rasteri wrote on 2023-01-07, 19:01:

I'm sure there must be connectors somewhere that fit it.

I haven't found one so far. According to the spec sheet linked in the kicad footprint it should be a Powerdynamics PDI-9R-5. But I haven't found a place that sells it. The only part I found that somewhat matches is EDAC 624-009-361-033, mouser has a few. But only the signal pins should fit, not the holes for the boardlock. It's also $5, more common ones are around $1.

I tried to replace the footprint in the kidcad project here. Just tried to squeeze it in by moving a few capacitors and traces.

florian3 wrote on 2023-01-08, 04:30:

I tried to replace the footprint in the kidcad project here. Just tried to squeeze it in by moving a few capacitors and traces.

Nice one. Feel free to submit a PR.

There is one other change I need to make to the AXP version, DTR needs to be routed to the MAX232 instead of TXD. This is required for reset detection.

I can fake it for existing boards (by spamming "M" for a few seconds after RTS goes high) but I'd prefer to do it the "proper" way.

Eivind wrote on 2023-01-07, 18:00:

Any new firmware updates...? 😬

Been busy testing graphics cards on the Vortex86EX 😀

But seriously yeah very soon, I'm still debugging the serial protocol but hopefully I'll get that finished in the next couple days.

OK with the latest commit the serial port should work, it's been tested with ctmouse and Windows 98. Movement is a little jerky under some circumstances, mainly because of the much lower data rate and DPI of serial mice. I'll have to implement some sort of DPI scaling and/or movement filtering, but it's very usable for now.

Also the LED does something now 😀 Green by default but yellow when it detects USB activity. The LED brightness could use some adjusting still.

@Eivind, I've added some more info to the HID debug output. Any chance you could log your Kova plugging in again for me?

rasteri wrote on 2023-01-08, 23:21:

OK with the latest commit the serial port should work, it's been tested with ctmouse and Windows 98. Movement is a little jerky under some circumstances, mainly because of the much lower data rate and DPI of serial mice. I'll have to implement some sort of DPI scaling and/or movement filtering, but it's very usable for now.

Also the LED does something now 😀 Green by default but yellow when it detects USB activity. The LED brightness could use some adjusting still.

@Eivind, I've added some more info to the HID debug output. Any chance you could log your Kova plugging in again for me?

Aha you are emulating the serial mouse like a true ball mouse with dirt 😉

tabm0de wrote on 2023-01-09, 00:15:

Aha you are emulating the serial mouse like a true ball mouse with dirt 😉

Yeah haha even with the jerky movements it still feels much smoother in windows than any of the serial mice in my collection....

In DOOM there is noticeable jitter. It's still more than playable though.

rasteri wrote on 2023-01-08, 13:36:

There is one other change I need to make to the AXP version, DTR needs to be routed to the MAX232 instead of TXD. This is required for reset detection.
I can fake it for existing boards (by spamming "M" for a few seconds after RTS goes high) but I'd prefer to do it the "proper" way.

I tried the new software with my board and so far I couldn't get the serial mouse to work with my board. COMTEST.COM from ctmouse thinks a modem is connected.

florian3 wrote on 2023-01-11, 20:19:

I tried the new software with my board and so far I couldn't get the serial mouse to work with my board. COMTEST.COM from ctmouse thinks a modem is connected.

What PC are you using? Do other serial mice work on it?

I've only tested it on a couple of PCs so far but I'll try some more this weekend.

It's a Socket7 system, serial port on the board. The only serial mouse that I have works on that computer.
I'll have another look at the HIDman board that I built, maybe I messed something up. Can also try with a some other computers.

florian3 wrote on 2023-01-13, 14:57:

I'll have another look at the HIDman board that I built, maybe I messed something up. Can also try with a some other computers.

I've tried a bunch of computers of various ages, from an 8086-based Amstrad to a Quad-core Xeon, seems to work on them all. Although COMTEST detects a modem too.

Eivind wrote on 2023-01-07, 18:00:

Any new firmware updates...? 😬

Any chance you could get me an HID log dump of your Kova on the most recent firmware? EDIT : oops sorry I realised I already asked, there's no hurry.

rasteri wrote on 2023-01-17, 12:44:

Eivind wrote on 2023-01-07, 18:00:

Any new firmware updates...? 😬

Any chance you could get me an HID log dump of your Kova on the most recent firmware? EDIT : oops sorry I realised I already asked, there's no hurry.

Damn, I completely missed that last request of yours! 🙁
Sure thing, I'll do a round of testing and log dumping later tonight! 👍

rasteri wrote on 2023-01-17, 12:44:

florian3 wrote on 2023-01-13, 14:57:

I'll have another look at the HIDman board that I built, maybe I messed something up. Can also try with a some other computers.

I've tried a bunch of computers of various ages, from an 8086-based Amstrad to a Quad-core Xeon, seems to work on them all. Although COMTEST detects a modem too.

I tried it on a 486 and I got the same behavior as on my other computer. Do you maybe have a binary of the software that I could try on my board? Not 100% sure about the toolchain that I'm using, got some ICE at some point..

florian3 wrote on 2023-01-17, 23:51:

I tried it on a 486 and I got the same behavior as on my other computer. Do you maybe have a binary of the software that I could try on my board? Not 100% sure about the toolchain that I'm using, got some ICE at some point..

Oh sure, attached.

