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Use any PS2 mouse and just plug into Pest! |
INTRODUCTION PeST has been developed to meet the requirements of Atari ST users, specifically that Atari mice are now in short supply and that the feel of the original device sold back in the 80’s is showing its age. PeST is the acronym for PS2 enumerator for the Atari ST. It enables any PC PS2 mouse to be used with the Atari ST / STF / STFM / STE / Mega / Mega STE / TT / Falcon etc. The device is completely automatic and fully plug and play. Care has been taken to ensure that no movements of the mouse are lost. In the early stages of PeST’s development we tested similar interfaces offered by the competition. No two interfaces had the same feeling. We have been spoilt in recent years by more recent operating systems, in expecting the pointer on screen to move exactly relative to the mouse being handled. This was entirely our aim in developing PeST. If we were going to use it, and if we were going to be happy with it, it had to work! HOW IT WORKS PS2 3-byte packets of information are received from the mouse. These are analysed by a programmable computer-on-a-chip. The resulting information is reflected on the Atari ST’s mouse port. Effectively our device is a PS2 to BUS mouse converter. The computer-on-a-chip which performs the conversion has a similar amount of processing power to computers of the late 1970’s. It has 2 Kbytes of ROM and about 256 bytes of RAM, with a processing speed of about 1MIPS. The program necessary to make the interface work is about 700 bytes of optimised machine code. Pest is fully "plug & play" and requires no software or hardware mods to work. Speed can be changed between four modes up to 400% over the original ST mouse. PeST has a vast range of compatibility with PS2 mice and any USB mouse can be used via a PS2>USB adapter. USB SUPPORT PeST can work with a PS2>USB adapter which is often supplied with mice. Please note that USB mice must have a genuine PS2 protocol to function correctly. Typically only Microsoft mice are known to have a genuine USB & PS2 protocol. As there are so many mice out there it is impossible to say if a mouse will or not work without trying it. Other adapters sold around the market appear to support USB , as they have a USB socket, though reading the small print they only work with Microsoft mice, simply because the firmware is a hack as a much older (freeware) adapter protocol which was a PS2 only software. PeST has a much newer firmware and offers better performance with the maximum possible support of mice. |
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PeST is uniquely programmed and not available under any other brand names. If you did not buy via pest.atari.org or one of our authorized distributors, then you do not have a genuine PeST made by us. Beware of cheap fake imitations sold around the Internet! Pest has a far superior firmware than the firmware used in many cheaper adapters. Pest supports a much wider range of PS2 mice, which gives you more chance of a USB mouse actually working. USB is not a reliable protocol which is why when we developed Pest we opted to use the PS2 protocol. Be aware that "USB" versions are not true USB but simply have a USB socket fitted with PS2 driven firmware. Be aware that your USB mice will probably not work with such adapters! Such adapters only work with Microsoft mice as they are one of the few which support genuine PS2 protocol. PeST can work in exactly the same way by using a PS2>USB adapter which gives the possibility of using USB mice that also support genuine PS2 protocol.
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PeST has been discontinued in 2012.
