some mouse question.

**rep999** · 02-08-2002, 07:09 AM

i was wondering if i can use the wires in the mouse cord for the keyboard hack. i'm not sure if i'm saying this right. i'm trying to wire just the keys i need from a keyboard (ie. up and down arrow). The mouse cord wires are pretty thin. i was wondering if that affects anything. i apparently bought wires that were too thick for me to solder to the keyboard controller. plus since i broke my mouse apart, can i use the switch that was used for the mouse buttons. it has three pins. i know two are to complete the circuit, but i'm not sure about the third.

**hornet** · 02-08-2002, 09:19 AM

I can't see why you couldn't use the wire in a mouse cable for your keyboard hack, wire is wire, and since there is no great amperage going down it, the thin wire in a mouse cord would be ok.

with the mouse buttons, just test what two make contact when the button is pressed with a multimeter.

**Aaron Cake** · 02-08-2002, 09:20 AM

So you just want to use the left over broken-mouse-wire in your keyboard? Should work fine. For the most part, wire is wire.

**HotRodBMW** · 08-07-2003, 09:52 PM

...yes, but couldn't there be a signal problem? This is the problem I think I'm having. I'm trying to run a keyboard and mouse from the trunk to the front of my car. But...I'm having signal problems in that the PC thinks I'm pushing buttons I'm not and it won't recognize buttons that I do push.

So, my question is; Is there a certain type of cable I should be using? I'm actually using currently a D-27 pin type cable (kinda like a parallel cable except with 27 pins) and I'm running both the keyboard and mouse through this cable. Any way to improve the signal?

**hardware_dave** · 08-08-2003, 06:37 PM

OK.

A standard keyboard uses a system simlar to rs232 , 4 wires -

5 volts
ground
signal
clock

A laptop keyboard is a matrix , a grid of wires with a keyswitch at each junction. This is very suseptable to electrical noise if you try to extend it.

Why not just plug a desktop keyboard into the back of the laptop and use a keyboard extension lead ? If you just want a couple of keys for the dashboard , hack apart the keyboard at the dashboard end.

dave

**HotRodBMW** · 08-10-2003, 08:40 PM

I'm not using a laptop. I'm using a desktop that I've got installed in my trunk. Then, whet I'm doing is running one of those desktop port extender things to the front of my car. A port extender is a little control panel type thing that you install in a front bay of your desktop case. It has plugs for USBs and a mouse and keyboard and earphone jacks and it connects via a 37 pin DSub cable (looks like parallel cable but more pins) to the the connectors for these plugs at the back of your PC. Ok, so, instead of just running the 37 pin cable to the back of my PC, I got a 10 foot 37 pin cable and ran this port extender to the front of my car. But....I'm having signal problems so I'm trying to figure out if it's b/c the cable maybe isn't shielded or because the inverter I have is crappy or it's the vehicle EMI that's giving the cables problems. I'd just try buying a 37 pin shielded cable but it is *extremely* hard to even find one these types of cables at all let alone a 10 foot or one that's shielded.
Any ideas greatly appreciated b/c my project has ground to halt for like 3 months b/c of this.

**DodgeCummins** · 08-10-2003, 09:02 PM

Realize the there are two different signals...one for the mouse and one for the keyboard....most mice only have the 4 wires needed to communicate...the keyboard uses two of the same wires and two different ones.

I don't have a link but if you search for PS2 pinouts it will give you the info.

I have run about 9 feet of mouse/keyboard...3 from mouse to KVM - 6 from KVM to computer.

**Suprapc** · 08-10-2003, 09:30 PM

FYI: I have my keyboard extended 10+ feet using cat5 soldered to some jacks with zero problems.

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