Just had another thought- what type of serial cable are you using? It should be a plain old extension cable, not a null modem or anything like that

@rasteri: Attached a log dump of unplugging and reattaching the Kova+ using firmware compiled from commit f25808e.

rasteri wrote on 2023-01-18, 00:12:

florian3 wrote on 2023-01-17, 23:51:

I tried it on a 486 and I got the same behavior as on my other computer. Do you maybe have a binary of the software that I could try on my board? Not 100% sure about the toolchain that I'm using, got some ICE at some point..

Oh sure, attached.

Just had another thought- what type of serial cable are you using? It should be a plain old extension cable, not a null modem or anything like that

Thanks, result is same as before.
The cable that I'm using should be a plain extension, at least my serial mouse connected through the extension works.

serisman wrote on 2022-12-24, 01:00:

rasteri wrote on 2022-12-24, 00:41:

serisman wrote on 2022-12-23, 20:58:

Now I'm wondering if an HIDman-micro using the smaller CH559T (SSOP-20) is in order. 😀 (would need to modify the pin configuration a bit)

All the PS/2 stuff is bit-banged so the choice of pin is arbitrary, it should be very doable.

That said the SSOP package isn't really much smaller than the QFP one...

Here's what I just came up with...

Drops support for the 2nd USB port, Serial mouse, RGB LED, and the extra (unused) KB/MS ports. But, should allow for a really small USB wireless KB/MS combo to PS/2 KB/MS.

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered and had some time today to put one together.

Good news is that (after some code modifications) it works great!

A build with a combo PS/2 KB/MS port is size comparable to (or slightly smaller than) just the port itself on a standard PS/2 cable!

I'll submit a Pull Request to @rasteri's main repository for the code changes, but in the meanwhile feel free to use my fork: https://github.com/serisman/hidman
You'll need to modify the Makefile to set BOARD_TYPE = BOARD_MICRO and optionally BOARD_OPTIONS = OPT_SWAP_KBD_MSC (make it easier to direct solder a combo port), or just use this command line:

1make BOARD_TYPE=BOARD_MICRO clean flash

serisman wrote on 2023-01-21, 03:46:

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered […]
Show full quote

serisman wrote on 2022-12-24, 01:00:

rasteri wrote on 2022-12-24, 00:41:

All the PS/2 stuff is bit-banged so the choice of pin is arbitrary, it should be very doable.

That said the SSOP package isn't really much smaller than the QFP one...

Here's what I just came up with...

Drops support for the 2nd USB port, Serial mouse, RGB LED, and the extra (unused) KB/MS ports. But, should allow for a really small USB wireless KB/MS combo to PS/2 KB/MS.

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered and had some time today to put one together.

Good news is that (after some code modifications) it works great!

A build with a combo PS/2 KB/MS port is size comparable to (or slightly smaller than) just the port itself on a standard PS/2 cable!

I'll submit a Pull Request to @rasteri's main repository for the code changes, but in the meanwhile feel free to use my fork: https://github.com/serisman/hidman
You'll need to modify the Makefile to set BOARD_TYPE = BOARD_MICRO and optionally BOARD_OPTIONS = OPT_SWAP_KBD_MSC (make it easier to direct solder a combo port), or just use this command line:

Copy code to clipboard

1make BOARD_TYPE=BOARD_MICRO clean flash

Damn thats nice, size way it is as big it could have been back in the days but probably with rf signal 😀

serisman wrote on 2023-01-21, 03:46:

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered […]
Show full quote

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered and had some time today to put one together.

Good news is that (after some code modifications) it works great!

A build with a combo PS/2 KB/MS port is size comparable to (or slightly smaller than) just the port itself on a standard PS/2 cable!

I'll submit a Pull Request to @rasteri's main repository for the code changes, but in the meanwhile feel free to use my fork: https://github.com/serisman/hidman
You'll need to modify the Makefile to set BOARD_TYPE = BOARD_MICRO and optionally BOARD_OPTIONS = OPT_SWAP_KBD_MSC (make it easier to direct solder a combo port), or just use this command line:

Copy code to clipboard

1make BOARD_TYPE=BOARD_MICRO clean flash

Awesome! I'll merge all the PRs when I get some time.

Great work.

serisman wrote on 2023-01-21, 03:46:

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered […]
Show full quote

serisman wrote on 2022-12-24, 01:00:

rasteri wrote on 2022-12-24, 00:41:

All the PS/2 stuff is bit-banged so the choice of pin is arbitrary, it should be very doable.

That said the SSOP package isn't really much smaller than the QFP one...

Here's what I just came up with...

Drops support for the 2nd USB port, Serial mouse, RGB LED, and the extra (unused) KB/MS ports. But, should allow for a really small USB wireless KB/MS combo to PS/2 KB/MS.

I finally got some CH559T ICs and HIDman-micro (https://github.com/serisman/HIDman-mini/tree/ … Bs/HIDman-micro) PCBs delivered and had some time today to put one together.

Good news is that (after some code modifications) it works great!

A build with a combo PS/2 KB/MS port is size comparable to (or slightly smaller than) just the port itself on a standard PS/2 cable!

I'll submit a Pull Request to @rasteri's main repository for the code changes, but in the meanwhile feel free to use my fork: https://github.com/serisman/hidman
You'll need to modify the Makefile to set BOARD_TYPE = BOARD_MICRO and optionally BOARD_OPTIONS = OPT_SWAP_KBD_MSC (make it easier to direct solder a combo port), or just use this command line:

Copy code to clipboard

1make BOARD_TYPE=BOARD_MICRO clean flash

You should make a mini serial version 😉

tabm0de wrote on 2023-01-23, 11:59:

You should make a mini serial version 😉

Powering a keyboard from the serial port would be non-trivial.