Motherboard with no input ports

[Markoman01027]

Hey everybody ,


My uncle's computer does not have any USB ports, not even any PS/2 ports, but 1 serial port that he connects the keyboard to. But he is wondering, where he could connect the mouse to?

I checked Circuit City, and they only have USB cards that require you to have WIN 98 and up, but he has 95.

Anybody know any USB cards supporting 95? Any serial cards?

Thank you!

[andyms18a]

dose it not have a large ps/2 type port as most old mobos have them if not you will have problams with usb as win95 dont support it

[Cricket]

How old is the computer? Sounds like a AT form factor setup that uses separate dongles for the parallel and serial ports. You would connect a serial mouse to the serial port dongle.

Do you know what motherboard it is?

Cricket

[Markoman01027]

I am pretty sure it is the AT Form Factor. Next time I am at his house, I am going to write down the make and model of the motherboard.

I know it has no PS/2 Ports, I believe it only has 1 Serial port, and that port is being used by the keyboard, so he has no way of using the mouse.

I was thinkin of upgrading the PC to WIN98SE and then installing a USB card. But I am not sure if the hardware that he has on his system will support 98SE.

Next time I am at his house, I am going to try to get as much information as I can about his computer.

Thanks for the help guys!

[GaryRouth]

Matt -

If you can find one, take an old AT keyboard along with you. [Remember those? with the larger round connector & the 5 pins in a "C" shape] . . . then he can use the serial port for the mouse. [I haven't even heard of a keyboard that connects to a serial port, but then many things have passed me by unnoticed! ] . . . another thing you could bring along with you, if you can find one, is the little cable that goes from those old motherboards to the back of the case & ends with a serial connector on the case end. Most AT motherboards had pin headers for at least 2 serial ports. And they're usually labelled (tiny silkscreened letters on the circuit board - but usually legible with a magnifying glass). If it turns out he has an extra serial header on board that's not being used, you could probably just add the cable on to provide the extra port (you'd probably have to enable it in the Bios)

If it's that era board, I'd stay with Win95. If he needs USB, you could go to a later version with USB support. [He might have the USB headers right there on his motherboard, too - they started showing up long before anyone really used them much]

I like working on those oldiies, there are so many old surprises that I've forgotten about (like old VESA local bus cards, and such)
. . . Gary

[bailey]

if you would upgrade to w98se you could then add a usb pci card into it and then have some usb ports

[Markoman01027]

Bailey, that is true, but I am not sure if his hardware meets the requirements for 98SE.

[jeresimo]

USB is not for Win 95, but surely Win 98 will install to a computer with a previous Win 95 OS. My old P11 with AT PCChips Mobo that runs Win 95 before even installed a Win XP Pro without any problem.

[Markoman01027]

Thanks. Gonna load up 98SE this week for him then :-P.