Seems to me there's no reason you can't just live with two mice. Wireless mice are cheap these days; you can just chuck it somewhere when you don't need it.

21603 wrote:

The DOS machine is a Pentium @ 200MHz, standard serial port, support for a single PS/2 port but not plugged in due to incorrect internal plug (needs five pins the one installed is a fat eight pin)

This is pretty easy to fix as long as you get the five-pin connector, i.e. the tiny piece of plastic. With a little prodding, you can pull the wires out of the "fat eight pin" and stick them in the new connector. (In theory, you could even do without the connector, but that gets messy and awkward.)

My last thought was USB legacy mode for both machines, but one is Windows 98, and would a USB KVM even recognise a USB device running in DOS through legacy mode?

If I'm not mistaken, the keyboard sends the same signals no matter what it's connected to.

There are several methods you could go.

* USB to PS/2 adapter, will work fine on win98, not sure about 95. I use those to hook up a Apple G3 to a PS/2 based KVM and keyboard/mouse.
* Add an extra COM or PS/2 card to the one whit only one port.
* PS/2 Splitter cable also works, but not always, this is a try and error. Have that to connect a Thin Client running Win98 to the same KVM as the G3 above.

COM and DIN to PS/2 on the old machine should work. But I didn't tried that yet. But I'm just busy whit a Pentium 1 Dos machine, also only whit DIN and COM. And I have the adaptors, so maybe this weekend I can tell more.

Does any one know if a 5-pin DIN MIDI cable will work as an AT keyboard extension cable?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/5-pin-din-cable-aud … -web-only-l55ba

I'd need to use something like that in order to plug in an adapter. Unless you can get male adapters, but I've only seen things like this:

http://www.lindy.com.au/at-keyboard-to-ps-2-p … rt-adapter-15cm

21603 wrote:

Does any one know if a 5-pin DIN MIDI cable will work as an AT keyboard extension cable?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/5-pin-din-cable-aud … -web-only-l55ba

I don't see why not.

I'd need to use something like that in order to plug in an adapter. Unless you can get male adapters, but I've only seen things like this:

You mean adapters with a male DIN plug on one end and a female PS/2 plug on the other? Sure, I've got a bunch of those. (They're not for sale, unfortunately.)

I posted on here with a similar problem a few weeks ago, and found a KVM that supports both USB and PS/2 equipped computers, and can be connected to a USB mouse and keyboard. If you can make a PS/2 mouse work through that DIN plug (through a converter perhaps) then i guess you could use the same solution.

What i got was these two:
Aten CS1734A KVM switch (4 ports) Bought new from amazon for 54£
Aten CS1732A KVM switch (2 ports) Bought new from amazon for 34£

They both support audio out+mic. They are delivered with USB cables only, but PS/2 cables can be purchased separately.

There are some things to consider though.
The KVM switches have 4 USB ports in total. Two for HIDs, and two that act like a USB hub. If you only connect computers that support USB devices, then you can use the two hub ports for your HIDs, which will pass though your mouse and keyboard inputs directly. If not, then it is worth noticing that the two HID USB ports work as mouse and keyboard emulators, in order for PS/2 computers to use the USB mouse and keyboard, and so that they can detect that a mouse and a keyboard are connected when they boot. When you move your mouse or press a key on your keyboard, the input is then passed through the KVM's emulation and send to the active computer. Some of my USB mice didnt work well with this emulation, but a firmware update for the KVM fixed it for me. USB hubs in keyboards, some non standard shortcut buttons, and similar exotic features might not work through the emulation either. Volume up/down and mouse back/forward buttons work for me though, and my mouse and keyboard dont have features more fancy than that.

