krieg@jupiter.uucp (Andrew Krieg) (01/03/90)
My mouse is dying and I need to replace it fast. Can anyone recommend one of the 3rd party mice (I've seen a cordless, and another one by some company whose name slips my mind) or should I stick with the Atari. I have seen Atari mice manufactured in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and I've heard they were also made in Japan. Is one better than the other? I had a Tawainese one, and it has acted up all along. I think wires are crossing inside the main cable. The arrow moves in the opposite direction of what I want, sometimes. I shake the cord a little, and it will work OK for a short time. Can I cheaply replace/build a new cable? Any info on any of the above questions would be greatly appreciated. -- ========================================================================= = Andrew Krieg The Marvel Historian = = G.E. Medical Systems - CT - New Berlin, WI = = USENET: krieg@jupiter.med.ge.com = ========================================================================= = "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from store." = = "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!" - The Grinch = =========================================================================
cowie@b11.ingr.com (Ivan Cowie) (01/09/90)
In article <1782@mrsvr.UUCP>, krieg@jupiter.uucp (Andrew Krieg) writes: > My mouse is dying and I need to replace it fast. Can anyone recommend one > of the 3rd party mice (I've seen a cordless, and another one by some company > whose name slips my mind) or should I stick with the Atari. I have seen > Atari mice manufactured in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and I've heard they were > also made in Japan. Is one better than the other? I had a Tawainese one, > and it has acted up all along. I think wires are crossing inside the main > cable. The arrow moves in the opposite direction of what I want, sometimes. > I shake the cord a little, and it will work OK for a short time. Can I > cheaply replace/build a new cable? > > Any info on any of the above questions would be greatly appreciated. Andrew, I had the very same problem with my mouse. If you have a soldering iron it is easy to fix. Just open up the mouse and find the little infra-red transmitters and receivers on opposite sides of the wheel. The problem with mine was that one of the receivers wasn't quite lined up correctly with the transmitter (must'v gotten jarred) so I melted the solder and just 'reseated' it on the board. Works fine now. Good luck!
exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee) (01/10/90)
In article <7051@b11.ingr.com> cowie@b11.ingr.com (Ivan Cowie) writes: >In article <1782@mrsvr.UUCP>, krieg@jupiter.uucp (Andrew Krieg) writes: >> My mouse is dying and I need to replace it fast. Can anyone recommend one >> cable. The arrow moves in the opposite direction of what I want, sometimes. >> I shake the cord a little, and it will work OK for a short time. Can I >> cheaply replace/build a new cable? This problem can occur if one of the wires inside the cable is broken. (There seems to be a favorite place for them to break, about an inch outside the mouse.) You might be able to get a replacement cord from someplace that repairs Atari. (I thought about rebuilding mine, but couldn't find either an appropriate strain-relief, or a source of the fiddly little connector used to attach the cable to the board inside the mouse.) You can also get this effect (it follows) if your mouse socket in the ST is lifting from the board and so breaking a connection (apparently not too uncommon if you unplug the mouse a lot, to put a joystick into that port) or if the mouse is not firmly, all-the-way, plugged into the ST. Check that first, it's easier; my mouse often wiggles loose. If you plug/unplug the mouse a lot, get a switchbox, or even just a joystick extension cable (Tandy/Radio Shack) and do the swap at the end of that. If you go for a third party mouse, be careful about the ones with switches that make a loud click. They tend to have metal domes which deform under pressure (like the little metal 'cricket clickers') and will die from metal fatigue under heavy use. Probably OK for 'serious' use, where you don't click a LOT, but I've killed 2 such (different makes) playing Populous. (Anybody know a good, durable, light button touch, 'GAMES' mouse?) My dead ones where a Kempston mouse, and one labeled 'Conniver' or something like that. These might be UK-specific brand names. I'm tempted to try modifying the shell of the Kempston mouse, which is very nice for 'serious' use, so I can install heavy-duty microswitches. Nothing to lose, after all... -- Paul Smee, Univ of Bristol Comp Centre, Bristol BS8 1TW, Tel +44 272 303132 Smee@bristol.ac.uk :-) (..!uunet!ukc!gdr.bath.ac.uk!exspes if you MUST)
bartho@obs.unige.ch (PAUL BARTHOLDI) (01/12/90)
In article <7051@b11.ingr.com>, cowie@b11.ingr.com (Ivan Cowie) writes: > In article <1782@mrsvr.UUCP>, krieg@jupiter.uucp (Andrew Krieg) writes: >> My mouse is dying and I need to replace it fast. Can anyone recommend one >> of the 3rd party mice (I've seen a cordless, and another one by some company >> ... >> Any info on any of the above questions would be greatly appreciated. > > Andrew, I had the very same problem with my mouse. If you have a > soldering iron it is easy to fix. Just open up the mouse and find the > little infra-red transmitters and receivers on opposite sides of the wheel. > The problem with mine was that one of the receivers wasn't quite lined up > correctly with the transmitter (must'v gotten jarred) so I melted the solder > and just 'reseated' it on the board. Works fine now. Good luck! We have 25 1040ST in house and had same problem. Four mices went back to dealers, two have been replaced, two repaired, but the repair would not last for more than a few days. So we decided to do it ourself, essentialy as above, but with the following trick : the infra-red pair are mounted on a plastic spring, and are supposed to be adjustable with the screw at the end, but as long it is not soldered ... also the hole on the printedboard are metalized which makes (un)soldering more difficult. So : 1. unsolder completely the IR pair (4 wires) and pull it out of the printed board. you may need special desoldering tools. 2. bind the 4 wires 90 degree horizontaly (carefuly !) near the diodes use thin wire. 3. solder in place 4 small wires to the board at one end, and to the diodes to the other end (far from the diodes) 4. adjust the position of the diode pair with the screw (now that it is free to move ...) 5. if you have an oscilloscope, check that the signal from the 2 diodes are more or less shifted 90 degrees. At least, the cosine track must come up and then down before the sine one, as this is used by the logic to detect the direction of movement. The mices we have repaired have been used now for quite some time and we never had any trouble any more. NB: do not try to adjust the screw with the diodes soldered in place, at most you will destroy them ! Also take the usual precautions with integrated circuit and static electricity ... Here is more or less a cut through the board and diode pair. I hope it will help save many mices ! > a < | | < d > | | > j < | ( diode pair ) | < u > | | > s < +----------I----------I------------+ < t > I I <----- leads from the diodes (4) > < I I < s > -+----------+ +----------+-- bended horizontaly ! > c < +------+ +----- + and soldered to wire < r > \ / > e < \ / <--- short wire \_w_/ \ / -------------------+ | +------+ | +------------------------------ ::::::::::::::::::+ | +::::::+ | +:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::+ | +::::::+ | +:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::+ | +::::::+ | +::::::( printedboard ):::::::: ::::::::::::::::::+ | +::::::+ | +:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::+ | +::::::+ | +:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -------------------+ | +------+ | +------------------------------ (_____) (_____) ^ ^ +----------+--------good soldering through the board God luck, and H a p p y N e w Y e a r ! Paul Bartholdi, Geneva Observatory