You can always try out the CuteMouse driver: http://cutemouse.sourceforge.net

Load it from autoexec.bat

To me, the message tells you that the COM port has no IRQ set. Win95 may be able to drive the mouse over the COM port without an IRQ, but DOS probably not. So check the COM port settings.

Subjunctive wrote:

I tried a hacked MOUSE.SYS - no effect.

Thanks for the link! This page in turn has a link at the bottom, which points to the old cyrix web page.

Cyrix 386-to-486 Upgrade Processor FAQ
https://web.archive.org/web/19960926234013/ht … er/faq386up.htm

It says: "The Cyrix Upgrade will not work with 386 computers that only use a 287 math coprocessor.
The 287 will have to be removed."

I didn't know that! 😮 I wonder if the 486DLC will also be affected..
At some point, I played with the idea of installing one of these in an early 386 mainboard,
so it is good to know about the risk of "loosing" a 287 math copro..

Kamerat wrote:

You can always try out the CuteMouse driver: http://cutemouse.sourceforge.net

Good idea! 😀

Another driver that worked well for me is the Sigma mouse driver.
It can be found here. 😉

Just to be sure, is it a PS/2 mouse with a 6-pin mini-DIN connector, or serial mouse with a 9-pin DSUB connector?

IIRC, mouse drivers did not come with DOS but the mouse, so you may have an incompatible driver for your mouse.

If it's a PS/2 mouse, make sure your mouse driver can work with PS/2 mice. I recall DOS-era Microsoft mouse drivers were for serial mice only.
If it's a serial mouse, make note to which COM port it is connected to and tell that to driver.
Also look for BIOS settings for COM ports about their port addresses and interrupts so you know if the driver uses the same.

Or just use Cutemouse.

I have had problems with mouse.sys in config.sys before. Though if the hardware is up and running correctly, mouse.com and ctmouse.com/exe in autoexec.bat will allways work. I have seen that there are settings for I/O channels in the manual, so perhaps it is set up and conflicting as it is now, hence perhaps why there is an IRQ conflict. Just a theory that I have as to what can be the issue. Another thing you can do, is to take a look inside the BIOS setup. The ports might be turned off, if the BIOS supports this.

A little more info:

This is a PS/2 mouse, not a serial mouse - and I also have an Aptiva with a PS/2 mouse that was successfully recognized with MOUSE.SYS under the same version of MS-DOS, so I know it's possible.

The fact that both MOUSE.SYS and MOUSE.COM don't work seems to suggest that there's something wrong on a lower level than the driver - so I'm thinking maybe I should fiddle with the P5 jumper before trying the alternative drivers (which, believe me, have been duly noted).

Indid find in the BIOS that COM2 had been disabled, but that was almost certainly the serial port. In any case, enabling it had no effect.

BIOS support for PS/2 mouse is enabled? Possible there is options for forbid mouse...

also verify reserved IRQs in the BIOS
PS/2 mouse support must be enabled (or PS/2 in general) if available

Just a quick update that the CuteMouse driver worked perfectly! Thank you!