--------------------------------- Copyright ---------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1993 by Michael Lee Finney. All rights reserved. --------------------------------- Trademarks --------------------------------- Many names used in this document are trademarked. I apologize for the omission of any trademark which I have used and failed to mention as trademarked. If notified, I will gladly place the appropriate notice in the next revision of this file. The trademarks of which I am aware are... Trademark ...................Owner................... Altra Altra Felix Altra IBM International Business Machines Corporation Inport Microsoft Corporation Logitech Logitech Microsoft Microsoft Corporation Mouseman Logitech OS/2 International Business Machines Corporation PC Mouse MSC Technologies PS/2 International Business Machines Corporation Trackman Logitech WIN-OS/2 International Business Machines Corporation Windows Microsoft Corporation --------------------------------- Shareware ---------------------------------- This program is shareware. If you find this program useful you must register your copy. To register a private copy, send $15.00 (US funds) for each copy to: Michael Lee Finney 114 Old Wiggington Road Lynchburg, Va. 24502-4669 Please make remittance payable to: Michael Lee Finney, and include your company name (for a corporate license), name, address and phone number. I would also appreciate the options used for your particular mouse. This information will allow me to better tune the options in the next release and possibly provide an installation program. The registration cost for corporate site licenses is... 1..4 copies -- $25 each 5..10 copies -- $20 each 11..20 copies -- $15 each 21..40 copies -- $10 each 41... copies -- $5 each These prices are accumulative, so the first four copies cost $25 each, the next six cost $20 each, and so on. Thus, for example, a corporate license for 23 copies would cost... 4 @ $25 ... $100 6 @ $20 ... $120 10 @ $15 ... $150 3 @ $10 ... $60 ------ $430 To obtain the latest version of this program when you register, send $10 for shipping and handling to the above address. This $10 does NOT apply to the registration cost and only one copy will be sent regardless of the number of copies registered (the author is NOT in the business of diskette duplication). However, the $10 is a flat fee and not a per registered copy charge. If you send me $25 without indicating that a private license with requested diskette or a commercial license without a requested diskette is desired, I will take my cue from the method of payment and request -- namely a check that appears to be a company check or the use of a company letterhead or the mention of a company name will be assumed to indicate a commercial registration whereas a private check and a simple note without the mention of any company will be assumed to be a private registration with a request for a diskette. Note: Registration is not required for beta releases of this program. However, the license to use the beta release expires when the corresponding general availability release is issued and with this release the license to use all previous beta releases has expired. ---------------------------------- License ----------------------------------- Unregistered users (personal or corporate) are permitted to use this program for a trial period of one month. By the end of this period you must either register the program or remove it from your system(s). Registered users are permitted to use this program on one system at a time and may make as many archived copies for backup purposes as needed. It may be used on multiple systems (for a single license) only under the condition that only one of the systems is in use at a time. Since this program is an operating system device driver, the assumption is that it is in continual use when the system in use. Therefore a registered copy is required for each system on which this program is used simultaneously. Registered users are entitled to support. If after registration a program error is found, the author will make every attempt possible to repair the program. If the failure cannot be repaired and makes the product unusable the author will refund the registration fee. Otherwise, registered users are eligible for the "bug" reward (see details below). Additionally, registered users will also be sent notices of new versions of this program, and of other shareware releases by the author. In particular a registered beta user will be notified of the general availability release. Your name will NOT be sold to a mailing list. This program is not intentionally crippled in any manner, therefore a new copy of the program will NOT be sent when the program is registered unless explicitly requested. Note: The license to use previous beta releases has expired with this release of the general availability version of this software. ---------------------------------- Contents ---------------------------------- The distribution file RODNT100.ZIP contains the following files... LICENSE.DOC - Licensing information ORDER.DOC - Ordering information RELEASE.DOC - Release information README.1ST - Quick installation hints RODENT.DOC - This file RODENT.SYS - Mouse driver RODENT.EXE - Presentation Manager test program BUSS.DDP - Device driver installation file CALCMP2X.DDP - Device driver installation file CALCMP3X.DDP - Device driver installation file CALCMP9X.DDP - Device driver installation file CALCMPWZ.DDP - Device driver installation file FELIX.DDP - Device driver installation file INPORT.DDP - Device driver installation file LOGITECH.DDP - Device driver installation file MSOFT.DDP - Device driver installation file MSYSTEMS.DDP - Device driver installation file PS2.DDP - Device driver installation file SGRAPH.DDP - Device driver installation file If this device driver is placed on a bulletin board, all files must be distributed -- preferably in the original RODNT100.ZIP file. ---------------------------------- Summary ----------------------------------- RODENT.SYS is a mouse driver which supports most mice. It provides three button support. The advantages of RODENT.SYS over the IBM mouse drivers (assuming that they even work for your mouse) are... 1. Up to 7 buttons are supported. 2. The mouse buttons can be arbitrarily reassigned (reordered). 3. The middle button on most 3 button mouse can be programmed as a chord of the left and right buttons. 4. The interrupt handlers have been carefully tuned resulting in a lower system load (compared to the IBM mouse drivers) when the mouse is active. 5. The FIFO buffer of an 16550AFN or 16552 can be enabled, further lowering the system load under the appropriate conditions. 6. More serial mice are supported using more protocols than the IBM mouse drivers support. Some digitizer tablets are supported. All mice supported by the IBM mouse drivers are supported. 7. Auto-detects the type of mouse, where possible. 8. Auto-detects the number of mouse buttons, where possible. 9. Auto-detects the type of uart (for serial mice). 10. Supports additional baud rates over the basic 1200 provided by the IBM mouse drivers. Baud rates of 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 and 19200 are supported for those mice which allow the baud rate to be set. 11. Supports additional reporting rates over the default provided by the IBM mouse drivers. Reporting rates of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 and 200 are supported for those mice which allow the reporting rate to be set. 12. Any 8250 compatible uart can be used at any port address and any irq. The IBM drivers only support COM1..COM2. 13. Should not "lose" the mouse during a reboot via Ctrl-Alt-Del. 14. Mouse deinstalls correctly on ABIOS systems (a bug in some of the IBM mouse drivers). 15. Low battery detection for serial Logitech radio mice is provided during system boot. 16. The actual mouse resolution can be specified. 