• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Best mouse for a 5170? Serial compatibility of IBM mouse?

djfitzgerald

djfitzgerald

Experienced Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
73
Location
Western New England
I'm looking to add a mouse to my 5170 project. I have a pair of IBM PS/2 "V" shaped mice (Model 6450350)... does anyone here know if they have built-in serial compatibility (i.e.: could I just buy a PS/2 to serial passive adapter and hook it up to COM1)? If not, what recommendations would you make for mice? I'm looking to go period-ish, so I'm thinking a Microsoft InPort and a "dove bar" Microsoft mouse (because I can't afford a "Gray Eye" or "Green Eye" MS mouse).

Thoughts?
 
I am fairly certain that the original IBM PS/2 mice will not work with a PS/2 to serial adapter. I didn't like that mouse from a comfort standpoint either.

The mouse choices I would recommend would be from about 1990 with be either the MS Dove Bar or the similar Logitech S9 design. Microsoft's mouse is a bit larger but right handed and only has 2 buttons while Logitech's is a little smaller, ambidextrous, with 3 buttons. Both companies produced both bus and PS/2 plus serial options. The choice as to which company's mouse to buy depends on what software that is planned to be run. Unixy software tended to make use of 3 buttons making MS mice awkward.

Finding a mouse in good condition should be more important than whether it used the bus or serial port connectors. The 5170 probably won't have multiple parallel and serial ports in use for other devices so no contention for the port assigned to the mouse. Bus mice defaulted to being LPT2:.
 
krebizfan said:
I am fairly certain that the original IBM PS/2 mice will not work with a PS/2 to serial adapter. I didn't like that mouse from a comfort standpoint either.

The mouse choices I would recommend would be from about 1990 with be either the MS Dove Bar or the similar Logitech S9 design. Microsoft's mouse is a bit larger but right handed and only has 2 buttons while Logitech's is a little smaller, ambidextrous, with 3 buttons. Both companies produced both bus and PS/2 plus serial options. The choice as to which company's mouse to buy depends on what software that is planned to be run. Unixy software tended to make use of 3 buttons making MS mice awkward.

Finding a mouse in good condition should be more important than whether it used the bus or serial port connectors. The 5170 probably won't have multiple parallel and serial ports in use for other devices so no contention for the port assigned to the mouse. Bus mice defaulted to being LPT2:.
Click to expand...

I ended up going with a 3-button Logitech serial mouse (M-MD15L-9F... looks like a Logitech S9 design) whose FCC ID dates to 8/28/1991. It looks clean, was a good price on Ebay, and will save me the need of having to buy a Microsoft InPort card. Maybe I'll keep myself on the lookout for a mid-late 1980s mouse at a decent price going forward, but seeing as the S9 design dates back to 1988, this may be just what I was looking for.
 
Last edited:
Yep, never liked adapters, they were always hit or miss (mostly miss). Still have a couple of serial mice somewhere for just such a system.
 
Serial mice were so common as to carry logos on them from various retailers, who often sold them for as little as $1 with any accompanying order. I still have a few "Surplus Software" labeled ones. Mechanical encoding--no opto sensors. They were the lingua franca of mice in the 286/386 days before boards started including PS/2 mouse ports.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top