Trying to convert PS/2 Port to USB 2

[daine]

So just yesterday, a friend of mine gave me his old Win 98 laptop for free. It's in fair condition--the backspace key doesn't work, you have to jam down on the Esc key occasionally so that Q, Tab, A, and Z will register, the battery doesn't hold a charge, but other than that, it's great.

I was using it for word processing--like most 98s, all it has is a floppy drive and a cd drive (no burner). I was hoping I could transfer files to my XP without a major hassle (the laptop doesn't have internet).

I found a little doohicky lying around the house. It has a female usb port on one end and a male PS/2 port on the other. There's only a couple listings for these things on the webbernet, I don't know if it has an actual name.

I was hoping I could stick a USB memory stick on one end of it and connect it to the laptop through that, but the usb stick isn't registering on the computer. It's an SE, and I already went through the trouble of installing all the USB drivers and whatnot.

So, any ways to fix this? After looking around on the internet, it seems like the doohicky was just meant to make some keyboards backwards-compatible. I don't know if it's even possible for it to work for a usb memory stick, or if there's just a driver out there I haven't seen yet.

Thanks for reading. :]

 

[strongm]

> I don't know if it's even possible for it to work for a usb memory stick

Not that I'm aware of

 

[G0AOZ]

I'd say the chances of this working are pretty much zero, sorry...

Does the laptop have a PCMCIA port? There are certainly PCMCIA cards that will offer USB ports, and also cards which will give you an RJ45 network connection, or even WiFi.

I have to say that I've had very little success with USB Flash drives on W98 machines, but the Ethernet (PCMCIA) and WiFi often works well. However, carefully check that drivers are included for W98.

The other thing I've done in the past (and still have in the workshop!) is an Ethernet device that plugs into the Parallel (printer) port. The one I have is a D-Link device DE-620TP which needs its own 12vdc PSU.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[edfair]

Suspicion that you have a USB mouse to PS2 mouse converter.

Also possible it is for a keyboard.

I use Xircom parallel to ethernet on an old 386 laptop when needed. I've also used PCMCIA ethernet adapters and PCMCIA wireless cards but current production may not have 98 drivers available.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[vacunita]

I would attempt to rewove the hard drive for the laptop, and stick it in a USB caddy. Converting it into an external usb drive. That way you can plug it into your XP machine and browse the files with ease.

http://www.xpcgear.com/notebookideusb.html

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[daine]

So the usb stick won't work, ok. Thanks for letting me know, everyone.

It does have a PCMCIA port, and from looking around, that seems like the best option. (Cheap, easy) The laptop's an SE, so a usb adapter should be enough--it's the 98 FE's that don't have usb capability. If I can't find a card with a driver, I might just go ethernet/wifi instead. I'll check around the store, I don't really have much of a preference as long as I can transfer files.

Taking out the hard drive sounds interesting, but that's a wee bit beyond my technical ability. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Thanks, everybody. Problem solved. :]

 

[xwb]

Note that something of that vintage, you need to look for a 16bit PCMCIA adapter: not cardbus (or 32bit PCMCIA).

I've yet to find PCMCIA USB adapters: only cardbus ones exist.

There are PCMCIA ethernet adapters as well as cardbus ones. PCMCIA has holes at the end, cardbus ones have a gold edge. All wifi cards are cardbus - they don't do them in PCMCIA.

Make sure you get the right type. If, by chance, you do find a PCMCIA USB adapter, please post the address of the distributor. I've been looking for one for the past 6 years.

 

[xwb]

You can transfer files through the parallel port. On W95/98 it is called DCC. On XP go to accessories, communications, new connection wizard and select the parallel port.

You will need a cable for transferring between the machines. It has to be wired like this

http://www.nullmodem.com/LapLink.htm