17. The mouse sensitivity can be increased or reduced by a factor of 1, 2, 4 or 8. This is useful for very low or high resolution mice and for handicapped individuals who have problems with fine motor control. ---------------------------------- Support ----------------------------------- This is a shareware product. Support is only available to registered users. The registration cost is only $15 so PLEASE register if you find this product useful. Problems can be reported via email (in order of preference at: IBM NTS: Mike Finney Compuserve: 71573,1075 Genie: M.FINNEY Commercial usage of the Internet is prohibited so it may not be used to provide general support. However, I will respond to a personal note from any source whatsoever including an Internet email message. Please refrain from using the Internet for support issues unless you have no alternative. My Internet email addresses are: Internet: 71573.1075@COMPUSERVE.COM Internet: M.FINNEY@GENIE.GEIS.COM Note: Delays and/or failures in sending/receiving messages via this address have been reported. If you send a message and fail to get a response please try again, possibly with another address. I respond to EVERY message, but have had one or two returned and without a repost have no way to deliver my response. and by U.S. Mail at: Michael Lee Finney 114 Old Wiggington Road Lynchburg, Va. 24502-4669 Please include all pertinent information regarding the problem, including hardware configuration, operating system release and corrective service level. Include your name, address, email address, phone number, etc. so that I can contact you. Please include time zone, and the best hours to reach you by phone and the hours you would rather NOT be reached by phone (shareware authors aren't permitted to sleep). However, a binary copy of another mouse driver is useless (several people have actually sent me one). I will attempt to resolve any reported problems. However, if the problem is caused by a hardware incompatibility then resolution may be difficult if I am unable to locate equivalent hardware. I will work with you as far as possible. I am willing to support incompatible mice, but I must be able to get the necessary hardware. If you have such a mouse send me a note with a return address or phone number and I will work with you. ----------------------------------- Reward ----------------------------------- In order to promote software quality, and as an assurance of the existing software quality of this product, a reward of 25% of the registration fee with a minimum of $5.00 and maximum of $25.00 is offered to any registered user for each report of a previously unknown program error. RULES: 1. The reward is only offered to registered users who have not requested a refund (however, I will accept bug reports from any user). 2. The maximum reward paid to a single user is limited to twice the registration cost paid by the user (if you register 10 copies then your maximum possible reward is greater than if you register 1 copy). 3. I am the final arbiter with regards to precedence between users reporting the same program error. 4. I am the final arbiter in determining that a reported program error does, in fact, exist. 5. Failure to support incompatible hardware is NOT considered an error. I cannot be responsible for every device some twisted hardware designer creates (even IBM cannot do that). However, I will work with users to resolve any problem to the best of my ability. To date, all but one reported problem (for the beta release) has fallen into this category. 6. This reward is not offered for beta releases and experimental features. 7. The reward is only offered to end users. A distributor that purchases copies for their users is NOT considered an end user. A company that purchases copies for their internal use IS considered an end user. -------------------------------- Installation -------------------------------- This mouse driver is an OS/2 2.x device driver ONLY, it does NOT function under OS/2 1.x or under any version of DOS, Windows or Unix. It is not possible to install this driver under OS/2 1.x, DOS, Windows or Unix. Installing RODENT.SYS during OS/2 installation: 1. Unzip RODNT100.ZIP and copy the files to the root directory on a diskette prior to installing OS/2 (unless using a diskette received from the author, in which case this step has been done for you). 2. Proceed with installing OS/2. 3. At the "Select Mouse" screen, select "No pointing device support". This prevents OS/2 from placing incorrect statements in CONFIG.SYS during installation. 4. At the "Advanced Options" screen, select "Install Device Support Diskette". 5. At the "OS/2 2.1 Device Driver Installation" screen, place the diskette from step 1 into the diskette drive and select "Install". 6. At the "Select Device Drivers" screen, select the appropriate mouse driver (down arrow to change current highlighted entry and space bar to select the current highlighted entry). Press to move to the "Ok" button and then press . OS/2 will copy RODENT.SYS into the \OS2 directory and update your CONFIG.SYS file. It will then present the "OS/2 2.1 Device Driver Installation" screen again because you might have other device drivers. If so, install them now. After all of your device drivers have been installed use the right arrow to select "Exit" and press . At the "Exit the Program" dialog, select "Yes". OS/2 will then present you with a message that your system configuration has been changed. Press to continue with the installation of OS/2. 7. At the "Advanced Options" screen, press to continue. You may now complete the installation of OS/2. Warning: OS/2 will add the statements to CONFIG.SYS in the incorrect order. If you have installed a serial mouse you may need to edit your CONFIG.SYS file before your mouse can be used. The mouse statements in your CONFIG.SYS file must occur in the following order... DEVICE=...POINTDD.SYS... DEVICE=...RODENT.SYS... DEVICE=...MOUSE.SYS... DEVICE=...VMOUSE.SYS... DEVICE=...COM.SYS... DEVICE=...VCOM.SYS... If this is the case, then when OS/2 is rebooted it may tell you that it failed to install some or all of RODENT.SYS, MOUSE.SYS and VMOUSE.SYS. Press to continue booting OS/2, start an editor (the system editor is always available) and change the CONFIG.SYS file so that the mouse statements are in the correct order. This should be done when installing a serial mouse even if OS/2 boots without error messages to avoid conflicts with the mouse driver and the serial port driver. Installing RODENT.SYS after OS/2 installation: The file RODENT.SYS should be copied to a directory of your choice -- the C:\OS2 directory is the usual choice, but any directory can be used. If OS/2 does not support your mouse at all then remember that the mouse will not function correctly until RODENT.SYS has been installed. It is necessary to modify the CONFIG.SYS files to contain the following lines... DEVICE=x:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=x:\path\RODENT.SYS [options...] DEVICE=x:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=x:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS and any other existing lines relating to the mouse driver should be removed. These lines should be placed in the order given and for serial mice must precede the "DEVICE=...COM.SYS..." line. For example, assuming that OS/2 is located on the C: drive and that RODENT.SYS has been placed in the C:\OS2 directory: DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS or: DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS BAUD=19200 BUFFERED DPI=400 DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS or: DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS PORT=73D8 IRQ=11 BAUD=2400 BUFFERED MOUSE=C PROTOCOL=MM BUTTONS=2 DPI=300 DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS The first DEVICE line in the last example is longer than 80 characters. In most cases an installation similar to the first two examples would be used. If you have multiple mice attached to your system, then you may need to specify the mouse type or the serial port for the desired mouse. Only one mouse can be used at a time. Lines in your CONFIG.SYS which are mouse related are... DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\VISION.SYS... DEVICE=C:\OS2\PCLOGIC.SYS... DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS... DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS... all such lines should be removed and replaced as shown above. There may be other mouse related lines for different releases of OS/2 and where mouse vendors have provided an OS/2 mouse driver. Further, the statements in CONFIG.SYS should occur in the following order... DEVICE=...POINTDD.SYS... DEVICE=...RODENT.SYS... DEVICE=...MOUSE.SYS... DEVICE=...VMOUSE.SYS... DEVICE=...COM.SYS... DEVICE=...VCOM.SYS... failure