[comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc] Communications & mouse into one serial port

news@afit.af.mil (04/11/91)

If you find the answer...other than "buy another card" let me know.
But, don't sweat it, because for 10$ out of computer shopper you
can get a card and add mutiple ports.

1st Lt Peter F. de KAM                 :     How do you know what you know?
Graduate Student, Logistics Management :          -- Anne Rand
Air Force Institute of Technology/LSG  :      "The Objectivist Epistimology"
Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio 45433       :
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"My Ramblings and Babblings do not represent those of the USAF or the US Gvt."
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c60b-1eq@web-1c.berkeley.edu (Noam Mendelson) (04/11/91)

In article <x$bGy=-l1@cs.psu.edu> cho@sol4.cs.psu.edu (Sehyeong Cho) writes:
>In article <1264@sol.deakin.OZ.AU> carterp@deakin.OZ.AU (Phil Carter) writes:
>>I have a PC with one serial port which I use for both communications
>>and the mouse (obviously not both at the same time).
>>Whenever I need to switch from communications to the mouse, or vice versa,
>>I have to switch off the PC, swap cables to the serial port and reboot.
>>QUESTION.  Is there any way of avoiding the reboot? Is there any software
>>that might help?
>My Question: Have you ever tried not booting?  I mean, just change the
>cables and run the program?
>Isn't your comm. software (or mouse driver) supposed to know how to initialize
>the port?
My Question: why not get a switchbox for about US$ 25?  I would also
recommend that you unload any memory-resident mouse drivers before you
use the serial port for communications.

+==========================================================================+
| Noam Mendelson   ..!agate!ucbvax!web!c60b-1eq | "I haven't lost my mind, |
| c60b-1eq@web.Berkeley.EDU                     |  it's backed up on tape  |
| University of California at Berkeley          |  somewhere."             |

josephc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Simplelogic (Joseph)) (04/12/91)

jfv@cbnewsk.att.com (j.f.van valkenburg) writes:

>In article <1264@sol.deakin.OZ.AU>, carterp@deakin.OZ.AU (Phil Carter) writes:
>> I have a PC with one serial port which I use for both communications
>> and the mouse (obviously not both at the same time).
>> 
>> Whenever I need to switch from communications to the mouse, or vice versa,
>> I have to switch off the PC, swap cables to the serial port and reboot.
>> 
>> QUESTION.  Is there any way of avoiding the reboot? Is there any software
>> that might help?
>> 
>> --
>>   Phil Carter		  Computing Services Centre,   
>>   Academic Programmer  	  Deakin University, Warrnambool campus          
>I share my comm port between two serial printers with a simple A/B switch.
>The common RS232 goes to the comm port - I haven't had any problems except 

Well, with a mouse, the situation is a bit different - your mouse drive software
should have a way to disable itself.  If not, and if you don't use the 2nd
COM port, you can set your mouse driver to respond to IRQ 3 (COM2) instead of
IRQ 4 (COM1) so that it won't process your serial communication on COM1.

Personally, I'd just go out and buy a second serial port (if you don't already
have one, that is [as is the case of the original poster].)

Clone serial cards can be had for about $30...

>------------------------
>James F. Van Valkenburg         a.k.a.  "van"
>AT&T 				Attmail: !jfv               jfv@cbnewsk.att.com
>Atlanta, GA.			Voice  404-873-7920
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-- 
Joseph I. Chiu, Department of Computer Science, Calif. Inst. of Technology
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josephc@coil.caltech.edu                     ...I don't know what I don't know