DOUBLE MOUSE
introDOUBLE MOUSE
Double your productivity by connecting a single mouse to two computers!
It's simple: one mouse, two USB connections, infinite possibilities.
Each click of your pointer finger will be twice as powerful with this
mouse mod. This is a low cost, no soldering, HOW TO that will double
your clicks per hour in minutes.
step 1MATERIALS / PARTS LIST
Part: PS/2 Mouse (serial) Vendor: Radio ShackCost: $9.97 or lessNotes: You only really need one mouse but you need two serial cables. I ended up just buying an extra mouse …
- Cut one mouse cable at the midpoint.
- Cut the second mouse cable an inch or so away from the mouse. This mouse is no longer needed, hide it in a drawer for later us…
Inside the serial cable you will find smaller red, black, white, and green cables. Cut away 3/4" of the outer rubber and twist the exposed copper for each of the individu…
step 4TWIST AND TAPE
Twist together groups of three wires consisting of the same color. Tightly wrap them in tape so that none of the copper is showing. If you have a soldering iron handy you c…
step 5WRAP CONNECTIONS
Once all four groups of red, white, black, and green wires are wrapped together tightly wrap them all in tape. When you're done you should have a dirt style Y cable.
step 6CONNECT USB ADAPTERS
Connect the adapters to the serial cables. The connection for the keyboard will just remain empty for the purposes of this tutorial (yes, I'm leaving room for the DOUBLE KE…
9 to 5 PaintingsThere are many possible uses for the Double Mouse ranging from useless to pointless. The first series I have done using this new technology is the 9 to 5 Pa…
step 8THINGS THAT DON'T WORK
The smaller PS/2 USB adapters didn't work for me. I'm not sure why this is but if anyone knows please feel free to leave a comment. A common error for a non-functioning Dou…
| I just wanted to point out that you repeatedly said serial mouse. While technically these run over a serial bus, they are not considered serial mice. They are PS/2 mice. A serial mouse would have a DB9 connector on it.
|
| Error, Windows has malformed due to lack of patience. To resolve this
problem, please install un-genuine software.
|
| was just about to say that Lol
|
| Although I do give you points for a good instructable!
|
| Mar 14, 2009. 7:46 PMdodo91
says:
i have an idea. have you ever had two computers, and wanted to put a
document on both of them. you dont have anything tho take it from one to
the other to have it on both. so, ou use this concept, but with the
keyboard. you put word on both computers, then type. you only have to
look at one screen. this is because if you made a mistake on one, it
will be on the other. you can also do the mouse, so when you click
somewhere, it will click on the other computer. thats what i call
killing two birds with one stone!
|
| Apr 16, 2009. 2:27 PMKazeem
says:
or you pay £5 for a memory stick instead of mutilating a set of
computer equipment, and taking longer than it takes to transfer a file :P
good idea all the same.... lol
|
| now I wana hook up to mice to one computer
|
| done it. Doesn't do anything cool.
|
| Sep 6, 2008. 7:26 AMDerin
says:
PS/2 is not hotpluggable,even on USB.the BIOS only checks for the mouse
at startup,and that is why it wont work
|
| ya this is frustrating when you are working on computers and forget to
plug into the mouse, then you have to turn off the computer restart etc.....
|
| complete rubbish. the mouses drivers are installed (or are already
there) when plugged in so you di not have to restart your computer
|
| Sep 18, 2008. 10:07 AMDerin
says:
meh.it does not check for new equipment unless you restart,I tried it by
trying to plug my USB mouse to PS/2 with the supplied adapter,it did not
regocnize the PS/2 compatible mouse
|
| this is a nice instructable but u could also just plug a keyboard and
mouse into a usb adapter strip and plug that into a computer, and when u
need to use the other computer just use an extension usb cord and plug
that into the usb adapter
|
| This is such a genius idea that, if only you hadn't posted this idea for
free on this site, I'm SURE you could have made a WHACK of money off a
grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. But, you posted it for
free on the Internet, so no taxpayer-funded art money for you! ;-)
|
| Does anyone know how to make a PS/2 USB adapter?
|
| There's an instructable on it
|
| Haha those 9 - 5 drawings are great :P
|
| couldn't you just connect two monitors to the computer?
|
| the whole point was to work on separate computers.
|
| I appreciate the 9-5 paintings as 'process art', but I think any
UI/human factors specialist might retrieve some value in the images as
data. Clever concept.
|
| no, I think it's pretty secure, seeing as you can't tell when
he put each dot on the screen.
|
| actually, it can help ergonomics. the the more "dense" the
image, the less he had to move the mouse, the less dense, the more he
had to move the mouse assuming that the paint program was set to trace
all mouse movements. it could be useful in designing GUI's in a manner
that can minimize the need to move the mouse about, and thus help to
avoid repetitive motion injury. set it to track the density of mouse
clicks and you might be able to find out which tools in a program are
used the most, and lessen the number of clicks needed to access that
tool. lots of uses for this actually.