to observe this ordering may result in failure of the mouse to load properly or of the serial ports to operate correctly. This mouse driver has been tested under OS/2 2.0 GA, 2.0 GA+SP, 2.1 March beta and 2.1 GA. It has been tested on a 50Mhz 486DX AT-clone and on an IBM PS/2 model 70 (25Mhz 386). The following mice have been tested... CalComp Wiz digitizer CalComp DrawingPad digitizer Felix mouse Honeywell Mouse Keen Mouse Logitech C9 Mouse Logitech First Mouse (serial) Logitech MouseMan Cordless Mouse (serial) Logitech MouseMan Mouse (buss) Logitech TrackMan Mouse (serial -- Mouse Systems compatible) Microsoft Mouse (Inport buss) Microsoft Mouse (serial) SummaSketch III Only these mice have been tested by the author with this mouse driver. However, the driver is MUCH more capable because special provisions have been made to support "partially" compatible mice and most common mice use one of the available support protocols. In some cases a mouse might function with the driver, but require some of the more exotic options (see the option list below). For example, you could have a mouse which recognized most of the protocols associated with a Logitech type C mouse, but could not be automagically recognized. In this case you would use the CONFIG.SYS entries: DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS COM=1 MOUSE=C DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS (assuming the mouse is attached to COM1) which forces the mouse driver to accept the mouse as a Logitech type C mouse, but avoids the recognition check used for the type C mice. However, all programming codes are still sent to the mouse. Or as a more severe example, you could have a mouse which supports the Mouse System's 5B communication protocol (default with Mouse System's mice) but nothing else works. In that case you would use the CONFIG.SYS entries: DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS COM=1 MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=5B DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS which forces the mouse driver to use the correct communication protocol, but with NO attempt made at sending programming codes to the mouse. The mouse must default to the appropriate state to use the specified protocol. Many mice can be setup this way, however other mice either cannot be automagically recognized or intrinsically REQUIRE programming. ------------------------- Known Setup Configurations ------------------------- Felix mouse Honeywell Mouse (as shipped) Keen Mouse (switch in MS mode, provides two buttons) Logitech C7 Mouse (serial) Logitech C9 Mouse (serial or buss) Logitech First Mouse (serial -- model: M-MD15L-9F) Logitech MouseMan Cordless Mouse (serial -- model: M-RA12) Logitech MouseMan Mouse (buss -- model: M-PD13-9MD) Logitech TrackMan Mouse (serial -- models: T-CA1- and T-CA1-9F) Microsoft Mouse (serial or Inport buss) PS/2 port mice DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT\RODENT.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS Honeywell Mouse (with jumper J3 cut) Keen Mouse (switch in PC mode, provides three buttons) Mouse Systems PC Mouse III DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS COM=# MOUSE=MS DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS CalComp Wiz and 2x00 digitizers DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=DW DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS CalComp 3300 (and newer) digitizers DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=D3 DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS CalComp 9x00 digitizers DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=D9 DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS Summagraphics digitizers DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=SG DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=RODENT$ DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS ----------------------------------- Hints ------------------------------------ Absolute pointing device: When using the Felix mouse, or any other absolute positioning device whose maximum resolution is less than the screen dimensions the mouse pointer will not traverse every screen point. For example, on a 640x480 screen and an absolute device that has 320 points, only every other horizontal screen point can be pointed at using the mouse cursor. This does not cause a problem for most applications. However, when attempting to size a window it may not be possible to "grab" the window's border. There are two ways to alleviate this problem: first, change the default border width using the Scheme Palette and second use the window menu to select the "resize" option. After the window has been resized once using the mouse there will be no future difficulties unless the screen resolution or the mouse resolution is subsequently changed. Button ordering: When using a digitizer or mouse whose buttons aren't arranged in a good default order, use the ORDER option to rearrange the buttons. If the button order (i.e. right hand vs left hand) option has been changed using the Presentation Manager mouse setup options the button ordering is not maintained correctly for all sessions, and may even reorder the wrong buttons. Do not use the PM mouse setup option for button ordering. Use the "ORDER=..." option for RODENT.SYS instead. This allows button reordering to apply to EVERY session and is independent of PM. CalComp DrawingPad I have seen one occasion that the DrawingPad reversed the vertical direction (down became up and vice-versa). Admittedly, this WAS after plugging in the wrong power supply (but operating with the correct supply). Powering down the system and rebooting corrected the problem. Clone mice: Many of these mice (the Honeywell and Keen mice, for example) emulate Microsoft mice and Mouse System's mice. However, frequently these mice have three buttons and when emulating Microsoft mice only allow the outermost two buttons to be used. Sometimes the middle button may produce a chord click (the Honeywell mouse, for example) or may simply ignore the middle button (the Keen mouse, for example). RODENT.SYS cannot do anything about this situation because that is a mouse hardware limitation. However, when emulating Mouse System's mice all three buttons work properly. This is the recommended mode for such mice. This mode can frequently be selected by a slide switch. The Honeywell mouse requires disassembly of the mouse and cutting jumper J3 (see the note below about Honeywell mice). COM4 Installation: There's a problem in VVGA.SYS and VSVGA.SYS that can kill COM4 when you enter (or exit) a DOS full-screen session, even if that session isn't using that port. The drivers which handle that screen switching, mistakenly think that there's an 8514/A video card also in the system. and write to two registers on that card. Of course, if you really DO have an 8514/A or S3-based video card then you CAN'T use COM4 at 0x02E8 for this very reason. You can patch VVGA.SYS and VSVGA.SYS to eliminate the problem; look for the MOV DX,4AE8 instruction and NOP out the next two OUT DX,AL instructions which write to 0x4AE8 and 0x4AE9 (which map to 0x02E8 and 0x02E9 on most com boards). This appears to be fixed in the March beta of OS/2 2.1 and in the GA release of OS/2 2.1. Thanks to Jens Schlatter for relaying this information from Bill Hinkle. DOS session support: All DOS support is provided by the IBM virtual mouse driver VMOUSE.SYS. If you do not have DOS support, i.e. your CONFIG.SYS contains the line: PROTECTONLY=YES then none of the lines: DEVICE=...VMOUSE.SYS... DEVICE=...VCOM.SYS... should be included in your CONFIG.SYS file. DOS Virtual Machine support: When booting a version of DOS in a virtual machine (VMB) then a native mouse driver should NOT be used, but instead use the "stub" driver that OS/2 provides. This driver is called MOUSE.COM and is located in the OS2\MDOS directory. It can be loaded in your AUTOEXEC.BAT if you so desire. Dual boot or boot manager: The Logitech type C mice frequently use the MM protocol when in DOS and so the option "PROTOCOL=MM" may be necessary. This allows OS/2 to use the same protocol as used under DOS so the mouse won't be lost when switching between DOS and OS/2. In general, if using dual boot or boot manager and the mouse