Optical mouse for Amiga classic

[trekiej]

Cool.
edit:
I hope this is not a bad question.
Did the Amiga have serial mice?

[aGGreSSor]

I hope this is not too far off topic.
Do track-balls still exist for the Amiga?

The Kensington Optical Expert Mouse (trackballs) previously used an ADNS-2051 optical sensor. Possible use now. Produced today and modified with the topic equally. Therefore Amiga have them.

[danbeaver]

I remember an Amiga optical mouse back in 91 that needed a special mouse pad with a grid pattern to work.

There was the Dale Luck "Boing! Mouse" that was a 3 button Sun mouse modified to work on an Amiga, with a plastic and rubber pad set with lines in a grid; and a Golden Image mouse that used a piece of cardboard with dots on it; the Golden Image mouse shows up on eBay, but its pad was usually eaten by the family dog and showed up it the dog's poop.

Boing! Mice are hard to find and can sell for in the $70 USD range; Golden Image mice are best fed to the family dog to help clean them out from too much cardboard ingestion.

[danbeaver]

I hope this is not too far off topic.
Do track-balls still exist for the Amiga?

 Yep, flip over a mouse on its back and go for it!

[guest11527]

I read your link. I think so, no one working? This is possible, but it is wrong. It should look a bit different.

Not clear what you mean. I found in my Logitech mouse park two models that would allow a modification. I believe these were the BD69 and BJ69 models. I forgot which one is which, but one of the two models used a chip that has a direct quadrature output, and the other one (the one I played with) had an H2000 chip which has a switchable PS/2 - quadrature output, and with a bit of additional tweaking can be made to talk to the Amiga just fine. As said, the end result works. It's not the most elegant design I picked, rather the cheapest given the components I had.  Anyhow, for more details, go to the a1k thread. Google translate will hopefully turn that into something useful.  One way or another, such mice are not produced anymore to my knowledge. You can probably find the chips from some chinese vendors and build them yourself if you want to create a business. For me it was enough to get a mouse that worked. I did not aim to sell it.

[ExiE_]

check these pages guys (alien language but worth it)
http://www.amiga-exa.cz/retro-optical-mouse/
http://www.amiga-exa.cz/new-amiga-optical-mouse/
http://www.amiga-exa.cz/part-5-new-amiga-optical-mouse/

the printed circuits looks terribly and it is next to impossible find out thin and flexible rounded cable, but the mouses work perfectly.

[AAACHIPSET]

I remember an Amiga optical mouse back in 91 that needed a special mouse pad with a grid pattern to work.

yes  i actually  have  one  like that ..never been the same  after  my pet rabbit at the time  decided the cord was  a chew toy..that was about 1995 i bought it...
the one i use now  is also optical  made by  house designs  ..its a 3 button mouse i got it on ebay  only one  optical light works  but it works ok...

[trekiej]

rotfl (for no reason really )

[slaapliedje]

Now if only we could get something like t he Logitech unified driver/adapter working on the Amiga

Seriously, this is cool.  I bought one of the boing ball usb mice from Amigakit, anyone know if this mod would work on them?

slaapliedje

[Tenacious]

I hope this is not too far off topic.
Do track-balls still exist for the Amiga?

I have several of the Logitech Marble Mouse (Yes, it really is a trackball.  Poorly named.) with USB interface.  It goes thru a USB-to-PS/2 adapter and then thru a Cocolino into my Amigas, plug-n-play (no software or drivers required).  It has the tactile spring-leaf contacts.  These work great.  I now like them better than any mouse.  

I believe these were originally available with a true PS/2 interface.  Then they sold them as USB with the adapter included.  Perhaps they still use an older PS/2 protocal?

I have USB Kensington Orbits to use with Macs and PCs.  I'm not sure they work thru the adapters with Amigas.  I'll have to try it.

[aGGreSSor]

check these pages guys (alien language but worth it)
http://www.amiga-exa.cz/retro-optical-mouse/
http://www.amiga-exa.cz/new-amiga-optical-mouse/
http://www.amiga-exa.cz/part-5-new-amiga-optical-mouse/

the printed circuits looks terribly and it is next to impossible find out thin and flexible rounded cable, but the mouses work perfectly.

When finished creating a layer of wires (remember about clearance = 2.1 mm!) also visited the idea own mouse PCB... Now I see that there are three ways:

• Direct connection of the sensor to Amiga mouse port. (conditionally, deutsch version)
• Almost the same, but with harmonization (russian version)
• Wiring own board (czech version).

Surprisingly, when people didn't know each other come to the same in different ways. Thank you for your reference!

[guest11527]

When finished creating a layer of wires (remember about clearance = 2.1 mm!) also visited the idea own mouse PCB... Now I see that there are three ways:

• Direct connection of the sensor to Amiga mouse port. (conditionally, deutsch version)
• Almost the same, but with harmonization (russian version)
• Wiring own board (czech version).

Surprisingly, when people didn't know each other come to the same in different ways. Thank you for your reference!

It is really a matter of the chip. For the mice I had a look at - the old version - the chips were designed for TTL logic levels in mind anyhow, so the quadrature output can be connected to the Amiga TTL input directly. This is not necessarily true for all chips, some use an internal conversion to 3.3V and run on 3.3V logic levels.  

I personally tried to recycle as many components as possible, so the mouse itself is the original Logitech design, the mouse cable comes from a defunct Amiga mouse and hence fits nicely. The drawback is that it lacks a wire for the middle mouse button.

The czech version is a new "design from scratch". That's of course the better solution for professional vendors, but not an option for hobbyists like me.

[aGGreSSor]

It is really a matter of the chip. For the mice I had a look at - the old version - the chips were designed for TTL logic levels in mind anyhow, so the quadrature output can be connected to the Amiga TTL input directly. This is not necessarily true for all chips, some use an internal conversion to 3.3V and run on 3.3V logic levels.

Absolutely.

I personally tried to recycle as many components as possible, so the mouse itself is the original Logitech design, the mouse cable comes from a defunct Amiga mouse and hence fits nicely. The drawback is that it lacks a wire for the middle mouse button.

This is a very big problem. I used twisted pair like UTP Cat5e and it isn't sufficiently flexible. Inelastic telephone cable like 01-5402 REXANT (10 wire) too bad. Multi-colored plume is more flexible, but also no good. It's problem.

The czech version is a new "design from scratch". That's of course the better solution for professional vendors, but not an option for hobbyists like me.

It's completely amateur, Toner Transfer Method. It depends on the willingness to bother. Personally, I'm just lazy.

[aGGreSSor]

In the beginning of the topic was promised a big russian article. I'm fulfilling my promise!

Perhaps it can be read in google translate.

:hammer:

[mechy]

I adapted modern optical mouse for standard Amiga port.  The author of this idea StarCat from amiga.org.ru forum. He described it verbally, but I decided to solder in reality. The advantages of optics to mechanics obvious. It doesn't require any adapter, plug'n'play

You can watch a short video on You Tube (including English subtitles).

If you are (non)interested in this topic - let me know.

I did the same thing with the 800dpi genius optical mouse only i installed the pic in the DE9 housing, so its all self contained and no adapters needed, i used the project on aminet to program the pic chip.

[aGGreSSor]

I did the same thing with the 800dpi genius optical mouse only i installed the pic in the DE9 housing, so its all self contained and no adapters needed, i used the project on aminet to program the pic chip.

It's an excellent solution. Thanks to RDC, we have it in various realizations (including industrial). But PIC scheme requires more experience and more expensive. Support mouse at the same level (PS/2 and Combo).