geekhack
geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: CreamyNutButter on Tue, 14 July 2009, 13:55:51
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I bought a Mouse-Trak B-5XXMP trackball from eBay. It is a PS/2 trackball and it works perfect in my other computer's PS/2 slot. I bought a PS/2 to USB adapter but when it is plugged in any usb port it says "USB Device not Recognized". I suspect that the adapter is faulty as it "is wholesale from China factory" and looks like a piece of crap. It is green, which would indicate that it is only for a mouse, but the seller claimed it will work with a mouse and keyboard. It pisses me off how it works perfect with PS/2 but not a USB port through an adapter.
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Sounds like a problem with that particular adapter to me. Check the wiki for some potential replacement candidates.
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I wish there was a way to get this adapter to work, because the cheapest good adapter costs $20 and the trackball only cost $10.
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What you have is very likely an adapter, and not a converter. An adapter just connects the appropriate pins, and only works with devices that are designed to be compatible with USB and PS/2. In those devices, the electronics determine whether it should be operating as USB or PS/2 when you plug it in.
Older PS/2 devices, however, can't speak USB, and need a converter, which translates the PS/2 protocol to USB.
If you payed less than $5 bucks, you undoubtedly have an adapter.
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What you have is very likely an adapter, and not a converter. An adapter just connects the appropriate pins, and only works with devices that are designed to be compatible with USB and PS/2. In those devices, the electronics determine whether it should be operating as USB or PS/2 when you plug it in.
Older PS/2 devices, however, can't speak USB, and need a converter, which translates the PS/2 protocol to USB.
If you payed less than $5 bucks, you undoubtedly have an adapter.
Yes, I found an actual converter cable that only costs a bit more, it is a Sabrent cable with an actual converter. This one was identical to one of the good ones on the wiki. The one I had was just a stupid plug changer.