uses a particular protocol under DOS the appropriate option may need to be used under OS/2 to allow switching without losing the mouse. However, under normal circumstances programmable mice such as the Logitech type C mice are reset by RODENT.SYS to avoid such problems. But (see the note below for Logitech mice) there are some older type C mice which appear to have initialization problems. Felix mouse: When this mouse is first powered on, it is necessary to move the mouse stick to each edge of the mouse for the hardware to correctly recognize the range of motion for the mouse stick. If the mouse stick is moved to one side and the cursor stops partway across the screen then this resetting action needs to be performed. The Felix mouse is an absolute pointing device which has lower resolution than the screen. Therefore it cannot point to every pixel on the screen. Normally this is not a problem. See the hints section for more information on how to handle this situation. Honeywell mice: These mice emulate Microsoft mice, but the middle button generates a chord click. However, they can also emulate Mouse System's mice if jumper J3 is cut. This requires disassembly of the mouse. Please call Honeywell at 800/445-6939 to obtain instructions for making this modification. I take no responsibility for any such hardware modification. Please note that any hardware alteration may affect your warranty. Honeywell is releasing a mouse with a slide switch to overcome this problem 4Q '93. Call Honeywell for availability and pricing. Hot plugging: Unplugging the mouse and then plugging it back in while the system is active is not supported in this release. This is normally not a problem unless you are using a mouse switcher between multiple systems. However, many protocols have no problem with this because they automatically resynchronize. Usually the mouse must be present for the mouse driver to load, however using the "MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=xx" options (where xx is the desired protocol may allow OS/2 to be booted without the mouse being present. The mouse must default to the specified protocol or must be attached to a computer which sets the protocol properly when booted. PS/2 port mice disable themselves when unplugged and replugged so they may not be used in this type of application. IBM 8516 Touch Screen This is not supported. IBM has a special driver for this device, see the OS/2 documentation for installation instructions. IBM PS/2 mice: Some IBM PS/2 mice with a black roller ball have hardware problems. IBM's recommendation for these mice is to replace them with IBM PS/2 mice with a gray roller ball (or any OTHER mouse for that matter). Keyboard operation of OS/2: When installing RODENT.SYS, especially if experimenting with different features make sure that you have an editor easily accessible from the desktop and make sure that you know the various keyboard commands needed to navigate the desktop during times that the system is booted without mouse support. Some keyboard commands that are especially useful are... + Move to the next window or Use to highlight an object in a window or option in a menu Use to select the highlighted object + F O Use to open a file once the system editor (E.EXE) has been started + F S Use to save a file once altered when using the system editor + Use to close a window (for example the system editor) + + Use to select the desktop + "\" Use to deselect all objects on the desktop once the desktop has been selected + Use to pop-up the desktop menu that contains the shutdown option Note: these last three commands are usually used in order to shutdown OS/2 when the mouse is not available. Logitech mice: There are some older Logitech mice which seem to have initialization problems. These mice typically hang up or completely refuse to install. Using the "UART=..." option and possibly the "MOUSE=C" or the "MOUSE=*" and "PROTOCOL=5B" options may help. If the mouse installs but hangs up and unplugging the mouse and then plugging it back in makes the mouse come "alive" then try the above options. Microsoft PS/2 mice: Microsoft PS/2 mice are not fully compatible with IBM PS/2 mice and Logitech PS/2 mice. This causes some difficulties in the interrupt handler because the protocol is dependent upon the number of physical buttons. If using any three button PS/2 mouse with the options: PORT=0060 IRQ=12 MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=PS BUTTONS=2 then the middle button will not be recognized. However, this problem does not exist when using any of: ...\RODENT.SYS ...\RODENT.SYS BUTTONS=2 ...\RODENT.SYS BUTTONS=3 ...\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=PS ...\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=PS BUTTONS=2 ...\RODENT.SYS MOUSE=PS BUTTONS=3 because these allow the actual number of physical buttons to be determined. Also, the option: ...\RODENT.SYS PORT=0060 IRQ=12 MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=PS BUTTONS=3 can be used as well because it correctly specified the number of physical buttons. There are no problems when using two button PS/2 mice. Mouse sensitivity: When the mouse is too sensitive or too slow, use the RESPONSE option to change the mouse responsiveness. Remember that the BAUD and RATE options interact with the RESPONSE option. If the reporting frequency is increased then the average distance moved by the mouse between reports is smaller. Since there is a gradual acceleration threshold to allow pixel by pixel control at slow speeds this means that the mouse must be moved faster before acceleration becomes effective. Conversely reducing the reporting frequency will effectively make the mouse more "active" because the acceleration threshold is more likely to be reached. If the mouse sensitivity has been changed using the Presentation Manager mouse setup options it may be found that the sensitivity in other sessions is not appropriate. Use the "RESPONSE=..." option for RODENT.SYS instead. This allows the mouse sensitivity to apply to EVERY session and is independent of PM. Also the Presentation Manager acceleration occurs in addition to the acceleration provided by RODENT.SYS. Multiple mice: While multiple mice may be present in your computer system, only one mouse can be used at a time. The mouse to be used is selected when OS/2 is booted and cannot be changed without rebooting OS/2. When searching for a mouse, RODENT.SYS uses the search order: Inport mice Buss mice PS/2 mice Serial mice Logitech type C mice Microsoft compatible mice (also Logitech type M, MW, V or VW mice) Felix mice Mouse System mice (MOUSE=MS required) CalComp 3300 and newer digitizers (MOUSE=D3 required) CalComp 9x00 digitizers (MOUSE=D9 required) CalComp 2x00 and WIZ digitizers (MOUSE=DW required) SummaGraphics digitizers (MOUSE=SG required) Therefore Buss mice, Inport mice and PS/2 mice are recognized before serial mice. If you have one of these mice in your system but also have a serial mouse attached you can force only serial mice to be recognized by using the "MOUSE=S" option. You can also force a particular mouse to be recognized by using the appropriate "MOUSE=xx" option. You can prevent recognition of any mouse by using the "MOUSE=*" option with the appropriate "PROTOCOL=xx" option. PS/2 Installation: Some PS/2 systems will require you to tell the hardware that you have "no mouse" when installing a serial mouse instead of a PS/2 mouse. PS/2 mice: Some motherboards have incompatible keyboard/mouse controllers. Normally an 8042 chip is used, but some clones have used the 8242. PS/2 mice will not function on such systems. RODENT.SYS not found Check the drive and path used in your CONFIG.SYS file. RODENT.SYS not installed Check the options used for RODENT.SYS in your CONFIG.SYS file. Serial port support: If you are using a serial mouse and only have a single serial port then none of the lines: DEVICE=...COM.SYS... DEVICE=...VCOM.SYS... should be placed in your CONFIG.SYS file. Summagraphics digitizers This release does not support changing the puck while OS/2 is running. Shutdown OS/2, power off the digitizer, change the puck and then reboot the system. SummaSketch III If the SummaSketch III is attached to a PS/2 model 70 and is powered on before the model 70 then the model 70 may signal a hardware failure during the power on hardware check. This