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Logitech Marble & Kensington Orbit Optical trackball experiences

Started by os2monkey, 2007.10.30, 07:36:08

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os2monkey

Hey everyone,

I just figured I would share my experiences with some modern trackball mice and ecomstation and my kvm switch, since before purchasing them I was not able to find much about how compatible they are with os/2 and maybe it will help someone else:
or perhaps I am the only current trackball user :)..

The first mouse I purchased was the Logitech trackman marble optical mouse. (the one with the thumb ball and scroll button). This mouse did work well with standard os/2 drivers & amouse drivers (all the buttons including the scroll wheel work) - but it did not work with my kvm switch. I would have been ok keeping it just directly hooked up to my computer but I personally found the thumb ball painful to use, it would make my thumb and hand ache.

I then tried the cheaper logitech marble optical, with the mouse in the front middle. It had four buttons (two main ones and two small ones). The main buttons worked fine with the standard os/2 drivers but the two small buttons are not recognised, and so it has no scrolling support.
This mouse also didn't work with my kvm switch. I would have kept it if it supported the kvm switch as it was comfortable, but was disappointed it did not work with the kvm.

So I returned it and then tried the Kensington orbit optical (2 button, with grey center ball).
This one works very good with os/2 standard mouse drivers, and both buttons work. It DID work with my KVM switch. I also think it looks the coolest of the bunch personally, with a slick grey marble and glowing red optical light :).
I'm still testing how it feels on my hand but I think this one is the keeper since I would prefer to only have one mouse for both of my systems. The only downside is there is no scroll button at all on this mouse, but I think I can live with that. Your millage might vary but I think the reason it might work with my KVM switch is that it's a much simpler trackball with only 2 buttons- maybe the logitechs confuse it :).

os2monkey

Oh.. just in case anyone is curious like me:
There is an old kensington orbit mouse driver still available for download that was made for the older non-optical version of this mouse (with the grey casing and blue ball). I was curios if it still worked so I installed it with the new optical orbit mouse, since the look identical for the most part. It doesn't work though.. the mouse totally wigged out.
But it doesn't matter since the standard os/2 drivers work really well, even allowing you to control the ball tracking speed.

microdrome

For those who want the ultimate in trackbal and KVM switch ,here is what i did:

I have always used trackballs and currently the model i find very usefull is the Cordless Optical Trackman as its orginal name is.
But also the Trackman marble wheel is still the second favorite ,all by logitech of course.
It has a big ball on the right and you have to get used to this since you move it with 3 or 4 fingers.
Biggest advantage is the number of buttons ,namely 8
Except for 1 they all work with the amouse driver ,and i use them for backspace(browser) copy and paste

But i also use more than 1 computer ,at the moment 5
And of course they have to be controllel from 1 place.
To do this is not easy at the moment but if you are a bit technical it can be done.
Forget about ready made KVM switches ,they  all suck.
I have 2 already lying in the closet and it is time to sell them to someone who uses a normal 3 button mouse (yeach !)
They all lack more than 5 button operation ! so for me that is not acceptable.
Also i have discarded the PS/2 connection a long time ago, the only way to do it right is by USB.
But not the USB on the newer KVM switches since they also emulate only 3 or 5 buttons

So my solution is currectly : a rebuild normal KVM switch to do the VGA switching and an additional added circuit to swich USB ,simple by relays.

The only minor setback is that when switching it takes time for the usb port to properly communicate with the keyboard/mouse.(or more since a hub at the keyboard side is no problem)
I also recently added a reset and on/off switch so no neeed to stand up to power things on.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Peter