Amiga Mouse Conversion

[flashjazzcat]

I know, through searches, that this topic has been touched upon in the past, but I've tried to convert an Amiga mouse for use with the ST by swapping pins 1 and 4. This has corrected the horizontal orientation, but the vertical direction is still reversed: i.e. moving the mouse up moves the pointer down the screen. While I have looked at pinout diagrams for both the ST and Amiga mouse ports, I'm unsure which pins to swap over next. I thought swapping pins 1 and 4 was all I needed to do. I've used this mouse on an XE in the past simply by writing a custom mouse driver, but that's not really an option with the ST. The mouse is hardly used, in mint condition, and I'd really like to get it working.

[Rybags]

Strange... you sure you swapped the right pins?

 

If the Y direction is in reverse, then I think you'd need to swap 3 and 4.

[flashjazzcat]

I know, strange... I traced all the wires with the multi-tester. Time to get the meter out again...

[Rybags]

Well, the Amiga pairs up 1-3 and 2-4 and the ST has 1-2 and 3-4 (which is kinda more logical, but the axes are swapped as compared to joysticks).

 

Ideally you could put a switch in, so you could use it on both machines.

[flashjazzcat]

Well, the Amiga pairs up 1-3 and 2-4 and the ST has 1-2 and 3-4 (which is kinda more logical, but the axes are swapped as compared to joysticks).

 

Ideally you could put a switch in, so you could use it on both machines.

Well, I have no plans to buy an Amiga! Actually I bought this mouse back in the early nineties to use with the XE; I wanted an ST mouse but couldn't find one at the time. It's barely used and is much less clunky than the standard ST mouse. I have one of the switchable Amiga/ST mice but one of the microswitches is broken. Of the "standard" ST mice (of which I have two), the best one still fails to register double-clicks 50% of the time. I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to cannibalise the four mice and maybe get two decent ones working.

 

Thanks for the info, anyway. I'll look into it.

Edited April 4, 2009 by flashjazzcat

[Rybags]

The Amiga mouse beats the ST one for ergonomics.

 

But still, the mouse Apple used in the later 68000 based Macs must be the worst ever for causing discomfort.

[flashjazzcat]

The Amiga mouse beats the ST one for ergonomics.

 

But still, the mouse Apple used in the later 68000 based Macs must be the worst ever for causing discomfort.

Are they the box-shaped mice? Awful. This one's made by Logic3 and is nicely curved and very comfortable.

 

...fixed. Thanks! I tested the wires again: I'd already swapped 1 and 4, so I swapped 1 and 2 this time and it works perfectly now. Who knows why, but it works... MUCH nicer to use than the ST Mouse.

Edited April 4, 2009 by flashjazzcat

[mimo]

I have a logic3 one for my STE, very nice compared to the standard offering

[S1500]

The one thing I remember about the Amiga mouse is that it was dang near immortal. It NEVER jammed on me, compared to my old Logitech ball mice that needed frequent cleaning on the sensors. Amiga one never skewed or changed direction. It just worked.

[+DarkLord]

Its expensive, at $34.95, but the Best Electronics mouse I use is one

of the best ones I've ever had plugged into an Atari mouse port, IMHO.

 

So much so, I bought 2...

 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/accesori.htm

 

"TrueMouse, Replacement Mouse for the Atari STM1 Stock Mouse. Of the hundreds of replacement Atari mice on the market, The TrueMouse has been selected by Best as its Number One replacement Non Atari made Mouse because of the following Quality Features: Same over all physical size as the stock Atari STM1 mouse except a slightly lower and more comfortable profile with a back end of the mouse which is round in shape Not square with sharp corners!, Extra Wide Left and Wide Right mouse switch covers similar to the stock Atari mouse so it will fit all size hands and also has a tactical raised lip between the Left and Right switch covers, Extremely Positive Feeling Industrial Grade Micro / Mouse switches which are rated at a minimum of 1,000,000 operations per switch with only 120 grams operating force, Tracking resolution of 200 DPI, Opto Mechanical Encoder Design, 5 1/2 Foot mouse cord, 4 replaceable Teflon TM feet, FCC Class B Approved, and Atari ST! CB102079 $34.95"

[oky2000]

The Amiga mouse beats the ST one for ergonomics.

 

But still, the mouse Apple used in the later 68000 based Macs must be the worst ever for causing discomfort.

 

True, one mouse button is just the kind of crazy idea Apple would come up with

 

I have an Apple mouse from an Intel Mac and it is some stupid design where you press the whole body of the mouse to do a click as there is no mouse button at all, absolutely useless and perfect example of style over function.

[frogstar_robot]

True, one mouse button is just the kind of crazy idea Apple would come up with

 

I have an Apple mouse from an Intel Mac and it is some stupid design where you press the whole body of the mouse to do a click as there is no mouse button at all, absolutely useless and perfect example of style over function.

 

Not quite true. I have seen those work very well for very young children and special needs kids. Of course, that is an opening for a snarky comment along the lines that is all they are good for........