[Coco] Re: What it is

[Andrew]

To answer a couple of questions:

I would think to hook up a serial mouse to the RS-232 pak, you would use 
one of the 25 pin to 9 pin adaptors - of course, there may be a problem 
here, because IIRC, the port on a PC is a male, and the port on the 
RS-232 pak is a female - so you would either need to find a male 25 pin 
to female 9 pin adaptor (do they even exist?), piggy back a male-to-male 
25 pin adaptor before the 25 to 9 pin, or remove the 25 pin female 
header on the RS-232 pak and replace it with a male one. Alternatively, 
you could possibly add a 9 pin male connector onto the RS-232 pak and 
some kind of selector switch, piggy backing it to the 25 pin. As someone 
else mentioned, you could also piggyback an extra UART on (if you can 
still find a compatible chip), which I think is ultimately the best long 
term solution, but it is also a solution which takes the most time to 
implement and test.

As far as where to get a serial mouse new, they are getting difficult to 
find. Sometimes they can be found online through ebay or surplus resell 
houses (all electronics, computer geeks, and others). On the rare 
occasion they can be found new (manufacturers in china still make them, 
but they are rarely imported and sold here in the USA due to USB being 
more popular).

Your best bet, though, is to look at the used market, specifically at 
surplus and thrift stores. I have found nice 2 and 3 button serial mice 
at Goodwill. Take them home, open them up, take them apart and clean 
*everything* inside and out, and you will end up with a very nice mouse 
in the end.

Something also to note is that some of the ps/2 mice came with a ps/2 to 
serial adaptor (back when serial and ps/2 mice were wrangling before, 
much like the adaptors for ps/2 that come with USB mice today - if they 
still do?) - you might be able to modify a ps/2 mouse to work as a 
serial mouse - I am sure more information on this sort of mod for the PC 
can be found in some dark recess of the internet if you look hard enough.

--- Andrew L. Ayers
     Glendale (Phoenix), Arizona