is a hardware issue and cannot be alleviated by RODENT.SYS because the problem occurs before RODENT.SYS is loaded into memory. To alleviate this problem simply power up the SummaSketch III after the model 70 has completed its hardware checks. VMOUSE.SYS not installed, but RODENT.SYS and MOUSE.SYS installed This is frequently due to the failure to specify either the COM option or the PORT and IRQ options when using MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=xx. This generally happens when RODENT.SYS installed but the mouse is not actually present. This can happen for mice which cannot be checked and when checking is disabled. ---------------------------------- Testing ----------------------------------- After booting OS/2 preliminary testing can be accomplished simply by moving the mouse and making sure that the mouse cursor follows the movement of the mouse. Execute RODENT.EXE to further test this device driver. This test program will display a Presentation Manager window. It will display the number of buttons as perceived by OS/2 and the mouse resolution as perceived by OS/2. Further, if you click the mouse buttons, the associated OS/2 mouse event is displayed. The most recent mouse event is flagged by an asterisk. If the mouse pointer follows mouse movement correctly and all buttons operate correctly then you will probably not have any trouble with the mouse driver. Other signs of trouble might be consistently missing mouse events (such as clicks) or events occurring without any associated physical mouse action. When evaluating missing or extra events reasonable care should be taken. It has been observed that occasionally OS/2 will "lose" a mouse click during rapid mouse activity -- this is related to the fact that OS/2 only maintains a small mouse event queue to avoid "piling" up an extremely large number of events. Sometimes losing a button release has the appearance of additional clicks if an application auto-repeats while a mouse button is pressed. The loss, by OS/2, of mouse events is VERY rare except under very heavy mouse activity. However, it appears to be slightly more common when using higher baud rates because the internal OS/2 queue is more likely to overflow. This has been seen using the Logitech radio mouse at 9600 baud. Also this loss might not actually be the fault of OS/2, but is occurring in the applications instead (actually more probable). Nevertheless, this behavior has sometimes been seen, both with these mouse drivers AND with the OS/2 mouse drivers. It has been seen most often using Logitech's radio mouse and Microsoft's PWB in a full screen session. Sometimes if this happens when scrolling releasing the mouse button will not stop the scrolling. Simply click the mouse button again to stop scrolling. This is a low-level mouse driver. OS/2 handles all of the higher level functions, including routing mouse events to DOS sessions, OS/2 sessions, PM sessions, WIN-OS2 sessions and VMB sessions. OS/2 reports all mouse events (in the appropriate form) to the currently active session. Therefore DOS sessions CAN take advantage of all three buttons. Since this mouse driver is not involved in these actions, failure of OS/2 in that manner is probably not caused by this device driver. Note: The resolution reported by OS/2 is in "mickeys per centimeter". Therefore, the dots per inch provided to the device driver is divided by 2.54 and rounded when reporting to OS/2. This device driver reports the closest value possible. For example, 400 dpi reports as 157 mickeys. Since the value reported to OS/2 is a fixed point number, the result if multiplied by 2.54 is only 399 (after rounding) instead of the original 400. ---------------------------------- Options ----------------------------------- BAUD=# This option allows the baud rate to be specified. It may be one of 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 or 19200 All mice do not support all baud rates. To use the lowest baud rate supported by the mouse specify: BAUD=150 and to use the highest baud rate supported by the mouse specify: BAUD=19200. The lowest baud rate which gives good performance should be used to reduce system load. If this option is not specified then it defaults to a value determined by the protocol in use. Each protocol has a default baud rate based on the default mouse baud rate. If a baud rate is specified which is not supported by the protocol the highest baud rate which is less than the specified baud rate will be used, if any, and otherwise the lowest baud rate which is higher than the specified baud rate will be used. BUFFERED This option enables the FIFO buffer if a 16550 uart is detected. The FIFO buffer is NOT enabled by default because some 16550 uarts do not function correctly. All 16550AFN uarts should function correctly, if you have a 16550, 16550A or 16550AF uart then it should be replaced by a 16550AFN uart. RODENT.SYS will function correctly if the uart is not replaced, but this option can only be used with a 16550AFN or equivalent uart (such as 16c552 or 16c554). BUTTONS=# This option indicates the number of buttons to be supported. Many protocols support both 2 button and 3 button mice. This option may be specified as: BUTTONS=2 BUTTONS=3 If BUTTONS=3 is specified for a 2 button mouse the mouse driver will function normally, but will report to OS/2 that there are two buttons if RODENT.SYS can obtain the number of buttons from the mouse and will otherwise report to OS/2 that there are three buttons. However, events for the third button will simply never occur. If BUTTONS=3 is specified for a 3 button mouse (the default) then all three buttons will be returned to OS/2. OS/2 treats clicking any two or three) mouse buttons together as a "chord" click. It also handles single or double clicks and single click and drag from all three buttons. If BUTTONS=2 is specified for a 3 button mouse then the mouse driver will convert a press of the middle button into a press of both left and right buttons. This means that clicking the middle button is equivalent to a "chord" click. However, if PROTOCOL=MI is specified for a three button mouse (the default is PROTOCOL=MP) this cannot be done because the Microsoft-compatible 2 button protocol is not aware of events for the middle button. In this case the middle button will simply be ignored. The included PM test program will report the number of mouse buttons as seen by OS/2. COM=# This option allows the serial port to explicitly specified. This option may be specified as: COM=1 COM=2 COM=3 COM=4 where 1..4 is one of the standard com ports. So, COM=1 is normally equivalent to: PORT=03f8 IRQ=4 If both this option and the PORT option are omitted then the mouse driver will scan COM1..COM4 (in order) to find the mouse. This procedure works and is reasonably reliable, however it is impossible to completely restore the uart state so automatic scanning could potentially cause problems with other devices attached to serial ports. This mouse driver will restore more of the serial port state than the IBM mouse drivers. Specifying either this option or the PORT option also reduces the time required to initialize the mouse driver -- by as much as a couple of seconds. This option can ONLY be specified for serial mice. It is recommended that either this option or the PORT and IRQ options be used for all serial mice. When the MOUSE option is used either this option or the PORT and IRQ options may be necessary. DPI=# This option allows the mouse resolution to be specified. This must be in the range 100..640 (inclusive). The default is approximately DPI=200 (actually the default is 80 mickeys per centimeter). Most newer mice are higher resolution (and even some of the older mice). The C9 Logitech Buss Mouse has a resolution of 320 dpi and the newer Logitech mice have a resolution of 400 dpi. The value used should be the HARDWARE resolution, many DOS mouse drivers allow the resolution to be "set" in the software -- this does not affect the actual mouse events but only their reporting by the DOS mouse driver. This value is reported to OS/2, but at this time, OS/2 does not appear to make a significant use of the value due to a bug in MOUSE.SYS. The included test program will report the value as set by RODENT.SYS and as seen by OS/2 (but which is ignored by MOUSE.SYS). IRQ=# This option allows the interrupt