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Windows 3.0 mouse issues

mrwhomrwho
in Software
Good evening all!

I just found out about this site, and I registered to check if someone can help me with a little problem I'm having on one of my retro machines:

An old 386SX/40 with DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.0, I can't get the mouse to work on Windows, even tough it works fine on DOS programs and games.

It's a Mitsumi two-button serial mouse on COM1.

Here's what I've tried so far:

- Tried with mouse.com in autoexec.bat
- Tried with mouse.sys in config.sys
- Tried with alternate driver mouse.com in autoexec.bat
- Tried with alternate driver mouse.sys in config.sys
- MSD (correctly) identifies the mouse as a serial mouse
- Popped out the SD card with the OS and ran it on DosBox on my machine, and the mouse works fine (probably because it identifies as a PS/2 mouse, don't know).
- Running an image of the SDCard on PCem configured as an AMD 386SX-40 with a serial mouse, windows recognizes the mouse just fine.
- Tried changing the Mouse on Windows setup to "Microsoft or IBM PS/2 mouse" (the default) and with "Logitech Serial Mouse".

Nothing so far worked. I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks for your time and have a nice week!

Comments

  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    Hmm, if it is working in DOS then that means the mouse should work.

    Windows uses its own driver, so any mouse.com/mouse.sys loaded in DOS will have zero effect.

    Despite the name, the "Microsoft or IBM PS/2 mouse" should work with serial.

    Try checking that your serial port is configured for the right I/O address and IRQ for use as COM1.
  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    Also, you might try installing the Microsoft Mouse 8.2 Windows drivers here:
    https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-mouse/8x

    This installs a newer Windows 3.0 mouse.drv file, and it should work with both serial and PS/2 mice.
  • mrwhomrwho
    "Try checking that your serial port is configured for the right I/O address and IRQ for use as COM1."

    I assume you're talking about the "Ports" section on the Control Panel. I'll check that, as well as trying out the driver you suggested.

    Thanks!
  • mrwhomrwho
    Well, the "Ports" section on the Windows 3.0 control panel only talks about baud, parity and other modem-related items, so no ports or IRQs there - where (if somewhere) in Windows 3.0 do I check those? I skimmed win.ini and system.ini and couldn't find a thing.

    About the driver you suggested, installed it, and it didn't solve anything - it adds a program supposedly to configure the mouse, but it tells me that there isn't a mouse connected (and of course there is, as it works under DOS).

    Thanks once more.
  • mrwhomrwho
    I tried to add the lines COM1Irq=4 and COM1Base=3E8h (that I took from running MSD) to the [386Enh] section of system.ini (as instructed on a .txt file inside the Windows folder), but I didn't work - I assume that it was because, as I only got 1Mb on my system, it doesn't run in 386 Enhanced mode.
    But how to define these settings if not running in 386 Enhanced mode? *scratching head*
  • SomeGuySomeGuy
    3E8h? Yea, that's what I thought, your COM port is set to COM3, even though BIOS/DOS might be calling it COM1. DOS drivers can figure out a mis-configured port, but the Windows drivers are not that bright.

    Here are the addresses and IRQs each COM port should be set at:

    COM1 - 3F8h IRQ4
    COM2 - 2F8h IRQ3
    COM3 - 3E8h IRQ4
    COM4 - 2E8h IRQ3

    So what you need to do is change the jumpers or DIP switches on your I/O card (or motherboard if the port is on the motherboard) so it is set properly as COM 1.
  • mrwhomrwho
    Thanks for the tip. Will check that out tomorrow! Fingers crossed!
  • mrwhomrwho
    Thank you so much - that was it! Hope this helps anyone who gets the same problem as I did.

    Best regards!
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