11 Feb
2009
11 Feb
'09
6:57 a.m.
On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 9:39 AM, Larry Yates <laptoplarry at gmail.com> wrote:
While in the closet, I also retrieved a MacPlus that
booted A-OK from a
removable hard drive...except I could not find the mouse!
Mac no mouse = no go...
The Apple mice from that era are simple raw X-Y quadrature...
If you really can't locate a genuine Apple Mouse from either an early
Mac or an Apple II (same part), it should be simple to adapt either a
Microsoft Bus Mouse or an Amiga Mouse, perhaps with just a passive
cable adapter.
<http://wombatula.com/electronics/plus/>
If you are a serious hardware hacker, it *might* be possible to hack
out the microcontroller in a "smart" mouse (serial, ADB, PS/2, USB,
etc). I'm referring to the types that still have optical wheels and
phototransistors, not "optical" mice, of course. I don't know for
certain if the transistors and LEDs in a "ball" mouse are specifically
compatible with the drive from a Mac Plus, but it could be as simple
as trace cuts, a new cable, and perhaps some current-limiting
resistors. I've recycled quite a few USB ball mice (since nobody
wants them anymore) for the USB cable for USB-interfaced LCD panels
(like the 2x20 picoLCD), and from what I've seen in the guts of them,
there's nothing inherently different about the optomechanical sections
of a USB mouse and a pre-ADB Mac mouse.
Of course, locating a "real" Mac mouse shouldn't be impossible if
hacking LEDs and phototransistors isn't your thing.
-ethan
-ethan