number to explicitly specified. Any interrupt from 2..15 may be used, unlike the IBM drivers which are restricted to interrupts 2..7. If omitted, the interrupt level to be used will be determined from the port address. This procedure is only reliable for the standard COM1 and COM2 port addresses 3f8 and 2f8. It may work for COM3 and COM4 (depending on the actual port addresses). The IBM mouse driver has the same (undocumented) problem, but does not provide a mechanism to specify the interrupt number. MARGIN=# This option allows the margin on an absolute pointing device to be specified. The default is MARGIN=0 since some digitizer tablets have a hardware margin. Units are in terms of the device resolution. Most digitizers are programmed for 1000lpi so MARGIN=500 gives a half inch margin on each side of the tablet. When the cursor is in the margin area button presses will be recognized and the mouse cursor will move in two dimensions but will be "pegged" to the appropriate side and so will not move in that dimension. Use of a margin prevents a "cliff" effect. The hardware margins provided by some devices will ONLY recognize button presses. MOUSE=xx This option allows the mouse type to be specified. This is useful to reduce the time required to load the mouse driver, or if the mouse used responds correctly but the mouse type cannot be auto-determined. If an mouse type is specified that fails to match the hardware in use then the mouse driver may or may not load, and if loads may fail to operate properly. This option may be specified as: MOUSE=B Buss mouse, can be two button or three button. Note that an Inport mouse is NOT the same as a buss mouse. Protocols: BS default: BS Rate: 30, 60 note: set by hardware jumper MOUSE=C Logitech Mouse System's compatible mouse. DOS mouse drivers frequently operate this mouse using the MM protocol. When using dual boot or Boot Manager it may be desirable to use the MM protocol. Protocols: 5B, MM, RE default: 5B better: MM Baud Rate: 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600 default: 1200 MOUSE=D3 CalComp 3300 and newer digitizers -- this is an "absolute" pointing device. Each point on the digitizer table corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. This is similar to "touch" screens in operation. This feature can be awkward to those not used to it, but may be preferred by those who use a digitizer tablet on a regular basis. This option is required for these digitizers, they cannot be automagically recognized. Protocols: HA, HR default: HA Baud Rate: 150, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 default: 9600 Note: This type mouse cannot be automagically recognized, so this parameter is required for such mice. CalComp has many different styli and pucks available so the use of the ORDER option is almost essential. For the 4-button puck arranged in a diamond, ORDER=2143 is recommended. For the styli with a tip and double-action button, the default of ORDER=123 has the tip has the "left" button. This is much more subject to personal preference so no recommendation will be made. There are many other pucks available from CalComp and trial and error is the only guide to the best ordering for those. MOUSE=D9 CalComp 9x00 digitizers -- this is an "absolute" pointing device. Each point on the digitizer table corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. This is similar to "touch" screens in operation. This feature can be awkward to those not used to it, but may be preferred by those who use a digitizer tablet on a regular basis. The 9x00 digitizers are older products which do not support full software initialization. These tablets MUST be set for 9600 baud. The 9100 model tablets must have the hardware switches configured for format 5. If reconfigured by other applications the tablet must be reset before this driver will function. This option is required for these digitizers, they cannot be automagically recognized. Protocols: HA, HR default: HA Baud Rate: 9600 default: 9600 Note: This type mouse cannot be automagically recognized, so this parameter is required for such mice. CalComp has many different styli and pucks available so the use of the ORDER option is almost essential. MOUSE=DW CalComp WIZ and 2x00 digitizers -- these are "absolute" pointing devices. Each point on the digitizer table corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. This is similar to "touch" screens in operation. This feature can be awkward to those not used to it, but may be preferred by those who use a digitizer tablet on a regular basis. The WIZ and 2x00 digitizers are older products which do not support full software initialization. These tablets MUST be set for 9600 baud. If reconfigured by other applications the tablet must be reset to 9600 baud before this driver will function. This option is required for these digitizers, they cannot be automagically recognized. Protocols: HA, HR default: HA Baud Rate: 9600 default: 9600 Note: This type mouse cannot be automagically recognized, so this parameter is required for such mice. CalComp has many different styli and pucks available so the use of the ORDER option is almost essential. For the 4-button puck arranged in a row, ORDER=1234 is recommended. MOUSE=FX Altra's Felix mouse. This is an "absolute" pointing device. Each position of the mouse "handle" corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. Protocols: FA, FR default: FA Baud Rate: 9600 default: 9600 Note: This type of mouse allows different baud rates to be set but the commands used are inconsistent between different mice with the same internal version number depending on the cystal used during manufacture of the mouse. Since this mouse can function in "delta" mode only the hardware default baud rate is allowed because this can be set consistently. MOUSE=I Inport buss mouse, can be two button or three button. Note that an Inport mouse is NOT the same as a buss mouse. Protocols: IN default: IN Rate: 30, 50, 100, 200 default: 100 MOUSE=M Microsoft compatible serial 2 button mouse, non-programmable Protocols: MI default: MI Baud Rate: 1200 default: 1200 MOUSE=MS Mouse System's compatible serial 3 button mouse Protocols: 5B default: 5B Baud Rate: 1200 default: 1200 Note: This type mouse cannot be automagically recognized, so this parameter is required for such mice. MOUSE=MW Logitech's Microsoft/Mouse System compatible serial 2 button mouse Protocols: MI, MP, 5B default: MP Baud Rate: 1200, 9600 default: 1200 MOUSE=PS PS/2 port compatible mouse Protocols: PS Rate: 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 200 default: 100 MOUSE=S This causes RODENT.SYS to only check for serial mice. Any other mice are ignored. This could be useful if a buss mouse interface is present, but the mouse itself is not present. This option is supplied because some motherboards and video adapters have a buss or Inport mouse interface built-in which should be ignored. MOUSE=SG Summagraphics digitizers -- this is an "absolute" pointing device. Each point on the digitizer table corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. This is similar to "touch" screens in operation. This feature can be awkward to those not used to it, but may be preferred by those who use a digitizer tablet on a regular basis. This option is required for these digitizers, they cannot be automagically recognized. Protocols: MA, MM, MR default: MA Baud Rate: 9600 default: 9600 Note: This type mouse cannot be automagically recognized, so this parameter is required for such mice. Further, if the stylus is used then "ORDER=132" is recommended as well. If the 16-button puck is used then "ORDER=213" is recommended. The default "ORDER=123" is suggested for the 4-button puck. MOUSE=V Logitech compatible serial 3 button mouse, non-programmable. If the MI protocol is used then the middle mouse button cannot be programmed as a chord. Protocols: MI, MP default: MP Baud Rate: 1200 default: 1200 MOUSE=VW Logitech's Microsoft/Mouse System compatible serial 3 button mouse Protocols: MI, MP, 5B default: MP Baud Rate: 1200, 9600 default: 1200 MOUSE=* Unknown mouse. This option would be used when the mouse is known to communicate with a given protocol, but the mouse type cannot be recognized and the mouse cannot be programmed. In all cases, the PROTOCOL=xx and either COM=# or PORT=# IRQ=# must also be present. This is