I am reinstalling the os on a comp. have most of my basic software loaded (antivirus/WINzip/etc) shut down my comp and the next day when I restarted it the PS2 mouse wasn't working, I tried other mice and cleared the bios (for the heck of it) It also doesn't show in device manager. The obvious answer is the mouse port of the MB died but I didn't touch it between shuting it down and restarting it the next day. Could it be a driver issue or something? I will just get a usb mouse if I need to. I am going to try reinstalling XP to see if that helps. Any ideas?

Brad,

Above us only Sky.

Couple of thing you can check. First verify you are using the mouse port and not the KBoard port. Although these can sometimes be interchanged, that could be a possible cause. Boot into safe mode and check device manager there. Did you install the MBoard chipset drivers? Do you have a way to verify the mouse is good?

Finally, you could attempt to use the add hardware function in Control panel. If a search for the mouse or port doesn't find anything you should be able to choose an apropriate catagory and install manually.

" The obvious answer is the mouse port of the MB died....."

It is very RARE for a PS/2 mouse port to go bad.
It is quite common for wires to break inside the mouse cord, often near where it enters the mouse, especialy if you yank on the mouse cord. Try another PS/2 mouse!

If you have two PS/2 ports, the one farthest from the mboard is always the mouse port (and colored green on more recent mboards).
On most desktop mboards, the wiring is not there to use a mouse or a keyboard in either port.
On most laptop mboards there is only one PS/2 port - the wiring is usually there to use a mouse or a keyboard in the port - to use both you need a standard Y wiring adapter with three PS/2 connectors.

The PS/2 mouse must be enabled in the Bios Setup - it is by default, but have you been fiddling with bios settings, or did you recently flash the bios?

A PS/2 mouse is a legacy device that is automatically found by Windows - you don't need to use Add Hardware, and Windows will find it regardless of whether you have loaded the chipset drivers for your mboard or not.

If you use a simple adapter on the connector on the end of the mouse cord to convert it to PS/2 use, the mouse must be a "combo" one that was designed to work with both USB and PS/2 or serial and PS/2 ports - AND you may need to use the adapter that came with the mouse - the wiring varies. If it is not a "combo" mouse, the adapter cannot work because the circuits aren't in the mouse to allow that.

"Do you have a way to verify the mouse is good?"

"Try another PS/2 mouse!"

Not be rude, and thank you for the help, but please read the question.

"I tried other mice"

I didn't state originally but I have been building pc's for 10+ years, I know where the mouse goes.

It was working fine, I clicked "turn off" Didn't move anything while it was off, Turned on with power button, and when it came to user select screen, no response from mouse. I haven't had time to reinstall XP yet, I'll see If that works. If not it will probably be easier just to buy a USB mouse.

Brad,

Above us only Sky.

""I tried other mice""

You didn't say which types. We're not mind readers.

"I didn't state originally but I have been building pc's for 10+ years, I know where the mouse goes."

We can only go by the info you provide.
We have all sorts of people post on this site - we have no idea whether the person has a lot of experience unless they say so, and can ony guess if they don't say. And having used computers for a long time doesn't necessarily mean they know how to fix problems.

In any case, it is extremely unlikely a PS/2 port that worked fine would spontaneously stop working, especially on a desktop computer.
If you have a poor connection of the PS/2 mouse in it's port, e.g. it's cord connector is slightly loose in the port or the cord's connector pins are bent, it is common for the mouse to stop working, and it often will continue to not work if you correct the cause of the poor connection after it does if you don't reboot, but after the poor connection has been fixed and you reboot the PS/2 mouse should automatically be found again. It may not show up in Device Manager as a PS/2 mouse right away, but the mouse should work.

Do you have anything such as a hard drive diagnostic utility on a floppy that you can boot the computer with? - anything that will auto recognize a PS/2 mouse?
If you do not have such, download a make a hard drive diagnostic utility on a floppy that you can boot the computer with - they usually auto recognize a PS/2 mouse.

If the mouse still doesn't work, yes, the port may be no good, but I've fiddled with many computers since 1989, as old as the early 80's, and I've never encountered a mouse port of any type that was no good.
If that works,
it's quite possible your hard drive is starting to fail and the data needed to load the PS/2 mouse is corrupted. Test your hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility.

It's possible for the circuits connected to the port on the mboard to be damaged - if you unplug or plug in the PS/2 mouse while the computer is on - it's NOT hot swappable - or if the computer has been exposed to a power spike or surge or static electricity discharge - lightning can do damage even if everything connected to your computer is properly protected from power surges and spikes - but I've never encountered such.

Telling helpers to "please read the question." is not conducive to getting help Brad3d. You're lucky Tubesandwires is easygoing.

aegis

I was also targeted in there. Unfortunately posters don't read our replies carefully enough. Trying other mice isn't the same as verifying the mouse is a working unit.

Right you are, Othehill.
I'm not as tolerant as Tubesandwires and it's my policy to ignore requests for help from people who respond like Brad3d did. We rarely get any thanks for what we do, which is ok. But we sure don't need to put up with smart aleck behavior.

