Posted by Andy Warne on 31, 2001 at 4:12 PM:
In Reply to: IPAC and DOS - scottie4442 posted by Scott Adams on 31, 2001 at 10:45 AM:
USB is'nt a great choice for DOS (except when running in a Windows DOS box). Although most BIOSes support USB boot devices (kbd and mouse only) they usually don't do it very well. It is a crude implementation and is often slow to respond.
Another limitation of a USB keyboard is that you can only ever get 6 keys max, plus modifiers such as alt, ctrl shift, to register at the same time. This is built into the USB spec and is in addition to the other ghosting, blocking issues etc.
I-PAC in USB mode is intended for Windows only and incidentally does not suffer from the 6-key limit.
: I was wondering if anyone has tried the IPAC under DOS. I am presently building a keyboard hack with a USB keyboard and it works fine under DOS, but I was wondering if the IPAC picks up like a keyboard. I also have a trackball that is USB that works under DOS. Both the keyboard and trackball work because the BIOS has a legacy USB setting in it. I have not been able to get any other USB devices working under DOS at this time (tried a printer so that I could print out screen shots of games but no dice). well your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanx.
: Scottie