#Mouse died
7 messages in this thread
I booted up my new workstation last night to find that the mouse has
stopped working — the command to load the driver gives back the message
that the mouse is not responding. It worked fine yesterday. A routine
(COMCHECK) supplied by the mouse company says that activity is coming from
COM1, where it is supposed to, but suggests I check the switches or jumpers
on the input card, particularly the IRQ settings. I did nothing to change
those settings (that I know of), so I am confused. The I/O card in the
system has no separate instructions, so I don't know what I should be
looking for re. jumper settings. I can use any advice which anyone may
have to offer. In particular:
a) Can IRQ settings be changed via software? If so, how do I check the
current settings, and how do I change them?
b) The only thing I have done with the machine since the last time I was
happily working away with AutoCAD using the now recalcitrant rodent, is to
put a joystick controller card in, since the game port on the I/O card did
not work well with my favorite flight sim. I literally did nothing other
than plug the new card in, and go — no changed settings, etc. Could the
sudden appearance of another input cause the system to reconfigure its
ports?
System is a clone 486/33, 12Mb RAM, AMI bios, Logitech serial mouse.
Any and all help appreciated. I am delighted to be able to play hot flight
sims on this machine, but I sure can't justify its cost without AutoCAD!
Lincoln
Lincoln:
I'd look for a conflict with the interrupts between the rodent and the game
port.
Larry
Larry, how do I do look for conflicts in interrupts, and if I find one, how
do I change it?
Lincoln
Lincoln:
Easiest way is to check which COM port they're assigned to. The next thing
is to remember that COM1 and COM3 share interrupts and COM2 and COM4 do the
say (on some if not most machines, that is). Basically, you can have 4
COMs, but you can really only access 2 at a time. And many of the serial
devices need to be reinitialized if you use the conflicting device or COM
port.
Another way (I think) would be to use Manifest, which shipped with your
QEMM386 package. It should list all of the interrupts available and what
is assigned to them.
Changing is another issue – depends on the hardware you've got. Some give
the option to set to any COM port or interrups. Others don't. You'll need
to talk to the manufacturer or a hardware guru like Evan Yares here on the
forum for specifics on this one.
Larry
Thanks, Larry. It now looks as if the port has failed; the manufacturer's
tech support people have given me another couple things to try, but from
what I have already tried they are pretty sure something on the I/O card
has gone bad.
Lincoln
Lincoln –
The easiest way to check for a conflict is to remove the game card that you
installed an see if your mouse will work. If it works without the game
card installed you've gat a conflict.
To fix the conflict you will have to get the manuals for your game card and
serial card. You *should* get these with any new system you buy. If you
didn't get them with your system go bug the dealer you bought it from.
MM
Thanks, Mike. I pulled the game card out and re-booted; rodent still
defunct. Since then I have found that the physical mouse is OK — it works
fine on COM2. After talking with the manufacturer's tech people, it sounds
as if the port has gone bad. Before I get an RMA number, I am going to
move the I/O card to another slot just on that off-chance that one edge
connection is not being made. After that it's "yank that puppy (er,
mini-rat)"! <g>
LC