NOT checked for and failure to provide these options will prevent the mouse from being properly initialized. In some cases it can also cause the system to lockup requiring a reboot. If an absolute protocol is in use then the X=# and Y=# options must also be used. ORDER=# This option specifies the button ordering. The default button ordering is usually adequate for all mice. However, digitizer pucks tend to be inconsistent between logical button numbering and physical button placement and this option is almost always required for a digitizer. Further, while OS/2 allows the left and right buttons to be swapped for left hand users, it doesn't do so correctly for three button mice and the swapping does not function at all for DOS and OS/2 full screen sessions. Trailing digits may be omitted if they are in order. At least one digit must be specified. This mouse driver supports from 2 to 7 physical buttons. Any buttons above button 7 will be ignored. This option may be specified as: ORDER=1234567 where each digit is the button to be used for the corresponding button position. Omitted digit positions which be assigned their position index. It is an error to specify the same button twice, or to fail to specify a button. Thus: ORDER=1 ORDER=12 ORDER=123 ORDER=1234 ORDER=12345 ORDER=123456 ORDER=1234567 all result in the default button ordering. But: ORDER=122 ORDER=124 are both errors. And: ORDER=7654321 reverses the button ordering. So button 1 will be treated the same as button 7, button 2 the same as button 6, and so on. The most common button orderings for mice are: ORDER=321 which reverses the left and right buttons, leaving the middle button unaffected. Also: ORDER=132 which reverses the middle and right buttons. Thus OS/2 button 1 is physical button 1, OS/2 button 2 is physical button 2 and OS/2 button 3 is physical button 3. One useful ordering for some digitizer pucks arranged in a "diamond" ordering is: ORDER=2143 For mice, the left mouse button is always physical button 1, the right mouse button always physical button 3 and the middle mouse button (if present) is always physical button 2. The general button assignment strategy for two button mice is... Button 1 -- OS/2 button 1 (left button down) Button 2 -- OS/2 button 1+2 (all buttons down) Button 3 -- OS/2 button 2 (right button down) Button 4 -- OS/2 button 1+2 (all buttons down) Button 5 -- OS/2 button 1+2 (all buttons down) Button 6 -- OS/2 button 1+2 (all buttons down) Button 7 -- OS/2 button 1+2 (all buttons down) Notice that for two button mice no more than 3 buttons can be profitably used for OS/2. The general button assignment strategy for three button mice is... Button 1 -- OS/2 button 1 (left button down) Button 2 -- OS/2 button 3 (middle button down) Button 3 -- OS/2 button 2 (right button down) Button 4 -- OS/2 button 1+2 chord (left + right buttons down) Button 5 -- OS/2 button 1+3 chord (left + middle buttons down) Button 6 -- OS/2 button 2+3 chord (middle + right buttons down) Button 7 -- OS/2 button 1+2+3 chord (all buttons down) While different chord clicks are generated, OS/2 recognizes all multiple button presses as a chord click so any program that wishes to distinguish between chord clicks must examine the primitive button event messages. Notice that for three button mice no more than 7 buttons can be profitably used for OS/2. Also, many digitizer pucks have the limitation that only one button can be pressed at a time and there are both mice and digitizer pucks which have buttons hard-wired to generate chord clicks of other buttons and where multiple presses of buttons may result in the appearance of some other button being pressed. These problems cannot be resolved by this driver, but the ORDER option can allow the best setup for a particular mouse or puck. To obtain the best ordering some experimentation may be necessary. PRESSURE=# This option is only effective for digitizer pens which are pressure sensitive. This option sets the pressure threshold at which a pen tip recognizes a button press. The pressure must be in the range of 1 to 255 inclusive. The default, and value recommended by CalComp for their pressure pens is 4. PORT=# This option allows the serial port address to explicitly specified, and may be specified as: PORT=xxxx where "xxxx" is the hex address of the port to be used. If the COM option is also specified, this option takes precedence. Any serial port which is compatible with the 8250 uart may be used. This mouse driver is not restricted to COM1..COM2, unlike the IBM mouse drivers. If both this option and the COM option are omitted then the mouse driver will scan COM1..COM4 (in order) to find the mouse. This procedure works and is reasonably reliable, however it is impossible to completely restore the uart state so automatic scanning could potentially cause problems with other devices attached to serial ports. This mouse driver will restore more of the serial port state than the IBM mouse drivers. Specifying this option also reduces the time required to initialize the mouse driver -- by as much as a couple of seconds. PROTOCOL=xx This option allows the communications protocol to be specified. This is useful to select a non-default protocol and when using the MOUSE=* option. If the mouse type is known and an unsupported protocol is selected the default protocol for that mouse type will be used. This option may be specified as: PROTOCOL=3B Three byte binary protocol -- this is an experimental protocol which MAY work with some older mice. If used then MOUSE=* must also be used. This protocol will work instead of the 5B protocol but the mouse will "slip". It also supports either a 2 button or 3 button mouse. Since this is an experimental protocol, the reward does NOT apply to its use. PROTOCOL=5B Five byte binary protocol. It is the default for Mouse System's compatible mice. This protocol supports either a 2 button or 3 button mouse. PROTOCOL=BS Buss mouse protocol, supports either 2 or 3 buttons. This protocol is used for buss mice. Normally using MOUSE=B is preferred to this option, but MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=BS is allowed. PROTOCOL=FA Felix mouse protocol. This is an "absolute" protocol, i.e. each position of the mouse corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. PROTOCOL=FR Felix mouse protocol. PROTOCOL=HA CalComp high resolution binary digitizer protocol, supports either the 4 button puck (which may actually have 6 buttons, but two of the buttons are hardware-wired as chords of the remaining buttons) or the 16 button puck. Pens are also supported, but obtaining a "chord" click can be difficult if the middle button is not programmed to generate a chord. Pressure pens may also have difficultly generating a double click for the tip. OS/2 only supports three buttons so extra buttons are mapped to chord clicks. This protocol is normally used with digitizers. This is an "absolute" protocol, i.e. each position on the digitizer tablet corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. PROTOCOL=HR CalComp high resolution binary digitizer protocol, supports either the 4 button puck (which may actually have 6 buttons, but two of the buttons are hardware-wired as chords of the remaining buttons) or the 16 button puck. Pens are also supported, but obtaining a "chord" click can be difficult if the middle button is not programmed to generate a chord. Pressure pens may also have difficultly generating a double click for the tip. OS/2 only supports three buttons so extra buttons are mapped to chord clicks. This protocol is normally used with digitizers. PROTOCOL=IN Inport buss mouse protocol, supports either 2 or 3 buttons. This protocol is used for Inport buss mice. Normally using MOUSE=I is preferred to this option, but MOUSE=* PROTOCOL=IN is allowed. PROTOCOL=MA Summagraphics digitizer protocol. OS/2 only supports three buttons so extra buttons are mapped to chord clicks. This protocol is normally used with digitizers. This is an "absolute" protocol, i.e. each position on the digitizer tablet corresponds exactly to a point on the screen. PROTOCOL=MI Microsoft compatible 2 button protocol. Can be used with a 3 button mouse, but completely ignores the middle button. PROTOCOL=MM Mouse System's compatible protocol, supports either 2 or 3 buttons. Also available on Summagraphics digitizer tablets. PROTOCOL=MP