First off this will probably not solve your problem, you never know, but this is my ps2 story. Have a friend who lives in Florida, I visited her a few months back. She had an old Hp 7850 Pavillion she had owned since it was new. Never had any problems with it. One day a few months before I visited her, out of nowhere,the PS2 mouse stopped working. Well, first thing she tried was a couple of other PS2 mice she had extra, and new they were good(they worked on another pc she had), no go still no mouse. She called me for some advice, I told her to buy a new ps2 mouse, which she did, still no joy. She ended up buying a usb mouse, and using it. I visited a while back from Indiana, and tried to troubleshoot the ps2 problem, in case she had missed something. I tried everything I knew, I actually thought that may be she had pluged/unpluged the ps2 from the port with the machine on, and fried the port, and even went out, and bought another new ps2 mouse, still no mouse.Well, she deceided to give me the computer, because she thought something might be starting to go wrong with it. When she visited a while back she drove, bringing the computer with her in the trunk of her car. I brought it in the house, opened it up, because of the age of the computer, I installed a new battery. After the battery installation, I hooked everything up, including the ps2 mouse(I was still curious). Booted the machine, and much to my suprise there was the mouse cursor, and the mouse was functioning normal, and still is months down the road. Now go figure, the only thing that was done to the computer was that it was unpluged, put in a car trunk, and brought from Florida to Indiana, and a battery installed, and all of a sudden the ps2 mouse is working. Stranger than Fiction. Good luck with your problem, I hope you figure it out.

Regards
IKE

So.... There's your answer. Put it in the trunk of your car and drive it to Indiana.

Why didn't the rest of us think of that.

I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

I`ll tell you what Richard59, why don`t you shove it where the sun don`t shine, and if you don`t like that come on down/up, or whatever to Indiana, I`ll give you the address, and I will shove it there, I`ll even send you the fare, because punks like you are a dime a dozen,(ha, must be the Vietnam Veteran coming out in me, 69-70), it happens every once in a while when I run across a smart ass, someone not interested in trying to help someone that has a problem, but someone that thinks he has to dog every one out that has an opinion,/idea, story. that might seem simple, or not up to techno geeks par, or has had a similar experience, and it might help the one looking for help. It seems like of lately there is always someone out there that relishes in being a smart ass, and as that goes, "Everyone likes a little ass, but nobody likes a smart ass", those are the ones that are not trying to help someone, and that don`t matter to me, I could care less about you Richard59, I was just putting my 2 cents worth in to try to help someone, and if it didn`t help this person, may be someone else might read this thread, and it may help them. This used to be a pretty decent forum to come to to help others, and to receive help, but as of lately, if you are not a super geek, it seems like you are not welcome, and like I said earlier come on down.

IKE

Ike, I think you took Richard59's post the wrong way. I took it as an attempt at a joke, not a dig towards you. Your post was very informative, and very likely could be the fix.

Yeah, I have to agree with aegis.

I think Richard59 was joking around.

I know from personal experience in these forums that very few people have a sense of humor. I take things seriously, but sometimes a good laugh takes the edge off the situation and allows for fresh look at things.

I wish we could all have a little more fun here. We could still solve problems, but smile while were doing it.

But the battery thing does make sense.

Larry

It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.
- Mark Twain

Ike

I know the feeling although I can't blame it on my 14 months in Vietnam. I had a temper before and after that vacation. That said, I too think Richard was joking.

Your story brings up two possibilities. One the battery, two the movement of the computer changed something inside. If I had to pick I would go for the battery. Not that the battery should cause a symptom like that, but it will be interesting to find out, if the original poster returns with a fix.

If it was the battery that fixed Ike's friend's PS/2 mouse problem, the default in the bios Setup might have been the PS/2 mouse is disabled, and the weak or dead battery might have made the bios default to that. Checking the setting in the bios Setup for whether the PS/2 mouse is enabled or not should have found that disabled before changing the battery.
Or it could have been fixed through something unknown, of course. Computers often develop problems when you move them from the physical josling they are subjected to - the opposite could certainly happen.

Was a joke and not meant to offend you or anyone Ike. Sorry you took it another way.

I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

just my left click stopped working. It worked fine when i put it in standby last night and then this morning just the left click will not work. rolled back my cpu to two days ago and did not change it. any theories? I do not have a second mouse and i just ordered a waccom tablet but i do not expect it here for a week..are there viruss/worms i could catch that could do this and is there a favorite trojan/wrom program that people like?

A pet peeve of mine.....
Cpu is central processing unit. The proper use of that term is to refer to the processor - the most complicated and often the largest integrated circuit package, usually removable and installed in a large socket (or large slot) on your mboard, without which nothing else on the computer will work.
It is NOT the case or box the majority of the computer pieces are in, despite the fact some mis-use the term to refer to that - that's just the computer case, or the case.

You can't "roll back the cpu" - you can only roll back your System Restore to a copy of previous Registry ; a previous restore point.
That probably won't help for a problem like yours - your problem is probably physical, not because of any software.

Try another known good mouse. You will probably find you don't have the problem with that one.

It's common for any mouse that is connected by a cable to develop broken wires inside the cable if it has been used a lot, or at any time if the cord has been pulled on too hard, often near where it enters the mouse - try wiggling or re-positioning the cord there to see if the mouse left switch button then works sometimes.

You could try disconnecting the mouse (with the computer OFF if it is PS/2 or Serial connected) and opening up the mouse and cleaning up any mung (dust, lint, hair)near or on the left switch, and elsewhere, and/or using a few drops of rubbing (isopropyl) or methyl alcohol on the switch while operating it, an elsewhere, but usually it's broken wires that is the real problem.
Wipe off the alcohol and allow some time for any remaining alcohol to disappear completely before you use the mouse with the computer. If you got any isopropyl on the chip(s) inside the mouse, it may not work properly for a short time - a few hours - until the adsorbed alcohol within the chip has evaporated.