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Lokai 0 Newbie Poster

I have an IBM 365x Laptop computer.

When I plug in my external PS/2 mouse, it does not work. The TrackPoint mouse on the keyboard still works, but the external mouse does not.

The Control Panel and Device Manager only show one mouse installed: PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port.

I can't find anywhere how to switch from using the on-board mouse to my external mouse.

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Dani AI

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— practical checklist and notes for an IBM 365x when an external PS/2 mouse never becomes active while the built‑in pointer still works.

  1. Verify the mouse and connector
  • Test that PS/2 mouse on another PC so you know the mouse itself is good.
  • Confirm you’re actually plugging into a PS/2 socket (some laptops expose a serial or docking‑only connector instead).
  1. Try the simple power cycle
  • Many PS/2 ports are not reliably hot‑pluggable. Shut down, plug the mouse in, then power the laptop on and see if it is detected.
  1. BIOS / docking checks
  • Some ThinkPad-era machines only enable an external PS/2 when docked or have an “Internal Pointing Device” setting in BIOS (look for TrackPoint/TouchPad/internal mouse options). Set it to Auto or Enabled if available.
  1. OS/driver checks
  • In Device Manager remove/uninstall the PS/2 pointing device entry and reboot so Windows redetects it.
  • If the machine uses IBM/Lenovo pointing drivers, install the vendor driver rather than the generic Windows driver (this can affect switching behavior).
  1. Quick diagnostics
  • Try a USB mouse as a known-good external device. If USB mice work, the problem is specific to the PS/2 path (hardware, dock, or BIOS).
  • If nothing detects the external hardware, the PS/2 jack or its wiring (or the dock’s PS/2 pass‑through) may be faulty.

A brief note about Device Manager: older Windows versions often show a single PS/2 controller entry even when there are two physical pointing devices; that is normal and doesn’t always indicate which physical device is active. If the above steps fail, the most likely causes are a dock-only PS/2 port, a non‑hot‑pluggable PS/2 port (requiring plug‑before‑boot), or a hardware fault — repair or using a USB mouse are the usual next steps.

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