does the usb card itself work in dos or is it dependent on a windows driver
have you tried a usb to ps2 adapter

There isvery few you can do besides a usb2ps2 adapter.

Your motherboard doesn't have onboard USB? Must be a pretty old board.

hi

i have tested a gamepad usb driver for DOS from this collection of tools:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110716012350/htt … bretjohnson.us/

the bretjohnson.us site is down as I type this so i have used archive.org above. it may be working now.

he has a usb keyboard driver as well which i have not tested but
it would be interesting to hear if it works.

bye

You need the following files in the archive below, on the condition that the system in use supports UHCI.

You need to load USBUHCIL.COM from the archive.

Then load the USBKEYBD.COM

But only if the system supports UHCI. More info on UHCI and OHCI in the readme files.

The author of these drivers is Bret Johnson.

http://bretjohnson.us/

But the best bet to do in a system that does not have USB support in BIOS is to use a USB-to-PS/2 adapter, which is cheap, easily available and risk-failure free. Or just get a PS/2 keyboard, which are still sold. (Just make sure the USB keyboard is a basic keyboard without fancy backlights and/or programmable keyboard. Complex USB keyboards might not work with the adapter.

USB driver in DOS is a possibility, in supported systems, but not advisable unless absolutely necessary. The base driver takes up memroy space. And not all systems are compatible. Furthermore, these USB drivers are designed for use with newer systems, which do not have access to legacy devices, and may not be suitable to be used in older systems.

I have looked in the usb-dos matter in the past. I have successfully used a usb stick to transfer files with a usb2 pci card on a p1mmx system. It was a nice achievement but other than that it was dog slow.
My advice is not to bother with USB stuff in DOS. Just get a ps2 keyboard.

Malik wrote:

But the best bet to do in a system that does not have USB support in BIOS is to use a USB-to-PS/2 adapter, which is cheap, easily available and risk-failure free.

I have the distinct impression that those will not work with all keyboards on all systems.

Jorpho wrote:

Malik wrote:

But the best bet to do in a system that does not have USB support in BIOS is to use a USB-to-PS/2 adapter, which is cheap, easily available and risk-failure free.

I have the distinct impression that those will not work with all keyboards on all systems.

Correct. They actually are just physical wiring adapters that adapt the physical plug to ps/2 so the keyboard can communicate in ps/2 mode to the system.... and many usb keyboards of late are not dualmode compatible (do not know how to revert to talking in ps/2 signals) though almost all of the older usb ones are dualmode.

I have used quite some new (Logitech, Microsoft, Trust) keyboards with a USB->PS/2 converter and they all did work fine (also with things like ctrl-alt-del). However, I've had a hard time finding a mouse that works with the PS/2 port.

Look for an old microsoft optical mouse - the "optical wheelmouse" series. I have one, and it's what I use when working with all of my old systems, every single one of them. The ones still around will be very yellow, and these are the ones with a big red LED lighting up the logo and underside.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16826105165
too bad newegg no longer stocks that particular one.

The one I have was made in like 1999. it's yellowed and yick looking a bit, but these things work perfectly and last forever and a day.

You can see it in the background in this pic of when I put a heatpipe HSF onto my old LGA775 setup:

EZ wrote:

I have used quite some new (Logitech, Microsoft, Trust) keyboards with a USB->PS/2 converter and they all did work fine . . . .

Yes, most of the big names keep that compatibility to reduce support calls, and it is also cheaper for them to source things they have been using for a while (keyboard controller chips, et al) especially with something that will not change requirements for the forseeable future, especially with usb3 being compatible all the way to usb1.0. For offbrands and smaller companies, it's not the same game.

lo

if you want a new mouse with PS/2 support then
look at the GENIUS mouse range.

some mice (for example a traveler 320 i have here)
support the PS/2 mouse adapters, and they also have
other mice with PS/2 connectors alone such as
some of the netscroll range.

bye

I thought a lot of Logitech's mice still came with a PS/2 adapter.

aha! one newegg currently sells, even comes with a ps/2 adapter. and jorpho may be completely right - but I myself am very picky about my mice, many make me so pissed off at them within seconds or minutes if they dont move or feel right I wanna chuck them across the room.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16826105168

That one, I think and hope at least, is like my really old reliable one pictured above, and it's pretty cheap too!