# Can't connect serial mouse to computer with serial-usb adapter



## Engreeks1 (Apr 7, 2008)

Hi there,

I've been having some wrist pain lately, so I was looking around the internet for more ergonomic mice. I heard some good things about the Kensington Expert mouse, and I picked up an old serial version (the 5.0 model) on craigslist. I bought a serial/usb adapter from fry's hoping everything would work, but that hasn't been the case. 

I'm running Vista SP1, and I have only USB ports (no ps2 or serial). 

When I plug in the serial/usb adapter, Vista recognizes it and successfully installs the driver. 

When I first plugged in the mouse, it worked for about 5 seconds, then it stopped responding all together. My other usb mouse continues to work throughout this. 

I tried unplugging it and replugging it in, and this time it never worked. That's the state it's in now. 

I tried this on my xp laptop (usb only aswell) and it did not respond at all. 

Do any of you know if I need special drivers? Kensington's current drivers don't work for serial mice.

thanks!


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## monkeymonkey (May 10, 2008)

maybe you could try contacting kensington customer support - see what they can suggest - they may have another driver that will work for your mouse.

you could also try fitting it to a computor that has a built in serial port to rule out any hardware fault.

good luck


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## Engreeks1 (Apr 7, 2008)

thanks for the response. 

I'm working on a computer with a serial port now. 

I turned it off, plugged in the mouse, and then turned it on. I got the same behavior. It worked for a few seconds and then on response. 

I tried downloading some kensington drivers for the mouse, but they don't detect a mouse at all. 

Should a serial mouse work automatically after starting up? Is it possible the drivers are messed up? Or is this more likely a problem with the mouse? 

thanks,
eric

What's the best way to go about debugging this?


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

Here is what Microsoft says about this.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/112550


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## Engreeks1 (Apr 7, 2008)

Thanks for the response terrister. I'm having trouble following that article though. 

This mouse didn't ship with it's own serial card - do you think it still applies to me? 

If so, would the serial/usb adapter function as the serial card? In that case, how do I set the I/O address on the card to the standard I/O address for COM1 or COM2, and disable the on-board COM port if it exists?

Does anyone have experience with this mouse? Was it plug and play?


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

It loks like when this mouse was sold, it came with its own serial card. The driver looks for the odd address this card used and if it does not see it, it does not work. 

The work around from microsoft involved setting your serial ports to the odd addresses. The usb/serial device can not do this. 

I would contact the seller and see what they suggest. If they do not have the card, I would get your money back (if you can) and look for another mouse that works off the usb port. 

I do not think anyone sells serial mice anymore. I thought they went away when the PS2 port came out.


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