Serial Mouse on COM1

[Chuckphd53]

Task: get a serial mouse working on the COM1 port.
I have tested the port with the PC Printer, works great !

I have a breakout cable to an DB9 connector and have a standard 9Pin serial mouse.

I have the RTS, DTR, CTS...etc strapped correctly.
I have not used a serial mouse other than the Microsoft Booster back in the day but it had it's own port of course.

I am using CuteMouse and it sees COM 1 at start up..

Tried DOODLE program but nope ! did not see the mouse buttons....
Also tried PCPaint....still no mouse ...
I think the pin strapping maybe the issue, connecting
RTS-CTS
DTR-DCD-DSR

are there any special requirements for the mouse power, usually from RTS or DTR !

before I spend untold hours on this, I thought I'd ask if anyone is using COM1 as a mouse port ?
I have a Mouse systems mouse for the JR and will test it tonight, but would like to get the regular serial mouse working..

[monzamess]

Have you read the "The Serial Port" section on Mike's page? https://www.brutman.com/PCjr/pcjr_hardware.html

Here's where my memory fails me. I have a serial mouse working with the PCjr serial port. I remember finding a working driver was a problem. I also installed an internal modem simply to fix the port/irq mismatch but I can't remember if that was strictly necessary. Anyway, the end result is a working mouse in PCPaint (or another paint program that supports 16-color mode). If no one comes along with real details, I'll dig some up when I have access to my Jr again.

[Chuckphd53]

thanks, yea, read most of Mikes stuff and others..
Yrs back the serial port was like using a fork.... but 30+ yrs has fogged the brain...
Appreciate the help.....good to know you have a working mouse...
what are you using for the Device= or CTMouse.exe (cute mouse)

oh and what other Paint Programs do you know of that are 16 Color ? I do have the Tandy mod on my machines..

chuck

PS I miss the ole' PC Clubs you could go to every other Friday at you local Community center and buy diskettes / software
and listen to the 'USER" speakers talk about their experiences... those were the fun days...

[monzamess]

My serial mouse is a generic serial 3-button mouse by "Chic Technology" as represented here: https://fccid.io/IOWCM-290F

Mouse driver is Microsoft Mouse Driver 6.24 loaded from autoexec.bat: filename MOUSE.COM, 14668 bytes, 8/1/88

PC Paint version 3.1 started as follows: PCPaint /V:B

pcpaint.jpg

(376.48 KiB) Not downloaded yet

[Brutman]

There are two questions here - is the mouse working and do you have the right driver.

To answer question 1, use your favorite terminal emulator and open COM1. Use something like 1200,N,8,1 for the settings, and wiggle the mouse; you should see bytes from it. If you do not see bytes you are using the wrong port or the mouse is not getting power. (And I would check COM2 because of the goofy way that the PCjr assigns COM1 and COM2.)

For the second question, older programs can be very picky/specific about their mouse support. A Microsoft mouse is a safe bet for older programs. (Colorpaint for example does not let you use a mouse driver; it wants to talk to the mouse directly. PCPaint worked with my Microsoft bus mouse attached to a Microsoft Booster, but I have no idea what requirements it has.)

[Chuckphd53]

Ok I'll try the Terminal idea.... and see how it goes......

[Chuckphd53]

Quick Update:
I found the msmouse drivers and decided to,use 6.24 with an ebay serial mouse I bought.

It seems to work fine now... for some reason the mouse driver that came with PCPaint (original disks) V 1.5
did not want to work, I have Dos 5.0 running.

Tried PCPaint 1.5, 2.0 and 3.1(3.0?) and they all work good,
Set the Video up for Tandy 1000 in V3.x and 16 colors also worked great. I have the Tandy Mod on this machine.

I have the Mouse Systems 2Button serial mouse hooked up (these are all over ebay for about $12) and it is plugged into my Serial extension cable I made, See my other post, that I 3D printed and put a standard DB9 connector on it, breaking out all the signals to each pin.

I will try with some other programs as time allows, but looks good....