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Recommendations for Apple //e mouse?

thenzero

thenzero

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Feb 19, 2021
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Perry, GA
Apart from spending big bucks on eBay for a mouse interface card, any ideas on how to get a mouse on my Apple //e? I haven’t found any after market mouse cards (although I did find the schematics for the original…). Thoughts?
 
I am really hoping there will be more progress on the mouse issue on apple II computers but so far not to much. The Mice area really really expensive (and alot of them are breaking). There is this adapter which lets you connect a modern mouse to your apple II which seems pretty nice.
I havent tried it yet but if it works its a godo thing to have: https://retroconnector.com/products/desktop/adapters-and-interfaces/usb-mouse-interface-apple-ii/
Its out of stock at the moment but you can sign up for the wait list.

Unfortunately Apple used unencoded(quadrature) mice. NOT serial mice which most people think because of the DE-9 connector. So you are stuck using the original apple mice from the LISA, apple II's, or the original MAcintosh line.

https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Apple_II_Mouse_Card.txt
 
Thanks VERAULT. Has anyone done any work toward a custom mouse card that accepts serial or other modern mice?
 
Mouse cards for the apple II can be found pretty easily by comparison to the mice. TheDrip sold one on here a couple weeks ago for $30.00 which is a decent price : https://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum/m...09563-apple-mouse-interface-670-0030-e-iie-30
They are on ebay. The mouse card shouldnt be much work.
As far as a serial mouse card? Well there already is a super serial card. And unless someone goes and modifies all the mouse compatible software to run on the serial mouse it wont make much of a difference.
 
I was imagining making a card that looked to the Apple like the original card but used the serial mouse as input. There are plenty of microcontrollers that could read a serial mouse and output…whatever the Apple needs…
 
Sure that is entirely doable......As long as it translates the signals into what the original card produced. I would imagine you still need the original card for reverse engineering needs?
 
Reverse engineering and maybe verification. I’ll post about it in the WTB section.
 
Cool I’ll keep an eye on it. Considering the number of bids I don’t have too much hope but you never know!
 
VERAULT said:
I am really hoping there will be more progress on the mouse issue on apple II computers but so far not to much. The Mice area really really expensive (and alot of them are breaking).
Click to expand...

Are the mice really becoming that uncommon?

Edited: Okay so according to ebay there's a bunch with silly prices but I'm also seeing them for $30 and below in the completed listings. They are certainly going up in price but unless you are totally RDF'd they aren't that expensive.
 
I’m looking in the completed listings and seeing more like $90+….
 

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NeXT said:
Are the mice really becoming that uncommon?

Edited: Okay so according to ebay there's a bunch with silly prices but I'm also seeing them for $30 and below in the completed listings. They are certainly going up in price but unless you are totally RDF'd they aren't that expensive.
Click to expand...

yeah you can still find them for $40 to $45 if you hunt around but you need to be fast. I have gotten maybe 2 or 3 in the past 14 months at an acceptable price. I had two I needed to return as one of the axis' didnt work. So Id say yes they are getting hard to come by and we need a modern alternative.

I am not going to pay $75 or higher for a mouse! Are you kidding me?!

Wayne Stewart said:
I’d been on the wait list for the Tindle one for a couple of years then I found this one
https://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/ti...b9-mouse-port/
Works flawlessly with the Apple Pro mouse. I haven’t tried any other. But of course you still need the mouse card
Click to expand...

Thanks Wayne, thats great. I didnt know about this product. It doesnt mention Apple II at all though, have you tried it on any apple II computers?

I am assuming you guys know about the incompatiblity with 50% of the m0100 mice out there when trying them on the Apple IIc (since the IIc had the gameport and mouse port merged into a single port some of those mice dont work correctly. Raphnet makes an adapter https://www.raphnet.net/electronique...r/index_en.php

I have made the adapter from the schematic on this page its not that difficult.
 
Last edited:
Wayne Stewart said:
I’d been on the wait list for the Tindle one for a couple of years then I found this one
https://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/ti...b9-mouse-port/
Works flawlessly with the Apple Pro mouse. I haven’t tried any other. But of course you still need the mouse card
Click to expand...

Neat! That’s half of the problem I was thinking of tackling right there. Buy one of these, build your own mouse card from the published schematic (or buy one) and you’re good to go…
 
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