(SUMMARY) barcode scanners, anyone?

From: Fred N. van Kempen <waltje_at_pdp11.nl>
Date: Tue Sep 2 07:38:01 2003

All,

Many replied that with the wedge given, the scanner I have will
just "type in" the scanned code through the keyboard port. The
LL-425 controller can be programmed (by scanning barcodes ;-)
to a variety of wedges and systems - I reset it to IBMPC PS/2.

This helped some, but not much. The scanner still made my PC
(a laptop) go nuts.

Thanks to a local friend, who mentioned that most laptops have
a detection system on the (single) PS/2 port, to see whether the
user connected a mouse or a keyboard to it. It defaults to a
mouse, so, if a keyboard doesnt ID itself, it will assume a
mouse.

Guess what? The scanner doesn't ID as a keyboard, so, was seen
as a mouse by the lappy. Which produces, uhh, weird results ;-)

I forced it into keyboard mode by connecting a PS/2 keyboard to
the scanner, and indeed, it works !

Had I tested this on a regular, 2-port PC, it would have worked
right away.

Thanks to all who have responded! This beastie will be used to
help me archive CD's and tapes on a barcode basis... much easier
for the database!

Cheers,
        Fred
Received on Tue Sep 02 2003 - 07:38:01 BST