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OK, so I hooked my mouse up to a 25' PS/2 extension cable so I could press the mouse button to wake up my PVR PC from upstairs. When I have the mouse plugged into the PS/2 port directly, it wakes the PC and the mouse functions normally. When I use the 25' extension cable, the mouse is detected and according to the control panel settings is working correctly, but the mouse does not respond at all. Does anyone know what could be wrong?

h00ch Wrote:Does anyone know what could be wrong?

Not to be an ass here but I think you may have answered you own question.

h00ch Wrote:OK, so I hooked my mouse up to a 25' PS/2 extension cable

You have 25 feet of extension + 3 or 4 feet of cord on the mouse it self. That's almost 30ft. I'm not sure what the limit on a serial connection is but that's got be getting near the limit. The longest cord I could see online was 15 feet.

Why not try a cordless mouse?

I have to admit, I have to agree with A_Brass here but I commend you on a brave attempt. The chances are you're just getting too much loss over that length of cable.

A cordless setup may work depending on the model and distance - I know my Logitech MX Desktop keyboard and mouse work from my living room to my computer upstairs.

Cheers,
Brian

I bought the cable here: http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdep...204&style=

They sell PS/2 cables up to 50'.

I tried using a wireless USB mouse, but the PC would not wake-up using it. The PC only wakes using a PS/2 mouse.

My Logitech setup has PS/2 connectors from the wireless 'pod' for the keyboard and mouse.

Oh ya? I didn't realize wireless mice could be used with PS/2. I'll have to search around for one. Thanks.

BTW... I will need an RF type wireless mouse to be able to use the mouse on a different floor than the receiver, correct?

h00ch Wrote:BTW... I will need an RF type wireless mouse to be able to use the mouse on a different floor than the receiver, correct?

Yep.

It might be worth trying to borrow one to try - if your house is made of solid brick/stone or you have concrete floors etc. you might find the signal will just get blocked out. I have tried my keyboard in my Dining Room before and that is effectively through a couple of 8 inch solid 'London Brick' walls and a distance of about 15ft (point-to-point). That worked OK but when I moved another 5ft out to my kitchen the signal was lost (another 8 inch wall in between).

Shop around for PS/2 connections - I guess most stuff is USB these days. My rig is about 2 years old.

Cheers,
Brian

Thanks. I'll have a look at the mice at this store... nice and cheap. Would the mouse you have happen to be here?

http://www.factorydirect.ca/catalog/cate...p?cat=1730

I'm going from my main floor directly below to the basement. The only thing between the mouse and receiver would be carpet and plywood. Shouldn't be a problem.

h00ch Wrote:OK, so I hooked my mouse up to a 25' PS/2 extension cable so I could press the mouse button to wake up my PVR PC from upstairs. When I have the mouse plugged into the PS/2 port directly, it wakes the PC and the mouse functions normally. When I use the 25' extension cable, the mouse is detected and according to the control panel settings is working correctly, but the mouse does not respond at all. Does anyone know what could be wrong?

I would have thought that 25' with a PS/2 extension should work. I have used similar lengths is the past. But it could depend on the quality of the cable you are using or the motherboard itself and the signal strength output.

A good thing to try first (and inexpensive) is to make your own extension cable with RJ-12 connectors first and see if it works any better.

Have a look here:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sgi/faq/hardwar...on-55.html

i.e The "PS/2 compatible" keyboards and mice used on the Indigo II, Indy,
etc. do not accept simple extension cords as well as the older
keyboard/mice. We have successfully extended these keyboards & mice
up to about 100', but beyond 150' they never work. The problem lies
in the high-impedance TTL-level signaling used. Beyond this distance
you can use an extender box made by Cybex (205) 430-4000, which is
designed to extend the IBM PS/2 keyboard and mouse.

Our method for making keyboard/mouse extensions is to buy 6' IBM PS/2
keyboard extension cables (male 6-pin mini-din one end, female 6-pin
mini-din on the other), and cut the connectors off of these cables
leaving about a 6-12" pigtail on each connector. We then attach
RJ-12 connectors (IDC type modular phone connectors) to the free end
of each pigtail. We then extend the cable using flat 6-conductor
phone cable, RJ-12 connectors, and "barrel" adapters. This may sound
like a lot of work but it is very quick to assemble, and requires no
soldering.

Just an idea. I always prefer a simple solution first before trying something more complicated and expensive. I guess I get this attitude from designing electronic equipment years ago, when it came down to cost and functionality. Simple doesn't break as much.......

I bought the extension cable from http://www.monoprice.com. They have very good quality cable there. I originally tried using an old basic MS mouse with a ball & 2 buttons. I then tried a more recent (2 or 3 years old still) Logitech optical mouse. The strange thing with the optical mouse was that the red LED lit up just as bright as if it was plugged directly into the PC and it went bright then dimmed when moved around, but even still, the mouse pointer wouldn't budge. That mouse also showed up as connected & working in the Control Panel mouse settings.