What's your mouse configuration?

[meruhl]

Does anyone else do this? I keep two mice connected to my workstation: one on each side of my keyboard. Years ago I started mousing left-handed in order to free the desk space for my writing pad (I'm a natural right-hander). I keep a PS2 mouse (Logitech M-BJ58) on the left side of my keyboard, and a USB mouse (Microsoft wireless 3500) on the right side of the keyboard, just in case I'm doing something with my left hand (like drinking coffee).

My work-issued laptop has the Synaptics Pointing Device driver installed, and I have Microsoft Intellipoint installed over that. I also have XMBC running. The Synaptics driver allows me to set the PS2 mouse buttons separately from the USB mouse buttons. In other words, I can swap the left- and right-click functions and make my left-hand mouse truly "left-handed", while my USB mouse on the right retains the default settings. I like this setup becase I like using the Intellipoint "Instant Viewer" function on the wheel-click of my USB mouse.

What I have recently discovered is that using XMBC allows me set the wheel-click for my left-side PS2 mouse to a double-click, without affecting the wheel-click on my USB mouse. Not sure why that happens, but I'm glad it does!

I also use another old freeware (that I can longer find online), that causes the mouse to "wrap" from one side of the screen to the other. In other words, the pointer is not restricted by the sides of the screen. If I move it off oen edge of the screen, it seamlessly re-enters on the opposite edge. I find this very useful when forced to use the built-in touchpad (I hate those things).

Phil, I'd be interested if you could explain how some of this works, and your opinion on why Microsoft and Logitech don't incorporate things like "mouse wrap" and multiple-device functionality into their basic mouse drivers?

Thanks for a great product!

Mike

[phil]

Hi,

I've never seen anyone using 2 mice in this way before. I personally don't think I could train my mind to work in that way - its bad enough using a mouse left handed, but to keep swapping... that would mess me up (and anyway I don't have room to the left of my keyboard at home!).

I was initially surprised when you said that you can change the PS2 buttons differently from the USB ones. but on reflection, as you have intellipoint installed, I'm pretty sure that it gets access to the buttons and can remap them at a MUCH lower level than XMBC operates, and therefore XMBC never even sees the middle click form the USB mouse because, as far as windows is concerned, it didn't send one (instead it did what Intellipoint was configured for). The logitech setpoint software works in the same way which can be both a blessing and a real pain at different times!

XMBC can't distinguish between the individual mouse devices because the windows messages it hooks do not expose this information. Really it needs to be done at driver level, or the software that does it needs to know exactly how to communicate with the driver. This is how synaptics, intellipoint and setpoint can all do it for the individual devices they configure I guess.

As to why MS/Logitech don't implement a certain feature?
The only answer I can think of to that question is because no one or not enough people have requested that be implemented. The wrapping that you describe is not something I have ever heard of before. If people haven't heard/thought of it, how can you expect them to implement it!

Now you mentioned it, I'm interested in how it might work, especially in a multi-monitor environment when sometimes screens don't line up as expected.
Maybe its something I can consider adding it to XMBC in the future. Thats generally how these things work, someone puts forward an idea, and if its good or not impossible to implement, it will find its way in to a future version. If you look through the change history of XMBC you will find many many examples of changes being added after a user has posted an idea here!

Of course its going to be the same for the big guys like MS and Logitech too, but in big companies, sometimes things get missed or priorities (like making money and selling more devices) dictate other actions.

I like to think being a small independent hobbyist I'm more responsive and passionate than MS or Logitech in these areas, but sometimes I suffer from the fact that its only me and I don't have enough spare time to do all the things I would like. XMBC was initially created because Microsoft took so long in producing a 64bit version of Intellipoint back in the XP x64 days. It has come a long way since then but there's still plenty on the todo list!

Thanks,
Phil

[meruhl]

Phil - thanks for the reply. Actually, what surprised me was that XMBC was not effecting the wheel-click on the USB mouse. I've used XMBC off-and-on for a couple of years, and I'm pretty sure that it has always impacted both mice. Should XMBC be capturing the USB mouse wheel-click as the "middle button" in this scenario?

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that it's actually the Synaptics drivers that allow for the separate mapping of the buttons for PS2 vs. USB devices. I was using two mice like this before I installed Intellipoint.

And as for the wrapping across the screen edges - it doesn't work the way you would want with multiple monitors. But this particular freeware is from 1998, I believe.

[phil]

Actually, what surprised me was that XMBC was not effecting the wheel-click on the USB mouse. I've used XMBC off-and-on for a couple of years, and I'm pretty sure that it has always impacted both mice. Should XMBC be capturing the USB mouse wheel-click as the "middle button" in this scenario?

Well if Intellipoint was not running or did not remap the middle button, I expect XMBC would work with it. As I said, I suspect Intellipoint is changing the default behaviour of the middle button such that it does not send the normal middle button message that XMBC is expecting, thus it does not re-map it.

Thanks,
Phil

[phil]

For what its worth, when I run SetPoint (Logitech's alternative to intellipoint) it changes the behaviour of the tilt wheel, stopping XMBC seeing it. As soon as I exit SetPoint, the behaviour returns to normal! I only discovered this yesterday when I finally installed SetPoint after years of avoiding it (for this very reason lol).

[meruhl]

I abandoned Logitech's mouse drivers years ago. I've always preferred their mice, but found their software left something to be desired.

I find it mildly frustrating that I have to run several different programs to get the kind of functionality want from my mice.

[phil]

Yes, I generally only use XMBC but then my mouse requirements are somewhat less complex than yours it seems!