I've been using a D-Link 4 port PS/2 KVM switch setup for many years (I started out with the 2 port one and quickly realised that I didn't have enough ports).
My input devices has been a standard USB Microsoft optical mouse that is PS/2 compatible (I use a USB to PS/2 adaptor I got with the mouse) and a PS/2 keyboard.
Up to now, with the exception of my very old retro PC's, all of my PC's had PS/2 ports. So, I haven't yet had the need to use PS/2 to USB adaptors, but on the odd occasion I have plugged in a laptop and connected it to my KVM switch and didn't experience any major problems (you get adaptors that has a USB connection that goes into the laptop, with a "splitter" at the other end for the PS/2 mouse and keyboard connections that connects to the KVM cables).

When it comes to older PC's that doesn't have PS/2 ports (i.e., 5-pin DIN keyboard connector and serial ports for the mouse), things started to get more tricky.
The keyboard is usually not a problem, since I just use a standard 5-pin DIN to PS/2 adaptor and this has worked for me.
However, the mouse connection seems to be "touch and go". I've used a standard (passive) PS/2 to serial adaptor for my mice.
From what I've experienced, when I have an optical mouse connected as my input device, then it doesn't "see" the mouse via this passive adaptor.
If, however, I connect a "track ball" PS/2 mouse as my input device, then there is no problem.

I will soon start playing around with more configurations and will then experiment again.
I have a suspicion that the cable running from the KVM switch to the retro PC could also be a problem since, when I bought the 4 port KVM switch, I only got two cables with it. I then had to buy two additional cables of which one was a D-Link brand, but the other cable was a generic one and I think this generic cable is not 100 % compatible with the KVM switch.

21603 wrote:

The Windows 98 machine is a "newer" Pentium II with USB support, serial ports, and unfortunately only a single PS/2 port.

The DOS machine is a Pentium @ 200MHz, standard serial port, support for a single PS/2 port but not plugged in due to incorrect internal plug (needs five pins the one installed is a fat eight pin), and I think it has support for USB but no panel is installed and I'm not sure I have one.

To make matters worse, both machines are still using the 5-pin DIN for the keyboard.

First of all, single PS/2 port per machine is just ok for you. You have older type AT machines (i.e.: nonATX) and the PS/2 ports in your computers would be mouse only (you cannot connect a keyboard to them). For keyboard connections, you can easily purchase DIN/AT to PS2 keyboard converters, which are very cheap on ebay (PS2 female to DIN/AT male).

I suggest Aten CS1734B. It has 4 ports, support for both PS/2 and USB, have standard cables for both USB and PS/2 computers (you might need to buy PS/2 cables as spare parts), support for speakers and microphone. I'm using mine for the last 5 years or so without problem.

As an additional suggestion, use separate USB keyboard and USB mouse for the KVM (I mean your console). Composite devices with a single USB transmitter for keyboard/mouse sets causes problems. And your USB mouse must have PS/2 support, for your older PS/2 machines to sense the mouse connected to the KVM.

In short, just find a separate USB mouse (with PS/2 support, newest models don't) and a USB keyboard, and connect them to the KVMs respective sockets. Find enough KVM cables:

For PS/2 (=older) computers

For USB (=newer) computers

And use one of these AT/PS2 adapters for keyboards:

That's all! 🤣

I suggest not bothering with serial mice and any conversion adapters for them, because it generally requires an active adapter which is not practical or cheap. If you really must use a serial mouse for your KVM setup, I suggest an additional mouse directly connected to the computer with serial only connection.

For changing your 8 pin incorrect plug to a 5 pin one (or vice versa), I suggest looking at this site: http://www.frontx.com/order_c.html . Only thing you need will be the pin out info of your motherboard's PS/2 connector and a standard PS/2 socket. In maybe a multimeter.

There is a topic here (rather funny and/or frustrating) related with the subject.

got my ps/2 backplate... still no mouse working? ***SOLVED!

tayyare wrote:

And your USB mouse must have PS/2 support, for your older PS/2 machines to sense the mouse connected to the KVM.

