Anyone know where I can get a generic USB mouse driver for DOS? Most generic mouse drivers detect all PS/2 or Serial mice, but I can't find one that will detect USB mice. Can anyone help?

good luck...

Your problem is to find a USB Support Driver for DOS Full Stop. Unless USB Ports are recognised in the first place, no USB Driver will work.

What version of DOS do you have, by the way?

DOS does not support USB, and at this point in the game it never will.

browser, thank you for setting them straight.

I only asked what version of DOS George has becouse many, many problems are version relivant! If he has Windows 9x with MS-DOS 7x would the motherboard USB Driver allow MS-DOs to see ports as normal COM Ports?

Whats to stop someone writing a DOS USB Suppoert Driver, Apart from lack of interest!

Yes, someone COULD write a driver. All it takes is weeks and weeks of programming and testing to perfect it. In return for their efforts they would get ZERO, ZILCH, --- NOTHING.

When do YOU think it will happen?

I'm not bashing DOS, (I like DOS, I use DOS), but it's days are numbered, and it's use is now too limited for new development.

I think you are wrong browser, Thier are a number of updated versions of DOS IBM PCDOS 2000 and DRDOS 7.03. A large (and I mean large) number of industreal applications use DOS, and it only takes one to come up against USB or even Super Large Hard Drives for a solution to be found, and we the small DOS users will benifet. DOS still has a lot of life left.

I'm looking for the USB mouse driver cause I'm trying to make the perfect boot disk. I've assembled all the other tools and misc. files I need, but USB mouse support is the only thing I'm lacking. I can easily do without cause I just need it for a simple boot floppy, but I didn't know if there were any companies or whatever that might have taken the initiative to create such a driver. USB is the future and without USB support DOS's days grow even shorter than they already are.

Get a non-USB mouse! Its better! The only time I ever encounter a USB mouse and keyboard was when I helped my cousins assembled their new 600 Mhz computer.
Mouses are cheap at computer warehouses such as Resource International.

Just to set the record straight, I don't ugently need a USB mouse driver for DOS. In fact, most times I use DOS it's just to format or partition a hard drive, rarely do I encounter the need for any form of mouse support. But the odd time it does come in handy. Like I said in my previous post I'm trying to make the ultimate boot disk with all the important utilites and stuff needed to get around in DOS. I have about 5 mice lying around, but both my current computers use USB mice, as well as a growing number of my friends. USB mouse support in DOS isn't necessary, but it would be nice to have and would make my boot disk 100% complete. If I can't find such a driver I won't be crying over it as I can control everything from the keyboard. The USB mouse driver would just give added convenience.

George

Re: USB Mouse. It may not be top of your shoping list, but it sure brings up an interesting conversation. What I say is e-mail the USB Manufactures. For Windows 9x at least we should be able to access our devices. be it USB mice or keyboards otherwise we will be unable to access PCs for basic repairs in the future. This could in fact kill off USB 1st level devices (Mice & Keyboards) NOT MS-DOS - USB is great for second level devices (Scannors & Printers) But as I say you will still need basic access.

Anon

To: Max

It's like I said before, I'm not bashing DOS in any way, I'm just realistic about it's future. It's a great OS with literally thousands of applications, utilities, and games written for it that can still be had and they work just as well as they ever did. That's the reason it is still hanging on, and will continue to for some time to come.
However, potential profits are what drives technology and development. If there are no profits to be seen, then no one has an incentive to develop software. Newer operating systems have more "bells & whistles" and that is what the majority are looking for. Programs get larger and larger and DOS can't handle the size necessary for the newer applications.
I personally started with computers using CPM as the operating system. I still have an industrial application running CPM and it works just great. I wonder how many people here even know what CPM is, or that it ever existed. It died because of its limitations and was replaced by DOS. DOS has it's limitations and has been surpassed by other operating systems. It's really good for what it can do, but it's days are numbered.

I say "CPM Forever"

I hope this clarifies my statements and opinions about DOS a little bit.

Have a great day.

Hi!

As far as I know - there are some BIOS', which will in DOS-Mode remap the USB-Mouse to an emulated PS/2-Port.
Eventually you have to turn on this in your BIOS....

Greets

Try www.catc.com they have USB4DOS
It is not free but it has the basic protocol stack.

To answer some of the comments
DOS is far from dead - it is still the best choice for some applications including embedded systems.

To Browser,
CP/M did not die from lack of power its MP/M and TurboDos follow ons were far superior to DOS, and Novell
It died because the President of Digital Research (its manufacturer) told IBM to jump in the lake when they asked him to use CP/M on the New IBM PC- so IBM ended up with DOS as nothing else was available.

DOS took the best of UNIX and CP/M and through it away and we got the junk that was left.

You might want to check out FreeDOS http://www.freedos.org/ there might be some support for USB in it, if not, bring it up and they might add it in. If you are a programmer, look at the Linux sorce for USB, most of your code is probably written there for you, hehe why not use it.

Yes some of us do know what Control Program and Monitor (er CP/M) is, and it is a nice OS. I am wating for a DOS (non MS-DOS at that, more like PC-DOS, DrDOS, FreeDOS) CP/M, Unix/Linux to merge together and develoup a new GUI and throw M$ out of the market...

Well, I have been following this discussion with interest. I do technical support for a company (which I will not name) that is coming out with a new computer. This computer is all Windpows based and the diskette drive that comes with it, so far does not work in DOS and neither do the CF Card slots that will be in it. I am doing my level best to get around this, as eventually, if I do not, a lot of people who have not already backed up their systems, may find that they don't have the option of backing up in DOS and will be forced to overwrite their hard drive via CD-ROM. This seems like a potential legal issue to me, and I am hoping to nip it in the bud BEFORE it blooms.

Brian

I'm searching for a generic USB for DOS driver too, and apart from stumbling into this page...i also got a useful page from Microsoft.com with all the techie jargon about USB Legacy support in DOS, which is a BIOS enabled option (as someone was saying earlier in the thread). Heres the link,

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/usb/usbcompat.htm

It only mentions support for Keyboard & Mouse though. I need it for an N64 controller adapted for the USB port, so i'm doubting it's going to work for me.

Hope that link helps

Hello all,
my team and me are working on an alternative DOS shell (something like Windows 3.1 was). We've planned to support USB, and along with it USB mice. All I need is the USB spec. However hard I've tried, I could not find any useful document. Give me the stuff, and you get USB mouse support under DOS in return.