Win95 can not find serial mouse

Edited text of question

Well, I think I know what happened. I bet you didn't remove the com ports and, ie, mouse, printer, and reinstall them with the motherboard when you installed it did you? Try removing the com ports from the machines you switched and put them into the machines that you placed the motherboards into and I got hinkling that you'll have no problem at all then. If the PS/2 still shows up under Control Panel, System, Device Manager, just remove it and reboot and you should be okay.

Good Luck!
Mike
P.S. Trust me, this should work.

Have you tried using an adapter for ps/2 mice?  It will convert it to serial, and there are adapters to go the other way.  This is contingent upon the mouse allowing this and some OLDER models are convertable.  Might this be your case?

At the most you can pay 10$ and get the mouse you need.

steve

Go to CMOS setup and disable PS/2 mouse support.
Ralph

I've trashed all the drivers, removed just about everything without the system dying. Still no go. I have found that the PS/2 port will work with the PS/2 port is enabled in the BIOS, but when I disable it, then none of the mice work.

I'm seriously considering just switching to PS/2 mice.

I haven't tried the converter yet, as I haven't had a chance to get to the store.

Thanks again for all the help

Ok, double-check the cable that runs from the serial pin-header on the motherboard to the connector on the back panel.
Be sure it's oriented correctly with reference to pin-1 and determine which COM port you are trying to use for the mouse.
One other thing:  If you swiched those cables between motherboards, not all of them are alike.
Ralph

After you try the converter and if that doesn't work, that serial mouse must be an older model and some older models are not compatible between formats.  Have also run into this with PS/2 mice the other way.

later,

steve

If you have a known-good, MS-compatible, standard serial mouse, then all that's left to do is configure a serial port correctly to get it working!
Let me know if you'd like some help to do that.
Regards,
Ralph

The comment about the cables is right on.  Keep the connectors with the motherboard.  Some connections are wired 1-2-3-4-5-etc and others wired 1-6-2-7-3-etc.
Don't worry about PS-2 features showing up on newer motherboards even if the connections aren't there.  You may not be able to disable them in the BIOS and that's fine too.
Use the new cables with the new board and try both COM1 and COM2. With Win95 you don't need to load DOS mode drivers. If you get it connected properly it will work when you reboot.

First off find out what COM port the mouse should be on. Then go into your system bios and see if that COM port is disabled. Also look in the system applet in the contol panel and see if that com port is installed to the computer. If not then add new hardware and add a com port and see if it puts it in the location of where the mouse should be. (probably com1)

Verify that com1 03F8 - 03FF IRQ 04 and com2  02F8 -  02FF IRQ 03 are configured on your mother board.  If you have an internal card using a comm port remove it for now.  Some mice are PS/2 or serial but not all are.  Make sure you are using a comm port mouse.  It should say 12v on it.  Attach the mouse and start the computer.  If the mouse is not recognized go to control panel - system - device manager.  Expand the ports icon.  You should see com1 and com2 and no other com*.  If you don't see these you have a bios or win95 problem.  If you are succesful so far and the mouse is not installed select control panel - add new hardware follow the defaults.  If the defaults do not work you will need a driver disk and select the have disk button.  If you get the mouse installed and you are using a com 3 or 4 you must not use the IRQ that the mouse is on.  Com 1 and 3 share IRQ 4 and com 2 and 4 share IRQ 3.  If your board will use other IRQ's WIN95 will support them.  Good luck.

I've had a very similar problem. My ribbon cable from the board to the port was bad.

I need more information.  You can use key commands to get to System properties and navigate with Alt Tab and arrow keys.  You could also try booting a DOS floppy and install mouse drivers for DOS to check your hardware.

junkmail,
Go to Device Manager and click on properties with "Computer" highlighted in the list.  What device(s) are using COM3 & COM4?
We now need some feedback from you.....
Ralph

Thank you all for your great help! The mice still aren't working. We've decided just to move them to PS/2 mice.

I did learn one good thing though...I didn't know about the cable wiring being different on different boards. That is useful :)

I did all the suggestions listed here, from wiping the com ports, to forcing settings, to switching ports to everything else. I don't think the Boards like serial mice anymore *sigh*

Still, it's not the end of the world.

thanks again for all of your suggestions and help. I really appreciate it.

Geoff

Geoff,
We CAN resolve this thing for you if you want.  There is no way for your motherboard not to "like" having a mouse installed.  There is a reason for it and we can find it.....
It's simply a matter of step-by-step troubleshooting.
Regards,
Ralph

This mouse is'nt a Intellimice or something.. have you loaded drivers for this or just left Win95 to do it?

Geoff,

I have this problem with one of my motherboards also.  You should be able to use the Mouse applet in Control Panel to switch the driver to a Standard Serial Mouse.  It should start working then.  That is if the serial ports are still working after all of the fun & games you have had.

Tom

about diff. cables for diff. boards, i have a documented example of a combination of board/cable that actually piped the Vouts from the port to the Chassis, resulting in a fried motherboard + cables.

junkmail,
Are you still interested in solving this problem?
Regards,
Ralph

Windows 95 probes for a serial mouse on each unused com-port each time you boot. If it doesn't recognize your serial mouse when you boot, the mouse is defective, or the ribbon cables to the com port are improperly installed.

1. If your mouse has a switch on it, set it to the 'Microsoft' position.
2. In device manager, make sure the com port is not in use by some other device.
3. Correct the position of the ribbon cable so that pin one matches up with the red stripe on the cable.
4. Test the mouse on a nother machine.
5. If the mouse works on another machine, but not on this one, the port is defective. Have the motherboard replaced.
6. If the mouse works on neither machine, replace your mouse.

The mouse works. It works in dos, even under windows. Just not in windows. I've just upgraded to PS/2 mice

Have you searched for other hardware that Windows95 has assigned to the com port your mouse is plugged into? The behavior you describe is typical for that situation.

under START -> SETTINGS -> CONTROL PANEL -> SYSTEM, click on Device Manager, and PRINT. Scan the printout for any mention of the COM port that your mouse is on.

It is clear that this is a software problem, but it is nothing to do with the PS/2 mouse. Win95 will function with a serial mouse even if a broken PS/2 mouse appears in the device manager.

junkmail, what cpu are you using and what brand of mouse?  I understand you switched the mouse to a ps/2 but I would like to know for my own info.  I have a amd k5 pr133 and logitech trackman vista and I learned that logitech's drivers are not compatable with amd cpu's