more trackball problems

[Wade]

Wow, I thought I had finally solved my trackball problems.  Not so.  Maybe some of you might know what I've done wrong.

My mouse hack *seemed* to work properly, and one of my optic boards seemed bad.  Here is how I reached this conclusion:

1) test - only one axis works
2) swap connectors of mouse hack, and move the good optic board to the other axis
3) test - the other axis now works (so both axes of the mouse hack appear okay, as does the trackball wiring harness)
4) no matter which axis I put the "bad" optic board on, it would never work
5) conclusion - the one optic board is bad.

So I ordered a new optic board and new rollers (I have one of the most expensive trackballs ever).

BTW, the new rollers didn't make a difference in the feel of the ball at all, and I really couldn't tell a difference in the ball height either.  They were very slightly worn, so if you aren't sure if you need to replace yours, you probably shouldn't replace them.  I wasn't sure how much of a difference it would make.

I plugged the new board in place of my "bad" board.  Guess what?  Same result, that axis still doesn't work properly.  Moving my original "good" board to the other axis again makes the other axis work.

It looks like my mouse hack works, but will only allow one axis to work at a given time.  Anyone know what I've done wrong??

I'm getting really tired of this.  At least I shouldn't have to spend any more money on the problem (assuming, I don't resort to buying an Oscar mouse hack!)

Ebay 3" trackball: $20+12 shipping
mounting plate: $10
new black ball: $15+6 shipping
new rollers and optic board: $18+10 shipping
---------------
Grand Total: $91!!! and plenty of headaches

Wade

[Wade]

Okay, I tried to make mouse hack #3 (or was it #4??) and it finally worked.  It is a serial mouse though (all the others were ps/2) so I think I might have to get power from somewhere else (I used an old PC power supply just to test the hack).

Can a serial mouse supply 5 volts power to drive the trackball? This would be much cleaner since my PC in my cabinet is fully boxed up.

Thanks,
Wade

[Chris]

A serial mouse will not source 5V. If you want to make one more go at a mouse hack, you may want to try USB, if you're not using DOS and have a USB port available.  Serial mice poll very slowly, and you may not get the best response out of that trackball.

My local Staples has "USB E-Mail Mice" in the clearance bin for $4.50.  The bright idea here was that the wheel would light up when you have mail, but I guess no one bought it.  

Otherwise, you can draw 5V from the power supply or a USB port.

--Chris

[Wade]

Yeah, I was worried about performance.  It seemed to work well scrolling around the screen (Missile Command) but I haven't tried it for fast spins for horseshoes, bowling, golf, etc.  I guess we'll see (fingers crossed).

I can't use USB because I use DOS.  If I could use USB I definitely would have bought a hack from Oscar, well worth the $10 IMO.

I think I need a new soldering iron too with a smaller tip!  I'd probably have been more successful with the hacks all along if my iron wasn't such junk.

Wade

[Chris]

Well, do this then: Get a power jack from Radio Shack, the kind that would accept the plug from an AC adapter.  Drill a mounting hole in a blank backplate for your PC and mount the jack in the plate.  Run the wires from this jack to a 4-pin Molex connector to hook up to a hard drive power connector, and you now have a 5V power jack on the back of your PC.

--Chris

[rampy]

Yeah, I was worried about performance.  It seemed to work well scrolling around the screen (Missile Command) but I haven't tried it for fast spins for horseshoes, bowling, golf, etc.  I guess we'll see (fingers crossed).

I can't use USB because I use DOS.  If I could use USB I definitely would have bought a hack from Oscar, well worth the $10 IMO.

I think I need a new soldering iron too with a smaller tip!  I'd probably have been more successful with the hacks all along if my iron wasn't such junk.

Wade

Hey Wade,

Sorry to see you are still having fits with this (trackball issues in general, that is) I can empathise.

What I think the previous poster was alluding to is that even if you are in DOS and can't really use an USB mouse, you can hack up a USB cable to "borrow" the 5v to power your optics (i'm pretty sure they are still powered when in DOS mode, anyways)

The other alternative would be to use power from a 5volt adapter or from your PC's powersupply hardrive power molex thingies  (that's what I do for my PS/2 hack to imperial betson, FWIW)

Or you can use a wallwart AC adapter that supplies 5 volts (but measure it under load to make sure it's really putting out 5volts)

*shrug*  WADE:  upon re-reading the responses, sounds like i'm late to the party... did you find a clean way to power your Tball optics while using the serial mouse hack?  or is that still an open question.

rampy

[Wade]

Rampy,

   I just posted this serial stuff today (did the hack last night) and powered it with a PC power supply for testing.  Chris's suggestion to use USB was good but I'm using DOS.  Yeah, you (and Chris) are right, I suppose I could get power from the USB ports but I don't have anything to hack for it.  I do have some extra PC power supply connectors though, so I'll just wire in 5V from that and run it out of one of the slots in the back of the case, no biggie.

   The only question really at this point is if the performance will be good enough.  I'm hoping to drop this stuff in the cab tonight to see how it goes (routed the hole and fitted everything many weeks ago).  Plus, after having my cab for 3 or 4 months, I'm dying to play some trackball games!!

Wade