Hacking a PC mouse to work on Dreamcast

Post by **Mozgus** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:39 pm

I was wondering how similar DC mice were to PC mice. I have the official mouse for Dreamcast, but after all these years, it seems the vertical motion is dying. It's very unreliable. It often randomly gets "Stuck" in a certain vertical position until I violently thrust the mouse up and down to break it free from that position. The internal cylinders are completely clean. There is no crud on them that could hamper the motion. I've tried manually moving the cylinder with my finger to confirm that the issue is not the mouse pad.

So is it possible to just chop off the mouse end, saving the dreamcast plug, and solder on a PC mouse to the correct wires? I'm afraid it's not that simple because it looks like the adaptor which serves this purpose, seems to have a chip of some sort inside:

http://www.consolesandgadgets.co.uk/cat ... p-126.html

So that probably means a simple wire hack won't do the job, huh?

I would LOVE to use a high end logitech optical mouse on Dreamcast, with a USB to PS/2 adaptor applied before the hack. That would just be great.

Post by **Pullmyfinger** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:57 pm

why not just get a PS/2 to DC adaptor? I have one up for trade if you are interested, just have to check if it works with a mouse, I only tried it with a keyboard.

Post by **bustaballs** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:06 pm

What do you need a mouse for on a dreamcast? Are you running linux on it or something?

Post by **Pullmyfinger** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:54 pm

There are a few games that support it, but most importantly, the awesome SCUMMvm

Post by **Mozgus** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:11 pm

bustaballs wrote:What do you need a mouse for on a dreamcast? Are you running linux on it or something?

I own real copies of Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament, both of which are quality ports of fantastic games. I can run them infinitely better on PC, but the DC versions have their unique charm. Also, I have backups of Soldier of Fortune and Rez. And then there's the internet browsers, though I don't use 56k anymore so I guess I can't use them now. And I have the leaked Half Life, along with the ported Half Life Opposing Force + 15 Mods.

Also, Pullmyfinger pointed out another product I have been meaning to download.

Oh and there's the homebrew ports of Quake 1 and Doom.

The point is, I'll buy an adapter if it comes to that, which is why I mentioned it....but if I can hack something together for free, why not?

Pullmyfinger wrote:why not just get a PS/2 to DC adaptor? I have one up for trade if you are interested, just have to check if it works with a mouse, I only tried it with a keyboard.

Take a picture of it for me and name your price. Thanks.

Post by **rattboi** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:14 am

Off topic: If you still have a modem, you can get online with the DC through your computer. You use ICS or something and use your computer as a gateway between the modem on your pc connecting your pc and dreamcast, and your broadband connection. I never did it, but I read about it somewhere. I don't know if you have a reason to do it, but it's always an option.

Post by **Mozgus** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:40 am

rattboi wrote:Off topic: If you still have a modem, you can get online with the DC through your computer. You use ICS or something and use your computer as a gateway between the modem on your pc connecting your pc and dreamcast, and your broadband connection. I never did it, but I read about it somewhere. I don't know if you have a reason to do it, but it's always an option.

It's extremely hard to do on Windows XP. I've looked into it. Even on Win98, it's still tough.

Post by **Pullmyfinger** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:08 pm

Here's a pic of the adaptor I have:

Post by **Mozgus** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:21 pm

Pullmyfinger wrote:Here's a pic of the adaptor I have:

No thanks then.