James Fraser wrote: > > Hello, > > Does anyone know if an ADB mouse can be used successfully with a DB-9 mouse > port-equipped Mac (e.g. a Mac Plus)?
First, it's DE-9. DB-9 is used because people don't know about D Shell connectors. The Mac Plus and earlier mice use discrete signals (wires) carrying the mouse click and encoding phases (two each) of the mouse X & Y directions (as well as power and ground). ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) transmits data bi-directionally on it's bus. It can do this for a number of devices connected to the same bus. It is much like USB although slower and limited in available devices. > > I'm wondering if anyone came up with such a hack circa 1986 when the Apple > Desktop Bus Mouse (Model No. A9M0331) became available, seeing as how it was > far more stylish-looking (and at least somewhat kinder to the hand) than the > Mac Plus's stock mouse (the M0100). There were devices sold way back when that let you use one with the other but I can't recall off hand if two devices were made, one for each direction (Mac+ Mouse / Keyboard used with an ADB Mac and one to connect ADB mice and keyboards to Mac Pluses and earlier) or if it was just one of those functions. Any any event they didn't last long and are going to be VERY hard to find now. Such a device would have included a small microprocessor in it to convert one to another. > However, after viewing the pinouts for both DB-9 and ADB, I'm guessing such a > hack is not possible, but that's purely a guess on my part. I seem to have > come into possession of a PS/2-serial adapter, but have never heard of an ADB > equivalent. > You cannot simply wire one to another, as above a CPU would be needed to translate between them. > If the above is correct, (and please don't be shy about telling me it isn't!) > I guess that leaves me with one of the old dual keyboards. And by that I > mean: IIRC, several vendors offered dual-connector keyboards which could be > switched between the Plus's RJ-11 connector and the newer ADB-equipped Macs. > > What I don't recall is if any of these dual-connector keyboards had built-in > ADB ports that would allow you to plug in an ADB mouse into the keyboard as > well, or if they had one RJ-11 connector, one ADB connector and that was it. > Although if the ADB cable wasn't hard-wired to the keyboard, I'm thinking > that it might be possible to connect an ADB splitter to the keyboard's ADB > port and gain an extra ADB port that way. > You have about two chances of finding such a device, fat and slim. -- Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
