The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

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Chr$
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The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by Chr$ »

I do like obscure QL related stuff, and this falls into that category. With some QL gear from Spain I got this...

A "Star Mouse", made by Puricorp and marketed by Investronica mainly in Spain but apparently it was sold in the UK too.
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It came with 2 cartridges. I re-felted them. Both of them had a little bit-rot, but fortunately in different files and as the content was largely the same, I was able to reconstruct all the original files and run the software. It starts with a large cartoon mouse then gives you a choice which I think equates to with instructions or without. Eventually you get to a drawing program, which doesn't look too bad. It wouldn't load on my more-than-128k machine and nor was it possible to plug the mouse in as it has a BT type connector (and I use a German QL as my main machine). It also plugs into the ROM port for power.
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I tried it all out on my new Spanish QL and it all seems to work, cursor moves, single button works, but I can't understand the Spanish!

Anyone here from Spain familiar with this device? Is it just a mouse with a bundled drawing program or can you use the mouse in other QL software? I found this info which seems to suggest that it's not possible to use it with a more than 128k QL:

https://translate.google.co.uk/translat ... rev=search


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by RWAP »

A great find - we could do with a description adding to the QL Wiki and the software being uploaded somewhere...

Is the software usable without the mouse?


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by Chr$ »

RWAP wrote:A great find - we could do with a description adding to the QL Wiki and the software being uploaded somewhere...

Is the software usable without the mouse?
It doesn't appear to be. It loads and you can see/read everything etc but I don't think there is a way to move the little pointer with keys, as it's coded (and it also only works when plugged into CTL2). Remind me, are there keys that correspond to CTL2? I seem to remember (without checking) that there are, but this Spanish QL has some dodgy keys so it may be due to that. I will investigate further.

Here is more translated info (a not very good review from 1988).

https://translate.googleusercontent.com ... 5yDFVleDmQ

The mouse itself isn't badly made. It has a ball of steel which is actually pulled against the rollers by a magnet. The shape isn't at all ergonomic though, as you can see!


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by Chr$ »

Hang on I'm thinking of the 2nd set of cursor keys that correspond to a joystick in SER2, not CTL2 aren't I?


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by RalfR »

Chr$ wrote:Remind me, are there keys that correspond to CTL2? I seem to remember (without checking) that there are, but this Spanish QL has some dodgy keys so it may be due to that. I will investigate further.
I think, CTL1 are the cursor keys and space, CTL2 are F1 to F5 (or vice versa :D ).


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by tofro »

Ralf R. wrote:
Chr$ wrote:Remind me, are there keys that correspond to CTL2? I seem to remember (without checking) that there are, but this Spanish QL has some dodgy keys so it may be due to that. I will investigate further.
I think, CTL1 are the cursor keys and space, CTL2 are F1 to F5 (or vice versa :D ).
Indeed. CTL2 maps to the function keys F1-F5 in the (somewhat odd) order "Left", "down", "up", "right", "fire"

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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by Chr$ »

Yes, it works with F1-F5 on a 128k QL.

Have Investronica given permission to share their old programs? Do they even own the copyright or does someone else? Perhaps no one knows.


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by RalfR »

Chr$ wrote:Yes, it works with F1-F5 on a 128k QL.
Perhaps the programs work with SERmouse, if SERmouse is redirectable to F1-F5??


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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by tofro »

Unfortunately, you can't simply patch the row number in the IPC command string to use cursor instead of function keys (which should be a relative simple search) - the columns for LRUD unfortunately don't map between CTRL1 an CTRL2.

(That would have been the first step, as some mouses can do cursor emulation)

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Re: The Investronica Starmouse from Spain

Post by RWAP »

Chr$ wrote:Yes, it works with F1-F5 on a 128k QL.

Have Investronica given permission to share their old programs? Do they even own the copyright or does someone else? Perhaps no one knows.
Do Investronica still exist? If so, it is worth reaching out to them...

If the software was dependent on the hardware, then that is its own form of copy protection!


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