jaZz_KCS wrote:

Roman, I was wondering, what is the difference between rev1.0 and rev1.1? The only difference I could spot was the missing resistors below XS1, something to do with the program-ability of the Altera chip?

The changes are very minor, so I did not pay your attention to them.
They relate primarily to ease of assembly.
The missing resistors R1...R4 are duplicated by the resistor network RN1 on the back of the board. Soldering this resistor network takes about 2 times less time than four separate resistors.
Fixed some slightly uneven PCB conductors. Although you are unlikely to notice it.
LED VD1 is rotated 90 degrees. Due to this, LED can be tilted to the edge of the board, as is done on network cards. But I did not do it, left it as it is, because even without tilting, the LED glow is clearly visible.
The PCB track under the middle leg of the DA1 chip has been moved. Due to this, it is not necessary to delete the leg without fear of a short circuit.

The only noticeable difference is the modified Atmega firmware. Recent adapters of the previous version also have this firmware.
With new firmware If you press and hold the left mouse button before starting the adapter (before the LED lights up) and release it after turning off the LED, the state of the mouse wheel jumper is inverted. That is, the removed jumper turns on the wheel, installed - turns off. If you hold down the right mouse button in the same way, the initial state is returned. This allows you to turn the wheel on and off without opening the computer case. Unfortunately, not all mice support this feature since they have incomplete implementation of the PS/2 protocol. Usually this feature is supported by old and expensive mice.

feipoa wrote:

I probably have the only pre-rev1.0 cards.

There are only two such cards.
Did you get the second card, latest revision 1.0?

Yes, got it. I use it on my test beds for boards that don't have PS/2 ports or cannot be adapted natively with the KBC.

I received two of these cards today, after disabling COM2 on my 486 computer and setting the jumpers on the PS/2 card everything worked great and now I have a MX518 mouse for my DOS gaming, nice to not have to use a ball mouse anymore 😀

It works all too well, I had to jumper it at 50 or 75% speed becasue it was too good.

Cool project! I would like to buy a card. I have sent you an email.

Hello All,

I've also bumped into this issue: a more modern mouse for an old 486 which has only ISA slots...
I've read through the posts related to the topic (there are so many of them 😎 ),
and according to my understanding RIO444's card is:
- now has COM3 and COM4 support
- works with MS-DOS 6.x mouse.com
- can be used with Windows 3.1 (and of course many other Windows versions)

Are the above correct ?

In case of Windows 3.1 which mouse driver is recommended if the mouse wheel function is not necessary?
Currently I'd like to use an HP PS/2 optical mouse, which has wheel but I don't need that function currently.

I'd be interested also in this card: (Nice project !)
- in case of ordering the card is coming fully assembled, or soldering iron is needed ?
- if using PayPal 27 USD is the price (sorry I haven't found again that post that mentions the price) ?
- and last but not least what is the approximate delivery time?

Thank You.

Warlord wrote:

It works all too well, I had to jumper it at 50 or 75% speed becasue it was too good.

lol! Yeah, finally a serial-to-ps/2 mouse protocol converter that puts to rest the issue with KVM's and tracking lag. Been waiting a decade for this. The sad part is that it makes all my other serial-to-ps/2 converters obsolete, and I have a bunch of those.

memoryleak wrote:

Hello All, […]
Show full quote

Hello All,

I've also bumped into this issue: a more modern mouse for an old 486 which has only ISA slots...
I've read through the posts related to the topic (there are so many of them 😎 ),
and according to my understanding RIO444's card is:
- now has COM3 and COM4 support
- works with MS-DOS 6.x mouse.com
- can be used with Windows 3.1 (and of course many other Windows versions)

Are the above correct ?

Hi memoryleak,
Yes, they are correct. The adapter don't work with Windows XP and probably Windows 2000 (I didn't check Win2000).

memoryleak wrote:

In case of Windows 3.1 which mouse driver is recommended if the mouse wheel function is not necessary?

The built-in Windows driver is recommended. It must be selected in the Windows settings. It is called "Microsoft Serial Mouse" or "Microsoft or IBM PS/2 Mouse."

memoryleak wrote:

I'd be interested also in this card: (Nice project !) - in case of ordering the card is coming fully assembled, or soldering iro […]
Show full quote

I'd be interested also in this card: (Nice project !)
- in case of ordering the card is coming fully assembled, or soldering iron is needed ?
- if using PayPal 27 USD is the price (sorry I haven't found again that post that mentions the price) ?
- and last but not least what is the approximate delivery time?
Thank You.

