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It's been a while since I've run DOS. I have a 286 machine and a serial mouse. What is a good "test program" to show me if the mouse is installed properly? Right now I get nothing - but maybe my old programs don't even support a mouse! Did qbasic support a mouse? Or edit? Any others you all use to check for mouse function?
From memory, serial mice came with a driver disc, as they were 'add-on' devices at the time..
Generally included was an installation program which modified autoexec.bat and config.sys if needed, and also a test program.
Should not be difficult to locate such a disc if required.
Difficult to now imagine a pc etc. without some sort of pointing device.
Good Luck - Keep us posted.
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Thanks for the tips. I only vaguely remember DOS programs with sorta fake mouse control - may be ProComm (?) but that was what, 20 years ago! Yikes. I was given a 286 and want to try some robotic experiments with the parallel port.
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And FWIW, CuteMouse (the mouse driver) is still out there and should still work with your 286 (should you need a driver, that is...)
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Not a util, but my all time fav is MSmouse 9.01 with plenty of tasty options.
================================
Microsoft (R) Mouse Driver Version 9.01
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. 1983-1993. All rights reserved.mouse [options]
on Enables Mouse
off Disables Mouse
/B Bus Mouse Type
/Cn Serial Mouse on Com1,2
/E Load Mouse in low memory
/F Find pointing device
/Hn Horizontal Sensitivity(5-100)
/In Inport Mouse Type(1,2)
/KPnSm Button Selection, P-primary,S-secondary
/K ClickLock - /KC (on), /K (off)
/Mn Enables Default Cursor - /M1 (on), /M (off)
/Nn Cursor Delay(0-10)
/Or Rotation Angle (0-359)
/Pn Active Acceleration Profile
/Q Load driver quietly(No Display)
/Rn Interrupt Rate
/Sn Horizontal and Vertical Sensitivity(5-100)
/Vn Vertical Sensitivity(5-100)
/Y Disables Hardware Cursor
/Z PS2 Mouse Type
===============================I can email it if needed.
=====================================
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Thanks to all for the info. One other question related to my 286. There are two 25 pin physical connectors (ports) , one male and one female. How do I know which is serial or parallel or what? They are both connected to the same card. And how to I get an address (a hex address) so that QBasic might send a signal to the parallel port to turn on an LED? The BIOS screen on this computer is very minimal. It just occurred to me that maybe I need to add a command to the config.sys file to configure the card? Maybe it is not configured right now?
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The DB25 male connector (you can see the pins) is the serial port. The female one is a parallel port.
Parallel port hex address is usually 0378. Lotta info online about parallel port addressing.
Mouse working? I suggested MSD because it's clickable if a mouse is properly installed.
Skip
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Thanks for giving all the good info. I'll try the mouse tonight and report back. And maybe try to post a picture of the old machine with cards in. It is dawning on me - slowly - that perhaps my serial port also needs a line the config.sys file in order to be "seen" by DOS ? I have pretty much forgotten all the install rules for an old system like this. The drive was reformatted and got a fresh DOS 6.2 install so maybe I need to set up everything manually now.
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Okay the parallel port is working and I can use qbasic to control an LED. MSD reports no mouse. I'll use CuteMouse. One other problem: my video adapter card on bootup sometimes shows color and at other times not-color. I mean the very first characters printed on boot up (and thereafter). Seems random as to whether it will boot to color. Any ideas? Bad card? Usually on the 2nd or 3rd (reboot) try I have color!
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Hmm...Seem to remember having an IBM PC/XT (8088) with the same VGA problem (color/no color) as you're having. If memory serves, swapping out the card did solve the problem...(and yes, it was an 8-bit VGA card)...
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Okay - now the mouse works when I type Cutemouse. I'm not sure if this program is meant to go into autoexec,bat and be run at each startup or whether it is supposed to load a driver just once that is referenced in config.sys. But it works! Now I need to get a sound card to read input voltages from a photovoltaic source.
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Sticking a line such as:
C:\xxxx\ctmouse.exe
(where "xxxx" is the directory you dropped the cutemouse driver) into the autoexec.bat file should get it running every time you boot. Not sure how you're going to read photovoltaic voltages with a sound card. That's a new one on me...
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darter,
I'm interested in controlling LEDs via parallel [or other] port.
Lemme know how you get on with it.
=====================================
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Unlikely you would read slowly varying dc voltages with a sound
card. You would have better luck with a game port adapter.
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Hi wizard-fred,
Good idea.
A sound card probably won't pass anything below, let's say, 20 cps.
=====================================
If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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Ah, when I said sound card and photovoltaic I was thinking about using a light sensor and use that to detect when some object (film) is properly positioned. So I figured that as light varied then something else would vary and it looks like that is supposed to be frequency of AC for a sound card (not DC voltage). So maybe I'll use one of those light-to-tone circuits? But the computer does have a game adapter so perhaps that would be easier. I'd like to try different ideas just as a learning exercise but eventually I need to build a film transfer machine that can position 16mm film.
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If your using it to record sound then the sound card is more
appropriate. Your light preamp should include the proper
equalization.
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