Extension to MI protocol which supports either 2 or 3 buttons. If only two buttons are present the MI protocol is more efficient. PROTOCOL=MR Summagraphics digitizer protocol. OS/2 only supports three buttons so extra buttons are mapped to chord clicks. This protocol is normally used with digitizers. PROTOCOL=RE Relative Bit Pad One protocol, supports either 2 or 3 buttons. PROTOCOL=PS PS/2 port protocol, supports either 2 or 3 buttons. RATE=# This option allows the reporting rate to be specified for those mice which accept this option (currently only Inport mice and PS/2 mice). It may be one of: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 or 200 All mice do not support all reporting rates. To use the lowest reporting rate supported by the mouse specify: RATE=10 and to use the highest reporting rate supported by the mouse specify: RATE=200. The lowest reporting rate which gives good performance should be used to reduce system load. If this option is not specified then it defaults to a value determined by the protocol in use. Each protocol has a default reporting rate based on the default mouse reporting rate. If a reporting rate is specified which is not supported by the protocol the highest baud rate which is less than the specified rate will be used, if any, and otherwise the lowest rate which is higher than the specified rate will be used. For some mice the reporting rate is set via hardware jumper. RESPONSE=# This option specifies a divisor to increase or reduce the mouse responsiveness. If omitted it defaults to 0. It may be specified as: RESPONSE=-8 RESPONSE=-4 RESPONSE=-2 RESPONSE=-1 RESPONSE=0 RESPONSE=1 RESPONSE=2 RESPONSE=4 RESPONSE=8 and only these values may be used. If the value is negative then the responsiveness will be reduced by the given factor, and if positive increased by the given factor. If zero then there will be no change. Since increasing or decreasing the responsiveness by a factor of one has no effect these values are equivalent to zero. This can be useful for very low or very high resolution mice (some digitizers are 1000 dpi which is FAR too sensitive for most people). Further, if a user has difficultly holding the mouse steady (such as Parkinson's victims) this allows the mouse to ignore small movements. Caution: with this option it is possible to slowly move the mouse without moving the mouse cursor at all. This effect does NOT happen for RESPONSE=-1 or any non-negative value and would be most noticeable for RESPONSE=-8. Thus, RESPONSE=-8 would effectively make a 200 dpi mouse into a 25 dpi mouse. As for the ORDER option, OS/2 DOES provide a mouse sensitivity control, but that control is not effective for DOS or OS/2 full screen sessions and frequently the available range is insufficient. This option does not have effect on absolute protocols since those protocols map mouse positions directly to screen positions. UART=# This option allows the uart type to be specified. It may be specified as... UART=8250 UART=16450 UART=16550 UART=16550A UART=16552 If this option is omitted, the uart type will be determined by testing the uart. All uart testing will be skipped if this option is present. This option is provided because some mice are sensitive to testing for the uart type. This sensitivity is very rare and probably also depends on the design of the serial port. This option should not be specified unless RODENT.SYS fails to work properly. The symptoms of the only known occurrence of this problem was that RODENT.SYS would load but the mouse pointer would not move. If this option is specified then either the COM option or the PORT and IRQ options must also be specified. X=[#..]# This option specifies the active horizontal range for a digitizer tablet. It may be specified as: X=# X=#..# In the first case, the active range is assumed to be 0..#-1 and in the second case the active range is #1..#2-1. Thus, X=7500 would result in an active range of 0 to 7499, inclusive. And X=500..7000 would result in an active range of 500 to 6999, inclusive. If "..#" is present, spaces may NOT surround "..". However, spaces MAY surround "=" as in all other options. This option is only necessary when it is not possible to determine the digitizer size automatically or when it is not desired to use the entire digitizer surface as the active mouse area. This option can be used to create nonsymmetrical margins. Normally the MARGIN parameter is used to specify symmetrical margins. The MARGIN value is added to the minimum and subtracted from the maximum horizontal range. However, if the digitizer tablet's physically active area was X=0..7500 then specifying X=1000..4000 would give a left (or right) margin of 1000 and a right (or left) margin of 3500 (some tablets may physically reverse left and right). Y=[#..]# This option specifies the active vertical range for a digitizer tablet. It may be specified as: Y=# Y=#..# In the first case, the active range is assumed to be 0..#-1 and in the second case the active range is #1..#2-1. Thus, Y=7500 would result in an active range of 0 to 7499, inclusive. And Y=500..7000 would result in an active range of 500 to 6999, inclusive. If "..#" is present, spaces may NOT surround "..". However, spaces MAY surround "=" as in all other options. This option is only necessary when it is not possible to determine the digitizer size automatically or when it is not desired to use the entire digitizer surface as the active mouse area. This option can be used to create nonsymmetrical margins. Normally the MARGIN parameter is used to specify symmetrical margins. The MARGIN value is added to the minimum and subtracted from the maximum horizontal range. However, if the digitizer tablet's physically active area was Y=0..7500 then specifying Y=1000..4000 would give a bottom (or top) margin of 1000 and a top (or bottom) margin of 3500 (some tablets may physically reverse up and down). -------------------------------- Testimonials -------------------------------- RODENT.SYS (with a Logitech at 400 DPI) is a real pleasure to use. Due to a bad SIMM for the last few days I have gone from 20Megs RAM to 4Megs. 2.1 is limping, no, crawling along, but is very visibly more responsive than with the IBM driver. You may quote me. -- Allen Koppelman --------------------------------- What's New --------------------------------- Release ..Date.. ..........................Changes.......................... 1.00 93/07/12 First general availability release. Support added for PS/2 mice, Inport mice, Felix mice, Summagraphics digitizers and CalComp digitizers. Many new PROTOCOL options added. The PORT, IRQ, RESPONSE, ORDER, UART, RATE, X, Y, MARGIN and PRESSURE options were added. The COM option was split into the COM and PORT/IRQ options to allow a consistent format for each option. The MOUSE=X option was replaced by the MOUSE=* option to avoid a conflict with the X option. Initialization error fixed which caused the ordering of statements in CONFIG.SYS to be important for systems using Lan Server or NetWare. Uart testing affected some sensitive mice. This was not a bug but caused some sensitive (older) mice to lock up. The uart testing was changed to reduce the chances of this problem and the UART option was added to assist with these mice by completely avoiding uart testing. 0.90 93/04/07 Beta of initial release with digitizer support disabled. -------------------------------- Coming Soon --------------------------------- No explicit plans have been made at this time. However, some new features under consideration are... An installation program (sending in the options you use will facilitate this feature by providing the necessary information) A Presentation Manager program to allow changing options "on the fly" Possible support for more than three mouse buttons to "kick off" a program or for a button to automatically generate a single or double click (these features might require a Presentation Manager program to be active at all times) Support for additional mice Better "hot plug" support However, none of these new features will be possible unless RODENT.SYS is used by a sufficient number of people who register their copies. So PLEASE register! If you have features you would like to see please send in your suggestions when you register (or at any time, for that matter). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------