Re: Mouse support

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Mark writes ...
> 
> We got an old apple II GS for our daughter for christmas and I am having a
> hard time getting the mouse to work.  Is there anyone out there who can
> tell me if I am doing something wrong?  I have all the system disks, but
> none of them seem to start the mouse.

     
     There are a few things you can check which may help.


1- a dirty mouse

     It may be that the previous owner did not clean the mouse very
often. Open the mouse and check for gunked-up wheels, dust, ... . If the
mouse sensor wheels look like they have rubber treads, the mouse needs
cleaning (the IIgs mouse sensor wheels do not have treads). Use a
jewler's screwdriver, or some similar pointy tool to dislodge the
'tread' (push sideways against the gunk buildup) and tweezers to help
peel it off from each sensor wheel.


2- bad panel setting

     The IIgs firmware which many programs use to connect with the mouse
is associated with Slot 4. If, somehow, Slot 4 is set to Your Card in
the Control Panel, there will be a problem using the mouse with some
software.

     After starting your IIgs and getting to the GS/OS desktop display--
or, after booting a ProDOS-8 diskette and getting to some sort of
program selector, etc.-- press Control-OpenApple-Escape (all three keys
'at once': really, this means you press and hold Control, then, press
and hold the OpenApple key, and and, then, press Escape). This gets you
to the Desk Accessories menu. Select Control Panel; then, select Slots.
The setting for Slot 4 should be Mouse Port.  


3- bad connection at the Keyboard

     With everything Off, unplug the Keyboard and plug the mouse
directly into the GS Keyboard socket. Turn On the computer and get to
the GS/OS desktop display. If the mouse works now but did not work when
plugged into the Keyboard, there is probably a break in the feed-though
of the ADB lines through the Keyboard to the socket used for the mouse.


     Another way to check your mouse is to boot a diskette which runs a
program which uses the mouse. If your diskette collection includes
Paintworks Gold or a game which uses mouse inputs, you could try booting
these. You can boot Slot 5 by setting the Startup Slot in the Control
Panel (select Slots) to Slot 5.



Rubywand