Cut the cord
March 23, 2009 11:01 AM Subscribe
Is it possible to hack bluetooth onto a USB keyboard or trackball? Bluetooth dongles that plug into USB are common as dirt, but as I understand it, these only work on the host side. I'm not a pro at this, but I'm not afraid of a little soldering.
Assuming this could be managed at the hardware level, I also wonder how the driver software for the trackball would respond, and what might be done if it doesn't play nice with the bluetoothed hardware.
Assuming this could be managed at the hardware level, I also wonder how the driver software for the trackball would respond, and what might be done if it doesn't play nice with the bluetoothed hardware.
Bluetooth does more than replace wires. There's a whole signing protocol that I wish I understood better. If you add a Bluetooth USB dongle to your computer, the OS will handle the signing on devices. But if you somehow attach the same dongle to a USB device, the USB device won't be able to identify itself and sign on through a strange protocol it has never seen before. Whatever dongle you used would have to have enough smarts to handle the bluetooth protocol and, as box mentioned, handle power which is usually done over USB.
posted by valadil at 11:56 AM on March 23, 2009
posted by valadil at 11:56 AM on March 23, 2009
Here's someone who converted an existing bluetooth audio headset to work with a hearing aid. He's also an electrical engineer who worked on a patent for a bluetooth device.
It is possible, but you'd basically have to cannibalise an existing bluetooth HID (keyboard/mouse) set to get the appropriate parts, which seems to rather defeat the object really.
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:46 PM on March 23, 2009
It is possible, but you'd basically have to cannibalise an existing bluetooth HID (keyboard/mouse) set to get the appropriate parts, which seems to rather defeat the object really.
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:46 PM on March 23, 2009
Look into something like this which will send the USB signal wirelessly.
You could hack bluetooth into it "easily" if it has serial output, but that depends on the trackball. ("Easily" if you're comfortable with circuit bending, microcontrollers and shields like this
Both of these solutions are more expensive than simply buying a new bluetooth trackball.
posted by Ookseer at 3:35 PM on March 23, 2009
You could hack bluetooth into it "easily" if it has serial output, but that depends on the trackball. ("Easily" if you're comfortable with circuit bending, microcontrollers and shields like this
Both of these solutions are more expensive than simply buying a new bluetooth trackball.
posted by Ookseer at 3:35 PM on March 23, 2009
You could probably do it if you gutted a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and directly wired those guts to the inputs of your current keyboard, but I don't know how compatible the two may be let alone how much work is involved.
Are you trying to save money or do you really like your current keyboard and mouse?
posted by wongcorgi at 4:39 PM on March 23, 2009
Are you trying to save money or do you really like your current keyboard and mouse?
posted by wongcorgi at 4:39 PM on March 23, 2009
I think you want this. Terrible title. Great book for exactly this kind of thing.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:28 PM on March 23, 2009
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:28 PM on March 23, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by adamrice at 11:22 AM on March 23, 2009