[Staff][Alpha] Emerson - TI-83+ Keyboard/Mouse

Timendus · Post by **Timendus** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 3:47 pm

benryves wrote:Buying those as plugs or sockets (in stereo) is rather difficult, as well... nobody seems to stock them. Stereo 3.5mm minijacks? No problem. Mono 2.5mm minijacks? No problem. Stereo 2.5mm minijacks is a no-go area, though

Yes, exactely. And an added it problem is that the Ti-83 has a connector that falls back in the casing, so anything you want to stick into it can't have a thick handle. So when I finally found a place that sold 2.5mm stereo minijacks, they didn't fit in

Post by **benryves** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 3:59 pm

Timendus wrote:
benryves wrote:Buying those as plugs or sockets (in stereo) is rather difficult, as well... nobody seems to stock them. Stereo 3.5mm minijacks? No problem. Mono 2.5mm minijacks? No problem. Stereo 2.5mm minijacks is a no-go area, though
Yes, exactely. And an added it problem is that the Ti-83 has a connector that falls back in the casing, so anything you want to stick into it can't have a thick handle. So when I finally found a place that sold 2.5mm stereo minijacks, they didn't fit in

This is why my video shows a 3.5mm to 2.5mm stereo adapter - I used a 3.5mm plug on the mouse.

Not that the adapter fitted into the TI until I'd used a pencil sharpener to take it down to size first.

Timendus · Post by **Timendus** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 4:09 pm

I tried that too

But it had only a small cover of plastic, and metal inside, so that didn't work either. I have a few of plugs like these lying around (the stereo version):

This is looking pretty good, though:
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=010-10344-00

Post by **benryves** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 4:17 pm

Timendus wrote:

Sometimes you can file that metal disk down, but sadly on some the screw thread is just as wide as that ring and you end up destroying the screw as well.

I use these, useful as there's a Maplin shop near me so I can just go and pick them up rather than having to order them (and they're 99p in the shop).

Timendus · Post by **Timendus** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 5:30 pm

Woot, I modded the 2.5mm jack, and connected it to a 3.5mm female, so now I have my own homebrewn adapter

I'll try modding the USB to PS/2 converter next...

DJ_O · Post by **DJ_O** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 5:39 pm

That look cool, I am kinda more interested by a mouse tho, would be cool to play point and click games on calc

Post by **benryves** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 5:40 pm

Timendus wrote:Woot, I modded the 2.5mm jack, and connected it to a 3.5mm female, so now I have my own homebrewn adapter

I'll try modding the USB to PS/2 converter next...

Cool

How many people will show this level of dedication, though? That's another problem.

Post by **benryves** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 5:44 pm

xlibman wrote:That look cool, I am kinda more interested by a mouse tho, would be cool to play point and click games on calc

The mouse is also rather easier to handle, as it doesn't need to accomodate multibyte scancodes or internationalisation. A mouse is much more predictable

Timendus · Post by **Timendus** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 5:51 pm

benryves wrote:How many people will show this level of dedication, though? That's another problem.

That's a big problem indeed. But on the other hand, most people can make a calc<>PC link cable, and that is much more complex than this.

I found an old PS/2 mouse and keyboard that both should still work. On the downside, I can't find my USB>PS/2 adapter, and I also just realized that it would be much better if I could get a female PS/2 connector, to which I could connect both the mouse and the keyboard easily. I have an old PC at my parent's place that I could rip one out. I'll give that a try this weekend, if I have the time because I have a lot of plans for the weekend...

I'll ask around to see if anyone can miss a connector in my flat, but I don't expect to find much. How do you connect your hardware? Have you stripped the cable from the connector?

Edit: Oh, and Ben, if you want to spread mouse/keyboard compatibility in more ways than just the API, you should come pull some strings over here, it's not a shell, but it's close enough

Post by **benryves** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 6:05 pm

Timendus wrote:How do you connect your hardware? Have you stripped the cable from the connector?

On my keyboard, I unscrewed it, stripped the wires on the control board and twisted on half of an old calc->calc cable's wires.

The mouse had one of those cables that plugs onto the circuit board with a white plastic block onto four pins that stick up. I removed it, then wrapped the wires from the lead that goes to the TI around these pins.
I've ordered some parts and tools from Rapid Electronics so I can actually put together proper circuit boards for this

Timendus · Post by **Timendus** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 6:08 pm

Ah, cross-edit... see above

You use a Nokia adapter as a power supply? Good idea

Post by **benryves** » Wed 22 Feb, 2006 6:14 pm

Timendus wrote:You use a Nokia adapter as a power supply? Good idea

Mine is rated at 3.6v, so enough to initialise the mouse but not enough for the mouse to send back movement packets (bizarre).
This plus a 9V battery is a far better plan

KermMartian · Post by **KermMartian** » Fri 24 Feb, 2006 12:41 am

Since you got the mouse working and I already have a mouse in Doors CS 5 and support for SEs, this is definitely getting ported.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Fri 24 Feb, 2006 1:31 am

That would be cool, but I hope you will not only make it using the mouse (ie let the user use the keypad on the calc).

DJ_O · Post by **DJ_O** » Fri 24 Feb, 2006 2:07 am

indeed ppl should be able to use both