Jo-Anne wrote:
I'm getting beyond my depth, Paul. I thank you very much for all your
research, but I'm not sure I can do everything you suggest or whether I'm
capable of ever fixing the problem. Here's what I've found so far:
* I did a search on Apfiltr.inf in the Windows\inf folder and found nothing.
I then searched on just Apfiltr in the Windows folder (not just the inf
subfolder) and found only Apfiltr.sys in Windows\system32\drivers.
* I checked the Properties of the Dell Touchpad again and found that for
both the working and the nonworking port, at Touchpad External Mouse
Settings | Hardware, the Dell Touchpad location is "plugged into PS/2 mouse
port." On the working port, the Perfit Mouse (USB) is at location 0; on the
nonworking port, the mouse is called an HID-compliant mouse manufactured by
Microsoft, and it too is at location 0.
* When I looked at the Driver File Details for the Contour Mouse in the good
port, there were several files in Windows\Contour and two in
Windows\System32\drivers. The two driver files are hidxmse.sys and
mouclass.sys. The one that's checkmarked is mouclass.sys. On the bad port,
the Driver File Details for the HID-compliant mouse are
Windows\System32\drivers\mouclass.sys and mouhid.sys.
Thank you for everything, Paul!
Jo-Anne
The last driver I could find reference to for the Contour Perfit, should
have been here, but is not archived. The last driver might have been offered
around 2008 or so, and then removed from the Contour web site.
perf206b2u.zip
http://web.archive.org/web/200802250...perfit_usb.htm
I had to download an infected copy off one of the driver sites (a site where it
says they "scanned for viruses", when of course they added their own malware),
to have a look. This is an excerpt from the INF file for that one.
; CONTOUR.INF
;
; Installs Windows 98/ME and 2K/XP drivers for Contour Perfit Mouse (USB)
[MouseMfg]
%HID.DeviceDesc%=LCSmseHID,HID\VID_05F3&PID_0210
%HID.DeviceDesc%=LCSmseHID,HID\VID_05F3&PID_0211
%HID.DeviceDesc%=LCSmseHID,HID\VID_04b4&PID_0202
%HID.DeviceDesc%=LCSmseHID,HID\VID_04b4&PID_0205
Those are the VID/PID values your Contour should report. One of those should match.
The file also refers to left.reg and right.reg, which I assume
are bindings for left-handed and right-handed mouse users.
I was also able to locate the HIDXMSE.SYS and HIDMOUSE.SYS files.
They are stored inside the CONTOUR.CAB file of the installer folder.
The copyright info on HIDXMSE.SYS says "Copyright (C) LCS/Telegraphics. 1995-2000".
Description says "HID Xmouse driver".
You could try to "update driver", but I doubt that's going to work
if you pointed the "update driver" thing in Device Manager, to where ever
your copy of those Contour driver files are stored. The thing is, we had
the failure before, with reference to VID0000 and PID0000, and as long as
the mouse manages to continue doing that, I don't see any attempt to update
driver succeeding. You could give that a try though, if you feel
lucky. The objective, would be to replace the mouclass.sys and mouhid.sys
while the Contour is in the bad port, by doing an "update driver".
So the evidence so far is:
1) Touchpad (filter) driver is focused on PS/2 connections and
uses ACPI\PNPxxxx identifiers.
2) Contour driver uses HID\VID_04b4&PID_0205, which is slightly weird, as they
should really be USB\VID_04b4&PID_0205. The 04b4 actually belongs to Cypress
Semiconductor, and perhaps Cypress made the mouse chip for your Contour.
On the surface of it, the two drivers don't appear to be on a collision
course.
I can't figure it out from here. I can't see how the VID/PID are getting
coerced to all 0's values. Doesn't make sense. I didn't think such behavior
was possible.
I'd be much happier with this situation, if the Contour "stayed broken"
no matter what port it was shoved into. Cypress has been known to make
chips that can "lose" their USB identity, but your mouse keeps working
in the other port. So we can't explain it away that way.
Paul