical, with hardwired PS2 connector (the 10 year older MS has USB). Not sure if it would work with a USB2PS2 adapter on a USB motherboard, but see no reason why not.

- For the HP one, the green/red adapter lights work as they should - sort of, that is: the green light stays on SOLID/no blinking after/while moving the mouse, and then turns off after a short while. I was expecting it to blink in tune with my movements, but it does not...
BUT the mouse itself does NOT work (winXP desktop).
Is not recognized by winXP.

Are there any special settings in the bios one should be aware of ? For the serial ports.
(the "I/O range" in particular, currenly set to 03E8-03EF)
I suppose not, as that old PS2 BALL mouse worked fine with the current settings....

AND, what is the model/part number etc, on this 'Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse v2.0 USB/PS2' of yours ?

I found this one(P58-00057), which seemingly can(?) be used with a PS2 adapter:
https://www.conrad.de/de/usb-maus-optisch-mic … arz-352602.html

Reply 179 of 381, by feipoa

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matze79 wrote:

Feiopa, i was mistaken the KVM is a Digitus DC OC-12A. it runs without any problems.

Interesting. All google search results come up with German sources for this product. Do you happen to know if there is a 4-port variant?

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.