Jan said:
Hm, I found out that it's a rather exotic board: PC-Chips M550. I was
able to aqcuire a manual which is only in German (no problem there).
It says that there is a PS/2 kit for the board.
This creates another problem: Where to get it? The manual said that
using a different kit from the one made for the board it would
probably not work due to differently ordered pins. Any ideas?
Ok, thanks for all the ideas but I guess I found a really cheap solution
that ends all my worries.
On the mainboard there are pins for a PS/2 port. As said above you can
connect to them a special PS/2 kit that adds a PS/2 port to your PC. Luckily
the manual states the exact pin assignment of the PS/2 pins on the board.
I searched the web for the pin assignment of a PS/2 port. With them I'll try
to build a PS/2 kit myself.
Here's what I'll try for those who might have a similar problem:
DISCLAIMER: I haven't tried this yet. There's no guarantee that it will
work. Even after I confirmed that it worked, I have no idea if your setup is
similar to mine. I can't take any responsibility for any damage you cause to
your computer. Keep in mind that PS/2 ports are very delicate and a mistake
can result in damaging your PC. A friend of mine once pulled out his PS/2
mouse while the PC was running. As a result his hard drive controller was
fried. So be careful and be sure you know what you're doing.
1) Parts:
1 Ribbon Cable (I took the HD cable of an old PC I had lying around)
1 Serial->PS/2 adapter (alternately a female PS/2 connector would do, which
I don't have)
1 male Serial connector (If you take the female PS/2 connector you don't
need this one)
Some wires
Tools: edge cutter, circuit indicator, hot-melt adhesive
2) Preparation:
The PS/2 pins on the mainboard are 2x4 pins, so the ribbon connector (2x17
pins) is much too wide. Cut it to about 2x8 pins with an edge cutter. The
excess pins are there to make sure cutting the ribbon connector doesn't
damage the wires.
On one end of the ribbon cable (henceforth called output end) you need to
stick a piece of wire into each hole, thus creating pins. Use some hot-melt
adhesive to secure the pins to the ribbon cable.
Connect the Serial->PS/2 adapter to the Serial connector.
3) Check what goes where:
Check the pin assignment of the PS/2 pins on the Mainboard. Plug the ribbon
connector to the pins and mark the corresponding holes on the ribbon
connector input end so you know where each pin goes and what it does.
Using a circuit indicator map the input holes of the ribbon connector to its
output pins.
With the circuit indicator map the input pins of the Serial
connector/adapter to its output pins. Make sure you know which pin does
what.
4) Build the thing:
So now you know what each mainboard pin does. You know where each of these
pins go on the ribbon connector. You know which input hole of the ribbon
connector goes to which output pin. Therefore you know what each output pin
does. You also know what each pin on your Serial->PS/2 adapter does. Now all
you have to do is solder wires from each of the ribbon connector output pins
to the corresponding adapter input pins.
5) Last checks:
For the last time use the circuit indicator to check whether each of your
construction's input holes (that's the side connected to the mainboard) is
connected to the correct corresponding output hole (on the side where you
connect a PS/2 mouse).
I hope that everything will work out. I'll report later whether it was a
success or whether I fried my system.
Wish me luck
Janbiel
