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Information on PS2->USB hack for dual mice
LJHalfbreed:
Hmm.... Just thinking... anyone ever try hacking a toggle to swap fully between a spinner and trackball, or will windows freak out because there's no y axis?
-LJ
Bgnome:
you can wire up a mouse and only use a single axis. this is how the spinners work on mouse hacks. the way oscar's is set up is that they are sharing an axis on the same mouse. if you already have 2 mice hacked, then you dont need to share an axis.
if you want to completely shut off the trackball when you turn the spinner on or vice versa on the same mouse, then i would change the diagram to use a spdt switch on the power lines between the spinner and the trackball..
LJHalfbreed:
Well, right now I have a Benton Imperial trackball I got off of ebay that's PS/2 and has support for 3 mice buttons. I hacked together a spinner using one of the BYOAC ideas of using an older PS/2 Microsoft Mouse with the wheels/rods that look like pots and not chopperwheel+emitters. Both work great, but they're both PS2. So, I'm trying to figure out what I would need to do to get *both* to work on the same panel. Now I'm wondering if I need to get one of those super-big-honkin' multi-switches...
Oh heck... hey bgnome... Are you talking about splicing the two PS2 cables together into one connector (effectively splicing all x/y/ground wires into the same end-cable) and then using the spst switch for power (to choose if it goes to trackball or to spinner)? Will XP handle that, as if you just swapped out mice, or will I have to worry about any surges?
-LJ
Bgnome:
well, the question now is what ports do you have available? do you have ps/2 ports available? is usb the only option?
if you have ps/2 ports then you have several options. if you have 2 ports, why not plug both in? if you only have 1, which is common in laptops, you can see if a splitter will work, (i made one for my laptop which has my encoder and trackball plugged in atm). you could also plug one into the ps/2 and hack the other for usb.
if you go back and hack a usb mouse and connect the optics from the spinner and the trackball to it, you can choose to wire a switch to the axis, like oscars, or to the 5v line going to the spinner/trackball. if you put a switch on the line to the mouse, you will be "unplugging" it, which is ok for usb, but not so much for ps/2.
if you have ps/2 ports, then i would try any of the first set of options. if you absolutely MUST go usb, then i would first see if i could find any usb ball mice, then hack 1 or 2 depending on how you want to go about it. if you cant find any or dont want to order the usb hack kit from oscar, i would give a ps/2>usb adapter a shot. you could always return it if it doesnt work the way you want it and if you havent chopped it to pieces..
LJHalfbreed:
It's a regular ATX tower inside a much abused, but wonderfully refurbished Ms. Pac-Man (I hope) cabinet.
I'm trying to stick with USB mainly due to wanting 'swappable boards'. In other words, I'd like it if in testing a new board, I could just pop off the original, put on my new one, and just plug in the power+usb A cable to a small 4-port hub inside the CP, and have that 'power' everything.
So, right now, I have your basic tower setup. 2 USB ports in back, 2 PS2 ports (one mouse, one keyboard), plus two 'floating' USB ports (can be set up to connect to an open PCI slot, or to the front of the case). I'd like to have the PS2 ports for the internal 'admin only' keyboard and mouse. So, I figure if I could hack everything into USB, it could solve a lot of problems. Although, I *am* willing to give up the mouse if I can get the Trackball working.
Basically, I'm flat outta cash right now, and will be for a while. I've got a ton of computer/electronic bits, and I'm just trying to figure out what I can get together to get this thing completed by Saturday night, so that way I could possibly sell it to some friends (for more cash, to get the Double Dragon cab I have up and running). It's like I'm in some strange mystery novel and have all the clues, but don't know how to put them together to bust the badguy.
I'm thinking I might have a USB mouse somewhere I can destroy, but I think it's a logitech. But I'm hoping I can have some sort of hotswap PS2 thing going on. I mean, I'm sitting here with my work PC just popping the mouse in and out (PS2), and it doesn't seem like it's really screwing anything up. And I got bored and have the USB mouse (main mouse) and ps2 mouse (stolen from storeroom for 'testing') both able to 'run' at the same time in windows XP.
Blah... my brain is hurting. So you don't think having both PS2 cables from spinner and trackball 'combined' into one PS2 cable would work? I would think that if you kept the power line separate and had that connected to a toggle, it would 'emulate' yanking out the cord and popping it back in real quick.
I can draw all this in a crappy MS paint jpg if that will explain better.
-LJ
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