Yes, the card is fully assembled.
The price when paying using Paypal is $ 25 (if you pay as a family/friend, i.e. without a transfer fee). Additionally, for shipping, $ 7 for one card and $ 9 for 2 or more.
Delivery time varies greatly by country. It seems the longest delivery time to Canada - about 1.5 months. To Germany and UK it is approximately 2 weeks. Shipping to the USA usualy takes a little more than 2 weeks.
If you name the country and I sent there, I will tell you how long the delivery took.

Here is the adapter Guide download/file.php?id=70920
I believe it will help you answer some of the questions.
Also see here Another PS/2 Mouse ISA (ISA8) card adapter
You can contact me by email

Hi Rio444,

Thanks for the reply and the reply and the guide !
I've missed that thread that you've linked...

Anyway, I don't want to spam this thread, so I'll contact you in e-mail shortly as suggested.

Interesting note:
The adapter is capable to work at 20Mhz ISA bus speed, i.e. very overlocking friendly.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

Interesting note:
The adapter is capable to work at 20Mhz ISA bus speed, i.e. very overlocking friendly.

sorry for the derail but what system / motherboard / cards do you have that will run ISA that fast? 20MHz is insane

Luckystar LS-486E with 60Mhz FSB and 1:1 PCI divider.

Rio444 wrote:

matze79 wrote:

Thats why it makes sense to have 3/4 Support.

A mouse on COM3 port can cause much more problems. This port is completely abnormal for mouse.
If the Feipoa board conflicts with the adapter on IRQ after changing the Serial port1 from 3F8 to 3E8, then COM3 will not help also.

I have four comports connected and no issues at all.
but you can only use 1 or 3 or 2 or 4 at one time, because auf IRQs.

on some systems you can`t disable the onboard ports.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

Luckystar LS-486E with 60Mhz FSB and 1:1 PCI divider.

do you have any other ISA cards installed that tolerate that bus speed?

Trident 8900D video card tolerated it quite well, with performance boost around 75%. Some late ISA sound cards like Yamaha YMF719 or Avance Logic ALS100+ probably can work at 20Mhz too.

matze79 wrote:

I have four comports connected and no issues at all.
but you can only use 1 or 3 or 2 or 4 at one time, because auf IRQs.

on some systems you can`t disable the onboard ports.

Generally you are right.
The only problem is that not all drivers are looking for a mouse on the COM3 and COM4 ports. Some (especially for DOS), only on COM1 and COM2.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

Interesting note:
The adapter is capable to work at 20Mhz ISA bus speed, i.e. very overlocking friendly.

That is good news. Unless of course you were mistaken with the frequency. Usually, a divider for the ISA bus can be set in the BIOS.

Rio444 wrote:

matze79 wrote:

I have four comports connected and no issues at all.
but you can only use 1 or 3 or 2 or 4 at one time, because auf IRQs.

on some systems you can`t disable the onboard ports.

Generally you are right.
The only problem is that not all drivers are looking for a mouse on the COM3 and COM4 ports. Some (especially for DOS), only on COM1 and COM2.

This is even true for the drivers that come with Windows 3.0/3.1/3.11 itself. Although the additional ports get detected correctly by Windows, if present, a mouse connected to either COM3 or 4 will only work after driver modification.

That is good news. Unless of course you were mistaken with the frequency.

No, I did some tests with aforementioned Trident card just to be sure.

SpeedSys test is showing me ~4800Kb/s video memory bandwidth on the 8900D, while the default settings (PCI 33Mhz, 1/4 divider) can score only ~2600Kb/s. I'll attach pictures later.

jaZz_KCS wrote:

This is even true for the drivers that come with Windows 3.0/3.1/3.11 itself. Although the additional ports get detected correctly by Windows, if present, a mouse connected to either COM3 or 4 will only work after driver modification.

It is quite possible.
I had found the old guide to using COM ports.
It was recommended to use COM1 or COM2 for the mouse there. And other COM ports for modem and other devices.
After that, I stopped considering using the COM3 and COM4 ports for the mouse as a good option.
Not sure if I can find this guide now.

The Serpent Rider wrote:

No, I did some tests with aforementioned Trident card just to be sure.

It looks like you really succeeded. My congratulations!