----- Original Message -----
From: "Ethan Dicks" <ethan.dicks at gmail.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: Mouse systems M4 Optical Mouse
In a standard Sun-type optical mouse, one LED is
indeed infrared. One
problem
they develop with age is that the LEDs dim at
different rates and the IR
LED
dims to the point of ineffectiveness before the red
one.
http://www.bjnet.edu.cn/sun-admin/FAQ/F-comp-sys-sun/Q54-0.html
(unfortunately, the repair URL it gives doesn't work for me)
If you can find suitable inks, printing vertical
and horizontal lines
on a shiny surface should do fine - but beware that such mouse pads
exist in at least two and I think three different resolutions; while a
mouse designed for a fine-resolution pad works fine with a coarser pad,
the converse is not true. If you want I can approximate the line
spacing of the mouse pads I have, with a ruler or tape measure and
some careful counting.
Yes... in the case of Sun mice, there are two grid resolutions of
mouse pads, and, IIRC,
the coarser one goes with Sun3 and early Sun4-type mice (the beige blocky
ones).
Later mice (bluish color scheme) used the
higher-resolution pads.
While it may not sound that Sun information is relevant, Mouse Systems
made the
vast bulk of optical mice in the ball-mouse era. What
changed from
mouse to mouse
was the host interface. Suns need 4800baud serial, Amigas take raw
quadrature (one
should be able to easily adapt an MS Bus Mouse to work with the Amiga).
-ethan
I finally found what looks to be the mousepad I needed Ebay #2788787188 its
the mouse with the pad (I just need the pad). These seem to be cheap if
anybody else needed one.
Sorry for digging up an old thread.