Re: support for ancient peripherals
On Mon, 7 Nov 2022 at 05:01, Kleene, Steven (kleenesj)
<kleenesj@ucmail.uc.edu> wrote:
> For me a scroll wheel has always been a deal-breaker, and I recently
> couldn't find any mice without that. (A few years ago I found just one,
> from HP, and I didn't like using it.) I click with the center button
> a lot, and (maybe at my skill level) a scroll button often causes jitter
> in the display. I wonder if it's possible to turn off the scrolling
> function of the scroll wheel while still allowing clicks to be detected.
Hi,
Regarding the above, and to relieve the previously-mentioned dependence on
the ancient mouse from 2006, I offer the following thoughts that might
expand the set of potential solutions ...
If any mouse can be opened and resealed, then it is quite possible that the
scroll sensor can be disabled by some simple method that would require
little time and effort.
Depending on how it is constructed, disabling either its mechanical,
optical, or electrical operation either temporarily or permanently are all
possibilities.
Mechanical:
- prevent rotation.
- render rotation ineffective.
(eg wedge it, or decouple it)
Optical:
- physically block the optical path.
Electrical:
- disable either input or output of sensor
(eg wire cutters or desolder or cut pcb tracks)
There appears to be numerous videos posted to youtube that explain how
various mice scroll sensors work.
Anyone inclined to tinker with hardware, even with only curiosity and no
expertise, has a good chance of achieving this, if you can find such
a person.
If attempted on one or several low-value simple mice, this could be
a non-scary learning exercise for yourself or anyone else you know who
wants to try it.
For anyone with electronics knowledge, this will be a simple request, and
the hardest part will be opening the mouse. So another approach would be to
find a mouse that you can open, and open it up yourself, and then take it
anywhere that does electronics hardware work, and explain what you want and
that you have opened it to make it easy for them to inspect, and ask if they
would take a quick look and consider doing this job for a fee that is
acceptable.
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