if theres no solutions.. maybe we can discuss the best SERIAL mice to use?

I have an PS2 to Serial Adapter, build by Matze79 from Dosforum and Forum64.

Works with PS2 optial and Ball Mouse... but not with all Mouse.
Here it works with 2 from 3 mice...

working: Logitech ball mouse and Microsoft intelli-explorer optical

not working: Microsoft optical mouse 2.0

Take a look at this topic.

I tried 3 PS/2 mice on my 486 recently with a serial adaptor. None of them worked. Those that are identified as 'combo' mice will work with an adaptor but none of mine were. If I could be bothered I would have made the requisite modifications to one of them but instead I bought a serial mouse off ebay for 99p. I have about 8 mice, all using either USB, PS/2 or serial connection - they don't exactly take up much space being stored.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-PS-Optical-Whe … e/dp/B000HGMMH6

what about one of these.. will this work with a 486 board? or do most "optical" ps/2 mice not work at all?

Through a passive adapter? Forget it, optical mice do not support the serial protocol. That is why I linked that thread, that adapter, ideally, allows any PS/2 mice to be connected to the serial port, though in practice some PS/2 mice do not play nice with it.

heres another thread
http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showt … e-vs-PS-2-Mouse

correct me if im wrong..
let me try to break it down..
so basically.. if its going to work to convert from PS/2 to serial.. it has to be from the days of windows 98 (v1) or earlier.. prior to Windows 98SE (when all peripherals began changing over to usb) around sometime in 1999-2000. (just before XP came out)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=mouse+%2 … ptical&_sacat=0

the word "Combo" can mean usb+ps/2 aswell -- it cant be USB compatible if its serial + ps/2 compatible (both)
and it also cant be "optical" .. or can it? i saw an ad saying that there was one that was optical + serial..

do these "Rules" sound right?

im starting to recal being really upset having been forced to change my mouse from serial to PS/2.. and then again from PS/2 To USB!!!
i know that i had a trackball serial mouse at one point...its all a blur;) too many years ago - but the "logitech mouseman" + "trackman" brands sound very familiar. as are the "microsoft mouse" serial version.

I wouldn't trust any mice unless it came with the adapter when new or clearly states "COMBO MOUSE" somewhere. Also, I think all mice that supports both protocols are ball mice, and they are not any better than equivalent serial mice. Also, as per the thread you linked, apparently there were more than a single pinout for those adapters, so I'd still prefer mice that came with the adapter, so you'd be sure the adapter is the right one.

If your goal is to use an optical ps/2 mouse on a machine that only has a a seriel connector there is one option. A company called Raritan made a serial to ps/2 converter that uses some kind of chip inside to do the conversion and is from what I hear virtually lagless and can work on anything back to a PC/XT machine. I have one and a few members here do as well but I've never used mine.

the problem is they tend to be pretty uncommon and as far as I know its about your only option. So you just need to ask yourself if its worth the trouble, money and time to hunt one down. I would just get a serial mouse and just maybe keep an eye out for one of them. if you find one for a fair price and snag it its a bonus but really a serial mouse is going to be just fine.

I don't know much about USB in DOS or on a 486. I've personally never seen it done but I hear there are DOS USB drivers though seriously its hard enough to get USB working ok in Win95 let alone DOS.

I got this beauty this summer:

It feels nothing like modern serial or older ball mice. The upside is that it is very responsive and quite sensitive, however, it has to be perfectly aligned to the mat.

Mine was worth around $15 including shipping, but it's not easy to find at all.

Thats interesting. I don't think Ive ever seen a Serial laser mouse. Do you prefer it over ball mice?

soviet conscript wrote:

Thats interesting. I don't think Ive ever seen a Serial laser mouse. Do you prefer it over ball mice?

I currently use Genius 6000. This one sits in the box because it consumes much more space. When I find a bigger desk though... 😈

I would do the numbers. What is the premium for a 486 board with PS/2 port? And how much will hunting down a Serial PS/2 adapter set you back? And will that solution be as good as a native PS/2 port?

Don't discount OEM boards, many have PS/2 ports for some reason.

For real retro feeling a standard serial ball mouse is a must 😉

do logitech usb/ps2 mice work??? ??????????

the mouse i have right now.. a mx500 by logitech.. came out in 2002..
so i guess i need a mouse that came out before 2001??

In a serial port? Not a chance
In a PS/2 port? Did it come with an adapter? I wouldn't count on it, but it is a possibility. By 2002 PS/2 was still king. PCs back then did not have so many USB ports as today (P3 motherboards more often than not only had two USB ports onboard, later P4/A64 had four, not counting the internal headers for FP connectors), so PS/2 was still very popular in desktops, as a keyboard/mouse pair "permanently" taking up two ports at once was a bit excessive.

(Picture by hofinger / dosforum.de )

Serial mice are awesome. I use one on my DIN / serial port only Magnavox PCs all the time.

I do not understand this mouse obsession at all.