Mouse Hack to Happ Trackball

[Minwah]

OK I'm trying to hack a fairly old Logitech 3-button mouse to a Happ trackball.

I have read everything I can find to do with this, and although I haven't done everything exactly as others have, I thought I had a reasonable understanding.

My problem is:

I have power to the trackball no problem.  I wired 2 of the 3 pins (for the mouse receiver part) to the 2 wires from the trackball which are not power.  I THOUGHT the 3rd pin on the receiver was for power (when used in the mouse), therefore have not wired this to anything.  I did this for each axis.

Now I determined which pin on the receiver not to use by checking continuity between each pin and power from the PS2 cable (red wire).  I may have excluded the wrong pin (?).  OR maybe I should have wired all 3 pins up.

When I turn the PC on, the mouse is detected, but the cursor always wants to stay in the top right.  When I spin the ball left/right, it flicks over to the left, flashes a bit and then returns to the right.  Spinning up/down does nothing (I'm not worried about this yet, I'll try & get 1 axis working first).

I guess what I need to know is: do I need to wire all 3 pins up from the receiver part of the mouse?  Or if I only need 2, what is the best way to work out which?

Thanks for any help, I realise my description probably doesn't make sense

[Minwah]

Also, is it OK to wire to the cables from the trackball, or should I solder straight to the receiver on the trackball?  I think maybe that's what I did wrong...

[hevnsnt]

I just wanted to show everyone the points on the intellimouse for +5 and GND.  I decided I would rather pull this from the mouse rather than use a molex connector from my computer.

[_Iz-]

Everything I've ever seen says not to use a Logitech mouse. I've never read why not, just not to ever try it with one.

When I did my mouse hack, I found the pinout for the plug, found the +5v pin, then used a continuity tester from that pin to find were the +5v wire attached to the mouse PCB. I then did a continuity test from that point to each of the 3 pins of each detector of the optics. The one with the least resistance was the +5v, the other 2 were signal. I found the ground wire the same way as the +5v. After that, it was just a matter of connecting wires to +5v, ground and the 4 signal points on the mouse PCB (I also completely removed the optics). Connect these wires to the right wires from the trackball and you're good to go.

[hevnsnt]

exactly what I did.. I used a intellimouse not a logitech, I just wanted to show where these points were

[MrArcade]

I have had no luck trying to get my +5 from a ps2 mouse for a happ tball.  I have never hacked a usb mouse....but either way I suggest getting your +5 from a power plug in the pc.  I use a power pass through like a fan uses and just tap into the red for +5 and black for gnd.

[rampy]

I have had no luck trying to get my +5 from a ps2 mouse for a happ tball.  I have never hacked a usb mouse....but either way I suggest getting your +5 from a power plug in the pc.  I use a power pass through like a fan uses and just tap into the red for +5 and black for gnd.

I'll second that Mr A.  

I use a power plug for the IDE drives to power my imperial betson t-ball hack (which also is a ps/2 mouse -- some ancient microsoft one FWIW)
*Shrug*

rampy

[_Iz-]

Very weird. I've done this hack to 2 different mice and no problems sourcing 5v at the mouse. My current hack is powering a trackball and spinner simultaneously with no problems.

As I mentioned above, I am sourcing the 5v directly from the ps/2 port, I connect to the wire that comes directly from the cable as opposed to somewhere else further into the circuit on the mouse PCB which may have a reduced voltage/current.

[jerryjanis]

Yeah, using the USB mouse's +5v source for my Wico trackball acted really flaky so I just went with using my computer's power supply & the molex connectors.

P.S.  I want to see you prove this crazy myth that logitech mice won't work wrong...  (I don't know if it's a myth or not)

[Minwah]

I too have changed my power source from the PC drive connector, to just sourcing the +5v from the PS/2 Intellimouse.  I did the same as Iz, use a PS/2 port pinout and multimeter.  It seems to work just fine...perhaps a USB mouse acts differently (lack of power?).

I found that my Logitech mouse wouldn't get along with the Happ optics.  I couldn't tell you why, but Oscar pointed out to me that it wouldn't work (definately the one man who would know) - I'm sure he probably has an explanation...

[_Iz-]

To anyone trying this with a USB mouse and having power problems: Make sure you are sourcing the +5v as soon as it arrives on the mouse PCB (directly from the usb +5v wire) Get the pinout and verify with a multimeter that you have the correct wire and it is 5v. If that still doesn't work, try plugging the mouse into a SELF POWERED hub (you know, the kind with an external power supply). Post back if that makes a difference...

[OSCAR]

I found that my Logitech mouse wouldn't get along with the Happ optics.  I couldn't tell you why, but Oscar pointed out to me that it wouldn't work (definately the one man who would know) - I'm sure he probably has an explanation...

All the PS/2 & USB Logitech mice I've come across don't use a typical phototransistor with the signal wires on the ends and the +5V in the center, thus won't work with the various mouse hack tutorials that show how to connect an arcade optic board to the mouse pcb.  This isn't to say that ALL Logitech's are like this, but to eliminate headaches it is simply easier to stay away from Logitech's altogether.  Anyone that has their heart set on making it work and has success, please post back with the correct method of getting them to work.  I've tried on various Logitech's without a single success, and I know when I need to stop banging my head against a wall and try a different solution.