|
| CPU = central processing unit
Motherboard = main board that everything connects to including the CPU
Monitor = the visual interface (the screen)
Computer = housing for the motherboard, drives, and component interface
cards i.e. the video card.
i hope that cleared things up.
also you may want to only connect one set of power wires to the mouse.
right tnow you are giving it double what it needs and that aint too
good. atleast you had pictures so PROPS! =D
|
| Mar 19, 2008. 9:57 PMn0ukf
says:
Connecting the power wires together doesn't double the voltage going to
the mouse, so the mouse won't be bothered, but the regulated
5v from the two computers might not be exactly the same and try to
fight each other. Though being on the USB ports, that fight would be
limited to 500mA or less. Doubling the current sources won't hurt the
mouse, as it will only draw what it needs from the available 5v supply.
Now if you tried to feed the mouse 10v or more, then it might get heart
burn and die on you. ;)
|
| no no no its
CPU = brain
Motherboard = spine
Monitor = the visual interface (the screen)
Computer = skull or body!
|
|
(removed by author or community request)
|
| i was going to suggest synergy. it's pretty neat
|
| May 31, 2007. 3:43 AMSquee
says:
I've used realVNC before, I might have to give synergy a try. I tried to
do something simlar using a demo of a pay program but it never worked
and I wasn't willing to shell out the $80 for a full copy+tech support
when I could use realVNC for free. Although what I was really looking
for was essentially a software KVM switch.
|
| May 21, 2007. 2:15 PMheav
says:
yeah, I just don't understand how fi5e does control in which computer he
wants the click, since didn't saw the switch part, still, software
controlled mouse/ keyboard is much more elegant and practical than
messing around cutting cables, etc... but any ways that's for real use,
this approach is for creating some kind of strokes logger, mmmm still
some software from synaptics touchpad can do the same.
|
| step 8"
reason it did not work they come with certin duail usb/ps2 mice
|
| this is certainly an interesting project. i think i might just have to
go make one sometime...
|
| Nov 30, 2006. 11:45 AM randofo
says:
Soldering! It's the future.
Pretty awesome. Have you tried this with a keyboard yet?
|
| Nov 30, 2006. 12:01 PMfi5e (author)
says:
I'm anti-solder for now. I just got the keyboard finished and will
update it shortly. (PS, I see you have been busy, nice work)
Thanks to Grendel for dropping some needed knowledge on this post.
And as for all the picture comments, it's just a Cannon PowerShot on a
tri-pod in portrait mode (eg close up mode) with a lot of light on the
table. I usually do a little brightness contrast adjustments in GIMP ( I
don't remember if I did that here). The real issue here, however, is the
window of opportunity that opens when you double your mouse productivity!
|
| Double keyboards would be stupid to hook up to a single computer, as it would double your strokes, or do nothing new...
|
| The reason the small adapters don't work is because they are just
connector converters and you can't have 2 USB Hosts on the same bus. The
larger units interpret the PS/2 signal, reformat the data into USB HID
packets, and send them on to the PC. The reason you can split the PS/2
mouse this way is the clock and data come from the mouse. The only time
the PC sends data to the mouse is at startup, and if you have some
special drivers for the mouse. Since the adapters mask the mouse,
theres no data going from PC to mouse. Not very useful of a hack, but
interesting non the less. Good work!
|
| Nov 30, 2006. 12:54 PMMyself
says:
You should still be careful, since this arrangement bridges two PC power
supplies. If one machine is on while the other is off, badness can
happen. If they're plugged into different outlets or otherwise don't
share a ground reference, badness will almost certainly happen.
|
| Amazing pictures, by far the best i have seen on Instructables. I like
the mouse, very clean and easy, and i have GIMP too =]
|
| Nov 27, 2006. 11:43 PMtheRIAA
says:
those pics look surreal! what kind of camera do you have?
|
| He's shooting natural light with a fast f/stop; like f/2.8 or lower.
The blur you see in the background is known as bokeh. He probably has a
tripod and is doing a pre-metered, delayed shot.
|
| Nov 28, 2006. 10:32 PMtheRIAA
says:
f/stop has nothing to do with speed, and thats not what im talking about.
Im talking about how he has crisp, perfectly colored pictures, with
eerie lighting that look like their photoshoped (but obviously arnt).
must be the lighting... which is a lamp, and is in no way natural
|
| Nov 29, 2006. 8:05 AMpaanta
says:
A large (physically, small numerically) aperture does get referred to as
a fast one, because you can use shorter shutter times. So yes, he used
a fastish f/stop.
|
| Some of the things almost look superimposed.
I also see a lot of scrolling in those pictures.
|
| Nov 29, 2006. 4:11 AMwestfw
says:
The small adaptors don't work because they don't actually convert PS2 to
USB; they're just "wire rerouting" for a mouse that has the
internal ability to speak either USB or PS2...
|
| it looks and sound really cool.
is their any other advantages to this besides your art?
again, very cool
|
| Oh, and I guess it would also serve as a visual mouse tracker/logger.
|
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