Determining the protocol of a mouse?

snuci · 06 Feb 2018, 18:20

I'm not sure if you guys can help out but I thought I'd try here anyway because there are some talented people here.

I have a children's toy made by Tiger Electronics that has a mouse. It is called the Tiger Learning Computer and is a cartridge based toy that connects to a TV and plays kids games. It has a graphic interface that normally uses a mouse to navigate. Sadly, I don't have the original mouse but the device has a 6 wire DIN PS/2 mouse port, yet a regular PS/2 mouse does not work. It has been noted that a normal PS/2 mouse would not work but I did find that the scroll wheel on a Logitech mouse would move the mouse pointer up and down in an erratic fashion. I am trying to recreate the mouse, if possible, an I was thinking about using a Teensy to emulate a mouse and play with code until I could get it to work. Has anyone had any experience with this? I am brand new to Teensys so there is an added learning curve but it's definitely worth the effort.

Here's what it looks like with a mouse...

Before you wonder why I would screw around with a children's toy, it's actually a rare product that incorporated Apple IIe technology licensed by Apple Computers. It was introduced in four test markets and Jobs killed it before it could go to full market. It is very rare (and I don't mean "eBay rare"). I am trying to make it work. For those interested, here are some pics. http://vintagecomputer.ca/tiger-learning-computer/

Any help is much appreciated.

Findecanor · 07 Feb 2018, 02:57

The first theory I would try would be a ADB mouse. ADB was first introduced for the Apple II line after all, and that device is recent enough. ADB mice with two buttons were available from third-parties such as MacAlly.
First check with a multimeter if there is voltage and GND on the same pins that a ADB port would provide. Then if that checks out if there is something on the corresponding data line. (to ground?)

Older mice on 8-bit and 16-bit computers had optomechanical rotary encoders and buttons provide electrical signals directly on the wires against ground.. but those would require a minimum of seven lines.

snuci · 07 Feb 2018, 18:58

Findecanor wrote: The first theory I would try would be a ADB mouse.

Thanks for the reply. ADB would make perfect sense but the pinout is different and this is definitely a 6 pin DIN jack. I will have to check the voltage pins and see if they line up with PS/2. They must if the scroll wheel did something.

I have a theory. Tiger made a similar unit a year earlier shown here: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/152890853811 The Tiger Ultra Pack PC has a similar looking mouse but it has a 9 pin connector. Tiger probably would have used the same mouse but the Tiger Learning Computer (TLC) used a nine pin port for the joystick. Since they couldn't use 9 pin for the mouse (too many kids would screw up which goes where), they probably decided to use a 6 pin DIN instead. Perhaps if I get one of these Tiger Ultra Pack PC mice, I can chop off the 9 pin connector and add the 6 pin DIN and it will work properly? Just a theory but the mice look identical in shape and the electronics internally are probably the same.