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Using The AMIGA Without A Mouse Connected.
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Did you know that you can still use the pointer with the mouse DISCONNECTED?
Well, this all stemmed from a young man that my daughter knows who owns, yes
present tense, an AMIGA A500 but the mouse is missing. This young man is the
same person as the one described in the Magazine Issue 44 & 46. He was the
sole reason that set my 'Criteria' for my TestGear projects and other
uploads.
Although the vast majority of you already know this information, people who
obtain AMIGAs from so-called 'Car Boot Sales' don't always get the full kit.
Often these 'purchases' lack certain important bits and pieces and often
one of the bits is the mouse, hence this article. See below...
I have had serious flak from the AMIGA community in the past for uploading
this information to AMINET and when they found out the reason why I uploaded
this info' SOME apologised. OTHERS didn't and IF you are one of those and
reading this then you should feel ashamed of yourselves!!!
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WARNING:-
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Switch OFF the AMIGA before connecting or disconnecting any hardware.
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IMPORTANT:-
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The Legal Stuff:-
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The author is not responsible for any damage to, or loss of, or
failure of equipment or data caused in any way by the use of this
information.
Now read on...
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Overview:-
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Right from the start, the AMIGA had the facility to move the mouse
pointer and left click or right click from the KeyBoard...
It all stemmed from the ~TestGear?~ projects that I have developed over
the years, when a young lad that I know owns an AMIGA A500 WITHOUT a
mouse, and he wanted to build and use these projects.
This information was uploaded to AMINET some years ago and I got a few
derisive Emails from the AMIGA community until they realised that people
DO obtain AMIGAs from different sources, OFTEN without a mouse. I did get
a few nice replies though and some with further details and to these
people I say many thanks to, (SEE ABOVE COMMENTS).
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Abbreviations:-
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OS = Operating System.
LAK = Left Amiga Key.
RAK = Right Amiga Key.
L-Alt = Left Alt Key.
R-Alt = Right Alt Key.
LA = Left Arrow Key.
RA = Right Arrow Key.
UA = Up Arrow Key.
DA = Down Arrow Key.
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How To Use The KeyBoard Mouse:-
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A) BEWARE...
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This works faultlessly under WorkBench, BUT there may be some third party
programs that are NOT user friendly to the facility and could cause a GURU
or system lock up, so therefore get used to using it first under the OS,
then try your other software with it.
B) Moving The Pointer:-
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1) The mouse does NOT need to be disconnected to test this facility out,
but it is much better fun practising without it connected...
2) Hold down either the ~LAK~ or the ~RAK~, it does NOT matter which.
3) Whilst doing 2) press any ONE only of the ~ARROW~ keys, ~LA~, ~RA~,
~UA~ or ~DA~.
4) The pointer will now move in the direction of the arrow.
5) The longer the two keys are held down the faster the pointer will move.
6) This is ~Equivalent~ to the mouse movement BUT can only go Left, Right,
Up or Down, NOT diagonally or in a circle.
7) Move the pointer over an icon, (say a disk icon), and then release the
TWO keys.
C) Emulating The Left Mouse Button Or The Right Mouse Button:-
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1) The Left Mouse Button is equal to the ~L-Alt~ and the ~LAK~ pressed at
the same time.
2) Conversely the Right Mouse Button is equal to the ~R-Alt~ and the ~RAK~
pressed at the same time.
3) With the pointer over an icon, (say a disk icon), press the ~L-Alt~
and the ~LAK~ keys quickly twice and ~voila~ the window will appear...
Refer back to Paragraph B) Part 7).
4) This has EXACTLY the same function as the Left Mouse Button, and will
work at the same speed as your mouse click preferences.
5) Similarly with the ~R-Alt~ and the ~RAK~ keys... This works EXACTLY the
same as the Right Mouse Button and will access any menus available.
6) Practise the ~L-Alt~, ~LAK~ and an ~ARROW~ key together in ~Drag-n-Drop~
mode.
7) Practise the ~R-Alt~, ~RAK~ and an ~ARROW~ key together to access the
~Pull Down Menus~.
8) Practise ~Double Clicking~ the ~L-Alt~ and ~LAK~ keys.
9) Remember that these operations are a little tricky so practise them
thoroughly...
10) Also remember that the mouse does NOT need to be connected for this
to work.
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And Finally:-
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Refer to the AMIGA ~User's Guide~ for further information about the use
of the KeyBoard shortcuts, and any other KeyBoard-Mouse subtleties not
mentioned in this document... For example the use of the ~SHIFT~ keys,
with the above keys, to speed up pointer movement.
Note, that this article is already on AMINET as:-
http://main.aminet.net/docs/hard/NoMouse.lha
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Acknowledgements:-
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Many thanks to Gunther Nikl for giving me further information about the
early WorkBench variants.
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IMPORTANT:-
-----------
The Legal Stuff:-
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These programs are Freeware and no profit will be made from them,
also all of the files must remain unaltered and intact including this
one. The author is not responsible for any damage to, or loss of, or
failure of equipment or data caused in any way by the use of these
programs. There is NO warranty with the use of these software releases
and YOU USE THEM AT YOUR OWN RISK.
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Testing Evaluation:-
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An A1200(HD) in 2MB, 6MB and 10MB modes using trapdoor memory AND/OR
PCMCIA memory expansions. Also tested on an A600(HD) in 2MB and 6MB
modes. All test conditions were/are running STANDARD KS2.0x to 3.1x,
and using standard ~topaz 8~ fonts throughout.
I have no idea what a strange configuration setup will create so refer
to the ~The Legal Stuff~ above.
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WARNING.
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1) DISCONNECT any faulty equipment under test from the MAINS supply.
2) If a DC supply is used do NOT reverse polarity the connections.
3) Do NOT power up any electronic item until it is safe to do so.
4) CHECK and RECHECK all of your construction and repair work thoroughly.
5) Handle ALL tools used with care.
6) Beware of ALL types of solvents, glues and etching fluids.
7) NEVER leave a soldering iron switched on unattended.
8) KEEP everything OUT of the reach of small children.
9) Switch OFF the AMIGA before disconnecting or connecting any hardware.
10) And finally read 1) to 9) again.
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Contact:-
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Mr Barry Walker, G0LCU.
Email:- wisecracker@tesco.net
URL:- http://homepages.tesco.net/wisecracker/G0LCU.HTM
Author of the ~TestGear?~ projects in the ~docs/hard~ drawer of AMINET.
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A very useful HardWare related site, (C) Anthony Hoffman, for
modifications, schematics, repairs and the like is:-
http://amiga.serveftp.net/
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| © RIYAN Productions |
