I don't know how widely known this is but many desktop PC motherboards have a BIOS option called "USB legacy support" that allows a USB mouse and keyboard to emulate a PS/2 mouse and keyboard. This allows operating systems like NS/OS or DOS, that don't have USB support (
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/usb-keyboard-or-mouse-may-not-work-after-you-restart-your-computer-in-ms-dos-mode-cf49f123-1c9f-5b20-13c9-6c4a43146e0b) to use USB mice and keyboards. Some BIOS screens refer to it as "USB legacy mode", "USB Keyboard support" or "USB Mouse support". There are a number of different variations of this support, and some may work while others won't. Some implementations just support older USB devices and don't have PS/2 emulation.
My P4 mini-ITX OPENSTEP box (
https://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/index.php?topic=4960) boots with a USB mouse and keyboard plugged into the USB ports (as opposed to a USB > PS/2 adapter) and it works fine. Other motherboards may not work with NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP and USB input devices; it's just something that needs to be tested on an individual basis. So having PS/2 ports on a PC motherboard may not be a strict requirement for NS/OS if the BIOS PS/2 emulation works. I have a few other motherboards that support a USB keyboard but not a USB mouse with OPENSTEP. That might be an option for some boards that have a combo PS/2 port. Even the combo PS/2 ports have different variations. Most combo ports only allow either a mouse or keyboard to be plugged into the port, while others will allow both a mouse and keyboard to be plugged into the port with a properly wired Y-cable.
Hopefully that opens up a wider selection of desktop motherboards that will work with NS/OS. Let us know about your experience with USB Legacy Support.
"USB legacy support" that allows a USB mouse and keyboard to emulate a PS/2 mouse and keyboard.
Wow I never new this was even possible , cool stuff. It would be great to have a native USB driver for Openstep.
I know Howard Cole started a USB driver way back here on Github and I Tomato has been updating it
https://github.com/itomato/UsbOHCI.0.5betaSomewhere in the reality distortion field exists a USB to NeXT non adb driver like this device from Matt at Drakware arduino
https://www.drak.org/proj/next-keyboard-protocol/ How difficult is it to make a pcb for non adb to usb and usb to non adb device like this one by BMOW for ADB to USB and USB to ADB
https://www.drak.org/proj/next-keyboard-protocol/ as it would be amazing.
I would love to see such a device, but designing PCB's is above my pay grade unfortunately. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. It would be cool to port a USB driver for OPENSTEP from another OS. I'm not sure which codebase would be the best candidate for that.
hello all just an adicional information. if you use usb legacy with an usb keyboard it will work flawlessly. however is you want to enter nmi monitor for an emergency shutdown it wont work youll get the mni window however the keyboard will not respond and will have to hard reset the pc.
My USB keyboard and mouse work ok on Dell Inspiron 5150 Laptop (2003) (OpenStep 4.2 with patches tested only) and IBM Thinkpad T43 Laptop (2005) (NextSTEP 3.3 tested only)