Situation: Having bought a USB/9-pin-serial graphics tablet through eBay, I find that Windows 95, even with OSR2, offers doody support for USB. So, I can still connect it via my serial port, no problem, right? Well, considering that I have a serial mouse, yes problem.
I’ve been looking for a y-adapter or hub switch for the serial port for most of the day online and can’t seem to find anything. Is this a case of near-obsolete technology being ignored by the industry? Does anyone know anywhere online or off that I can find the piece of electronica in question?
Okay…I’m only a little more knowledgeable about computers than the average person, and I admit that. So can anyone explain this?
I just examined the alleged serial connector on the graphics pad mentioned above and also my computer’s serial port (wherein which is the abovementioned mouse). The serial connector on the tablet has 3 rows of pins, and the USB adapter end into which it goes has three rows of holes. My serial port has two rows of holes, and my serial mouse has two rows of pins. This appears, to me, to present irreconcilable differences as to connectivity.
Are there two different kinds of serial ports? Was there any possible way for me to know that this tablet was not compatible with the kind on my computer? Can someone explain this jungle of connectors to me, please?
Or should I just swallow my wallet and upgrade to Win2K? Can I even run Win2K on a 233-MHz Cyrix machine with 42MB of RAM?
I don’t think you can buy a Serial port splitter. I’m also not sure how Win2K would solve your problem (although it would offer better USB support).
However, if you have a spare USB port, you can buy a USB mouse. If you don’t have a spare USB port, you can buy a USB hub and a USB mouse… Not necessarily a cheap solution.
Before you go out and do any of this, though, I suggest you find the answer to your “will it run on my machine” question. Is there any way you can run the tablet without needing a mouse?
No, you cannot split a single serial port. That’s why it’s called “serial”, one send line, one receive line, one communication channel to one device.
Serial ports come in several flavors, the more popular (among pcs) are DB-9 and DB-25, named by the number of pins on the plug. But I think that they are both 2-rows of pins (don’t have a db-25 in front of me). You can go to your local computer store and buy an adapter that will convert any kind of serial connecter to any other kind. (Radio shack, if you must.)
Seriously consider finding a used copy of Windows 98 SE. 2k is too expensive for a “messing around at home” machine, and 98 and ME are/were betas that got released. But SE is actually a very good step up from 95. And then you’ll have USB support.
There also may be downloadable patches from MS that allow you to run USB under 95, but your mileage will very.