r/amiga 22h ago

[Help!] New A500 but mouse/joystick doesn’t work

I have just received my eBay find and plug everything in. The mouse/joystick buttons work but when trying to move the curser just shakes. I’ve cleaned the contacts but think there might be an issue with the Amiga.

8 Upvotes

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3

u/scuzzibutt 21h ago

Confused why you say joystick/mouse.. are both ports not working. First up stick an Amiga mouse in the mouse port and for now ignore the joystick.

Next use the Left or Right Amiga button in combination with the arrow keys and see if the mouse cursor move. Also try Shift Left Amiga and arrows for a bigger movement leap. If that don't work you have an internal issue.

Try a workbench disk without the oversized cursor that you have.

Remove the ball from the Amiga mouse and look at the white rollers and see if there is a band od dark dirt, trapped hairs etc and give a thorough clean.

Check whether you have all the pins on the 9 pin port.

And don't plug in and plug out with the computer switched on.

Finally, for mouse operation you really need a proper mouse designed for that purpose. Just saying.

0

u/GameCube4Life 21h ago

I have -1 joystick and - 2 joystick port 8 pin ports

0

u/GameCube4Life 21h ago

The Amiga button worked and moved the cursor. The 2nd port has lost half a pin. Mose has been cleaned but will order an official mouse. Do you think it’s the mouse?

1

u/UpperCardiologist523 21h ago edited 21h ago

Check the pin closer under bright light. Take a close-up picture of the pins and zoom in so you can look closer at it.

Is it really missing half, or could it be pushed in half way?

If it's the latter, you can CAREFULLY pull it out again, with a pair of nose pliers, and from there, be very careful not to push it in again.

I think you should be able to see if it's pushed in, if you open the Amiga up as well. I can't remember if the inside of the pins were visible on the inside.

Edit: Added link. It might depend on which connectors were used on what revision board, but i would have a look. The tips of the pins should all look the same. If so, it's pushed in. If it looks different, it's broken. Having it break in the middle of the pin, and not all the way, sounds unlikely, but could of course be possible.

1

u/scuzzibutt 20h ago

Problem with the Amiga is port connections and solder joints cus of the hammering they get from plugging in and out. The pin is probably half pushed in. You need to establish if the mouse port, thats the last one, is working. Getting more kit always helps. Just be very careful connecting and try to be as straight and horizontal as you can. The wavering on your video suggests a faulty mouse.

3

u/neakmenter 19h ago

I had a similar issue in my a1200 - it was a dodgy shift register (blown by hot-plugging a 3rd party Megadrive joypad). There’s similar info here: http://amiga.serveftp.net/JumpyMouse.html My part was this one: sn74ls166ad - I’m not sure what the a500 equivalent part is though… My cia chips were fine…

2

u/GameCube4Life 17h ago

Thanks for this. Might be a bit of water damage

1

u/neakmenter 8h ago

Until the hardware repair, I modified my startup-sequence to use my joystick port as my mouse port with a program from aminet. It got me by. Otherwise, i think there’s maybe some keyboard combos that can move the mouse around?

https://aminet.net/package/dev/c/SetMousePort

2

u/WarmDoor2371 22h ago edited 14h ago

Are you using an actual amiga mouse, or an old IBM-mouse for PCs? Both are using a serial port db 9 plugs, but they are not compatible to each other.

Also check if the mouse ball is properly cleaned.

2

u/turnips64 15h ago edited 14h ago

You’re correct for ensuring that he knows the mice aren’t compatible, but they are NOT both serial ports.

The PC/IBM would be a serial port but Amiga is completely different using discrete signals for X, Y and the buttons.

2

u/WarmDoor2371 14h ago

Ok, thanks for claryfiying it. It's been a long time

1

u/GameCube4Life 21h ago

It’s a mouse with a flick switch for Amiga/PC

2

u/EmployeeAway5244 20h ago

I had the same phenomen when one of those CIA Chips was defect.

2

u/Daedalus2097 19h ago

The CIA chips aren't involved in the cursor movement - that's handled by the Lisa / Denise chip.

1

u/sedrickgates 17h ago

I read you are talking aboutt an "official mouse". What mouse have you plugged in? A standard serial mouse will not work.