Wireless USB troubles...

[Luke122]

Hey everyone, this is more of a request than anything else...

I read about a cordless/wireless usb hub once.. cant recall the manufacturer, and the reviews were less than positive, but it got me thinking about the possibilities.

What i'd like to be able to do is use the wireless transmitter/reciever from a cordless mouse (or keyboard, or whatever) to "untether" a usb input peripheral. I already have the power issue sorted out, just need to get the data moved from the device back to the reciever.

Has anyone here dont anything like this before?

Imagine taking a usb graphics tablet, cutting the cord, and hacking it together with a cordless mouse to get a wireless tablet. That's sort of what I"m aiming for here.

ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[XcOM]

i know what your talking off, i think it was called belkin, they've released a new version only a few weeks ago, i think you should google it, it would work.

i'll see what i can find out for you.

[Eclecticos]

It probably won't work, but it's not impossible. . you would have to use some type of battery pack to power the device, because you would sever the usb power connection by doing that. You might even have to write your own drivers, I could be wrong.

[XcOM]

not true about drivers, if you were to use the wireless pack from belkin, use there drivers, and just use a battery from an old 12v laptop, good for 3-4 hours if good, would need to mod a case/frame to hold it all together.

[Luke122]

I cant say too much about what I"m building, but the power issue is covered. Their should be no need for writing any sort of drivers...

If I *was* to hack a cordless mouse, all I would be doing is changing the source of information that the transmitter is sending over the air to the reciever. It's essentially the same information being broadcast, just a diff source..

I'm going to pick up a cheap (but not too cheap.. I need some range with this thing) cordless mouse tomorrow and tear it down. Since it's friday, it's usally a quiet day at work anyways.. plus since this is something I'm building FOR work, should be no issues.

Xcom, thanks for the tip.. Belkin. I couldnt remember who built the thing, but I didnt have any luck just googling cordless usb or wireless usb. I"ll try adding belkin into the search, and hopefully that'll be the key.

The only concern I have with using the Belkin hub to this is the added weight and current draw. Weight and size are a big concern on this project, so I'll update tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

[Luke122]

Damn, that Belkin Cordless USB is "backwards" from what I need... it provides a mobile computer wireless access to stationary USB devices.

What I need is a mobile USB device to access a stationary computer.

I'm going down the Source (Radio Shack) this morning to pick up a cordless mouse to go under the knife.

I'll let you know what I find out.

[xRyokenx]

Dude, storage of wireless peripherals that aren't in use would be so freakin' easy it's not funny... no more cluttering my desk with stuff that can't be put in a drawer, lol. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

[Luke122]

Maybe I should start a new thread on this project?

Anyways, I just picked up a cordless mouse, and I'm about to begin surgery. Pics and worklog are begining also... I just wish that this angry person outside my office arguing with my boss would shut the hell up.

[Luke122]

Here's the mouse in all it's glory. $39.99 CAD.. I had some other stuff to return, so I didnt have to spend anything on this really..

The sneaky buggers hide 2 screws underneath black gliders at the front of the mouse.. pop them out to get to the screws.

Warning! Gratuitus Topless Mouse Shot Below!!

You'll notice 2 more screws on the top circuit board.. remove them, and then just lift it off.

At this point, there are just 2 more screws at the tail end to remove, and the whole board lifts out.. like so..

Sadly, at this point I realized that the transmitter wasnt quite a "seperate entity" within the mouse as I had hoped.. and I realized that I'm sort of past my knowledge at this point, so I got the multimeter out, and I'll have to do some more reading/experimenting.

Luckily I was careful in taking everything apart, so I do still ahve a working mouse.

[CHIMERA]

Luk!!

That's the same mouse that I got from Rosewill, I used it in my "UT Mouse Mod."

Just FYI and a heads up, that mouse is a B I T C H to put back together!!! Make sure you save the footies too, if you end up not being able to use it.

Aomething else kind of conflicted when reading what you want to do..

A wireless mouse, when plugged in, the firmware on the 'receiver' tells the PC that it is a "interface device" so therefore it is desgnated certain commands (internally) to perform certain actions. I don't see how a tablet (wireless video?) would be able to tell the computer what to do with the signal, if you simply just hacked out the transmitter form the mouse.. you could be pushing a button on the tablet, and the cursor on the computer is going nuts.. or right clicking or something backwards.. This is all really a stab i nthe dark, as I don't really understand what it is you are trying to accomplish still.. :S

-J

I'm pretty sure he means a wireless graphics tablet, like wacom or something.