I'm thinking of getting a cordless mouse for the laptop. Has anyone here used one?
From pictures, they seem to have a receiver at the laptop end, plugged into a usb port. Does this need to be line of site from the mouse?
Also, is a purely h/w device or does it need drivers?
TIA Syd
Syd Hancock wrote:
From pictures, they seem to have a receiver at the laptop end, plugged into a usb port. Does this need to be line of site from the mouse?
I've never owned one but I assume this depends what type of wireless you are talking about. Infra red requires line of sight but bluethooth and other RF technologies generally don't.
On Sunday 30 November 2003 23:04, Syd Hancock wrote:
I'm thinking of getting a cordless mouse for the laptop. Has anyone here used one?
From pictures, they seem to have a receiver at the laptop end, plugged into a usb port. Does this need to be line of site from the mouse?
Also, is a purely h/w device or does it need drivers?
TIA Syd
I have a logitech cordless Mouse/KB
Plugs into either usb or ps2 (by means of some adapters)
The RF dongle that plugs into the PC acts just like a regular mouse/KB so no drivers needed (unless you want to make use of the extra quick access buttons)
The Bluetooth ones may well need drivers of some sort, mine is RF but not bluetooth.
I'm quite happy with it, batteries have lasted over a year now (the optical mouse version will need rechargables for the mouse) range is so good that keyboard actually works in the room next door !
On Monday 01 December 2003 00:15, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
I'm quite happy with it, batteries have lasted over a year now (the optical mouse version will need rechargables for the mouse) range is so good that keyboard actually works in the room next door !
I should have pointed out though, that there have been some privacy concerns with some models.
Bluetooth ones should be fine in this repsect, but there was some issue with one make where you could keylog the output of the keyboard on another machine. Use with caution
I think mine is ok as the keyboard will only pair with a receiver for the first 30 seconds after being reset, mind you I have no idea how strong the encryption is..
On Sunday 30 November 2003 23:04, Syd Hancock wrote:
I'm thinking of getting a cordless mouse for the laptop. Has anyone here used one?
From pictures, they seem to have a receiver at the laptop end, plugged into a usb port. Does this need to be line of site from the mouse?
Also, is a purely h/w device or does it need drivers?
TIA Syd
Just a personal opinion, but I'd rate optical above cordless. Both is even better if it can be recharged with batteries in situ.
-- GT
On Sun, 30 Nov 2003, Syd Hancock wrote:
I'm thinking of getting a cordless mouse for the laptop. Has anyone here used one?
I have a Packard Bell RF cordless KB and mouse. Seem to work quite nicely, although sometimes lose communication link with computer. More on this problem below.
From pictures, they seem to have a receiver at the laptop end, plugged into a usb port. Does this need to be line of site from the mouse?
In my case, both keyboard and mouse transmit wirelessly to the same receiver, and this receiver plugs into both PS/2 ports on my computer. Line of sight is not necessary, although I can imagine wireless communication methods where it would be.
Also, is a purely h/w device or does it need drivers?
A bit of both. The keyboard and mouse work in Linux, without special drivers; I won't bore you with what /etc/X11/XF86Config says to achieve this here, but if anyone's interested, I can tell you off-list.
In Windows, manufacturer's drivers provide the following flashiness:
special keys for going back and forward in a web browser, shutting down the computer, starting a web browser, searching (?the web,) opening IE favourites, starting a mail reader, and sending the computer to sleep, and
messages on screen that do the job of the keyboard LEDs (which this keyboard doesn't have.) xkbvleds is a good Linux substitute for this.
More about the loss of communication; maybe someone can help me with it...?
It matters because, once I don't have the keyboard and mouse to control the computer, my only options are the power button or the reset button. In Windows, the power button is under software control, and shuts down the computer elegantly, but in Linux, it just cuts the power, leaving me having all sorts of "fun" with fsck the next time I start the machine.
A light on the receiver continues to blink when a key is pressed or the mouse is moved, suggesting that the communication failure is in the PS/2 cable links, not in the wireless links.
A reboot, with no other action, restores communication.
Re-introducing the keyboard and mouse to the receiver, using the registration process in the documentation, without a reboot, does not restore communication.
The loss of communication occurs more often in Linux than in Windows, but happens sometimes in Windows as well.
The loss of communication happens mostly when the machine's been left alone long enough for sleepd to put the computer into APM standby, but sometimes sleepd happily puts the computer into APM standby without a loss of communication.
The loss of communication seems to happen mostly to both input devices at once, although occasionally to the mouse alone.
On Sunday 07 December 2003 16:35, Dan Hatton wrote:
More about the loss of communication; maybe someone can help me with it...?
Sounds like duff hardware to me.
One thing that may save you a fsck next time, Unplug both the mouse and the KB PS2 plugs. count to 3 and replug both. Keyboard should now be working but X may be upset about the mouse, if so use CTRL,ALT Backspace to restart X
Maybe also you should try moving the receiver dongle. Mine (a logitech) was very unhappy next to my laser printer, but when moved to the other side of the machine (which is actually further away from the KB and Mouse) it behaves a lot better.
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Ben Francis -
Dan Hatton -
Graham Trott -
Syd Hancock -
Wayne Stallwood