It does not have to be PS/2 compatible as the CS173* series have mouse and keyboard emulation (see my post above). This emulation may or may not work correctly with specific mouse models regardless of whether or not they are PS/2 compatible (the mouse i found to work the best, out of the five i tried, does not support PS/2).

s0ren wrote:

tayyare wrote:

And your USB mouse must have PS/2 support, for your older PS/2 machines to sense the mouse connected to the KVM.

It does not have to be PS/2 compatible as the CS173* series have mouse and keyboard emulation (see my post above). This emulation may or may not work correctly with specific mouse models regardless of whether or not they are PS/2 compatible (the mouse i found to work the best, out of the five i tried, does not support PS/2).

Oh, my mistake. I really was not aware of that.

When my non PS/2 mice created problems, I just decided to use one with a PS/2 support and it worked. This is where my assumption came 😊

Why have I ended up with the most obscure PS/2 header connectors ever made 😈

At least for the moment I've solved the keyboard problem. I'll order the adapters I need off Ebay.

I'll see if I can convert the PS/2 backplate from the DOS machine to work in the 98 machine. For that I'll have to find a 5 pin header connector for it which is easier said than done where I live.

I have two PS/2 mice. One is an old ball mouse and the other a "newer" optical. I doubt either of them are combo mice so I don't really want to risk relying on USB. If it comes down to it I'll just end up having two mice. A USB for 98 and the PS/2 for DOS. I'll try getting PS/2 to work on both machines first though as I'm cheap and don't want to buy another mouse. 😀

21603 wrote:

I'll see if I can convert the PS/2 backplate from the DOS machine to work in the 98 machine. For that I'll have to find a 5 pin header connector for it which is easier said than done where I live.

As I suggested in my previous post, check http://www.frontx.com/order_c.html

They ship internationally (shipping included in the price if I remember correctly) and they are cheap (kind of - for a single 1x5 header, it is 0.65 USD shipping included, so... cheap, I think).

I don't know where do you liver but I live in Turkey, and I can buy from them 🤣

I didn't know they did free shipping internationally. I'll keep it in mind for future tinkering, after all Jaycar are useless and don't stock connectors like them.

I ended up finding some old cable that has the connector on it so I'll use that. I have bigger problems now though. The damn thing went and half died on me. 😠

Sorry to hear that. Good luck!

s0ren wrote on 2016-10-07, 08:31:

I posted on here with a similar problem a few weeks ago, and found a KVM that supports both USB and PS/2 equipped computers, and […]
Show full quote

I posted on here with a similar problem a few weeks ago, and found a KVM that supports both USB and PS/2 equipped computers, and can be connected to a USB mouse and keyboard. If you can make a PS/2 mouse work through that DIN plug (through a converter perhaps) then i guess you could use the same solution.

What i got was these two:
Aten CS1734A KVM switch (4 ports) Bought new from amazon for 54£
Aten CS1732A KVM switch (2 ports) Bought new from amazon for 34£

They both support audio out+mic. They are delivered with USB cables only, but PS/2 cables can be purchased separately.

There are some things to consider though.
The KVM switches have 4 USB ports in total. Two for HIDs, and two that act like a USB hub. If you only connect computers that support USB devices, then you can use the two hub ports for your HIDs, which will pass though your mouse and keyboard inputs directly. If not, then it is worth noticing that the two HID USB ports work as mouse and keyboard emulators, in order for PS/2 computers to use the USB mouse and keyboard, and so that they can detect that a mouse and a keyboard are connected when they boot. When you move your mouse or press a key on your keyboard, the input is then passed through the KVM's emulation and send to the active computer. Some of my USB mice didnt work well with this emulation, but a firmware update for the KVM fixed it for me. USB hubs in keyboards, some non standard shortcut buttons, and similar exotic features might not work through the emulation either. Volume up/down and mouse back/forward buttons work for me though, and my mouse and keyboard dont have features more fancy than that.

Quite useful, thanks