This is an IOCREST-brand USB to RS-232 serial adapter, which I bought from a seller on AliExpress. It arrived in exactly the same time as an identical eBay listing said it would, for literally half the price - if eBay is still your default go-to for weird stuff like this, keep in mind dropshippers are probably fleecing you.
This adapter contains an FTDI chipset, not the much cheaper CH340, and it's time to see if this is the reason I couldn't get serial mice working natively on Windows 10.
And, yep - with Windows 10 told to enable serial mouse detection on boot, all you need is the right kind of adapter installed and a serial mouse plugged in when you boot up. Here's the FTDI-derived one working with my Microsoft Home serial mouse - you can see the adapter blinking to say it's receiving data when I move it around. #retrocomputing
So, question: Can I get some suggestions for software / tips and tricks for recording and reviewing raw data coming off a serial port? I'm a very long way from trying to reverse-engineer a novel protocol myself, but that's the eventual goal, and the next step I'd like to take is compare what I'm seeing coming out of a serial mouse with documentation online to make sure I really understand what's going on and how all this works.
I wanted to see all of my recent illustrations in one place, but also make a nice index to the blog posts I write up, so I made this page... and added some info in case anyone wants a print or something.
@PixelBandits I mean, it being your favourite Sonic is an unusual call - mine is the full combined S3&K for sure - but Spinball definitely has its place in my heart too!
I think the platforming action was a bit unrefined and the flow frustrating at times, but it was a totally playable and cool concept with an incredible soundtrack (the tune from The Machine is in my top 5 MegaDrive tracks for sure).
@decryption I might be keen on this. My experience with cheap "pro" mics is "spend hours turning up every slider and dial you can find in software, then settle for straining your ears and filtering noise out of a still not quite loud enough recording"; if I plugged this thing into my PC would it actually work more than a millimetre away from my face without an expensive extra box in the mix?
If so, I could easily 3D print a mount for it and use it myself.
I saw an inexpensive listing on eBay for a Logitech Sensa mouse last month, so I jumped on it without really looking at it - and the result arrived this week. As far as I can tell, "Sensa" was a sub-brand of their at-the-time MouseMan models, with interesting external finishes - I've seen wood-grain, carbon fibre, and... whatever this thing is, Damascus Plastic? #retrocomputing
Unfortunately I think the coating on this one was at least partially rubberised, and it's just beginning to decay - it's not at all sticky, but it smells slightly sweet, the texture is starting to feel a bit powdery in places, and there's a couple of patches on top where it's starting to come apart - so this one won't be finding its way into regular use, but it still (to me at least) looks utterly beautiful! #retrocomputing
Fun language/free market convergence thing: A "right angle" is where two lines intersect at a 90 degree angle, and you can buy "right angle cables", where the plug at one end is rotated to point at a 90 degree angle away from the cable.
But what if you want a cable to go the other way? Well, in that case, you want to search for a "left angle" cable, and it'll point in the opposite direction to a typical "right angle" cable.
There also exist "up angle" and "down angle" adapters, like these.
I know this because the #FractalDesign Ridge, which claims compatibility with Noctua's NH-L12S cooler, actually doesn't have enough room for it with some boards, unless you buy a crazy adapter to move the cooler 7mm downslope. My PSU also put the power socket at an odd angle, so wrangling that to fit was tough. I also don't love Fractal's apparently random use of identical-looking #6-32 and M3 screws throughout... but when all's said and done, this is the most beautiful my PC has ever looked.
#Plasbeams photo box update: yeah, this didn't work quite as hoped. At over 2.5kg, this thing has a will of its own, and enough weight to pull the bearing hinge assemblies apart and turn the whole thing into an uncooperative plastic octopus.
I think with anchors that slide over the hinges at full extension, and a careful order of operations, this can still be assembled; more likely I will need to swap the hinges for static brackets, and find another method for breakdown and storage. #3DPrinting
@jacqueline ah, okay. Very cool to see the project coming to life in realtime though, and looking forward to putting gigs of VG music on mine when it arrives!