camace Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I want to run one mouse on 2 computers so that I can have a primary machine and a back up runing in sync with each other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 What software do you want to control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camace Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 What software do you want to control? VLC and or powerpoint I cant network as my show machines have had their network cards removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 That's a little inconvenient, isn't it?Perhaps a chat to your IT department is in order, you could request NICs to allow a closed show network to be setup? Other idea if you can do it through keyboard comamnds is a pair of Rosco Keystrokes, or even butcher a couple of keyboards to DPST switches. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCC1996 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Perhaps this, ore one of the other KVM products might work? http://www.maplin.co.uk/2-port-mini-kvm-with-audio-support-35394 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I cant network as my show machines have had their network cards removed Are you sure about this? All of my PCs have their network ports built in to the motherboard and I'd be surprised if your PCs weren't the same. Maybe all you need to do is turn the network port back on in the BIOS. Perhaps this, ore one of the other KVM products might work?Not if you want to run the machines in sync. Almost all KVM switches allow you to control just one of several computers at a time. I think that some old Compaq KVMs allow you to send the same keyboard and mouse commands to more than one computer at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 You could try using a pair of USB network adaptors - then run Multibox to do mouse and keyboard broadcasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Kay Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Would a wireless mouse keyboard with two usb receivers set to the same channels not achieve what you're looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfmonk Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Would a wireless mouse keyboard with two usb receivers set to the same channels not achieve what you're looking for? This would be my suggestion. You will have to get an older style one though (probably one that plugs into the PS2 port!) as the newer USB type ones tend to do some sort of matching in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timd Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 This would be my suggestion. You will have to get an older style one though (probably one that plugs into the PS2 port!) as the newer USB type ones tend to do some sort of matching in my experience. Make that encryption (128 bit on most logitech kit) to foil any remote keyloggers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredfish Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Slightly surprised nobody has mentioned Interspace Industries Master Cue yet, which is designed precisely for controlling multiple computers running PPT / Keynote presentations etc. Admittedly it is just a forward/backward control rather than a full mouse functionality, but I can see pretty serious practical drawbacks in having one device controlling a mouse pointer on two machines simultaneously, think what would happen if the pointers were to end up in even slightly different places because of a computer wobble or otherwise during a show. If you can cope with running VTs or audio clips from within PowerPoint rather than VLC, then this is a robust, industry standard solution to your problem. Edited to add: It turns out that their new Micro Cue systems now come with dual USB ports too, much cheaper than the master cue if you don't need the extra functionality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac.calder Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 The problem with 2 receivers listening to the one remote mouse (or even a PS2 splitter of some description) is what do you do if they get out of sync - all it takes is a few pixels out and all of a sudden one pc is triggering whilst the other isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrV Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 The problem with 2 receivers listening to the one remote mouse (or even a PS2 splitter of some description) is what do you do if they get out of sync - all it takes is a few pixels out and all of a sudden one pc is triggering whilst the other isn't.I think you'd have the same sync problem, even with wired mice. Windows interaction with a mouse is not sufficiently deterministic - each movement from the mouse generates a stream of interrupts. If the processor is busy doing something else it may miss the odd one. This goes completely unnoticed by the human operator as he is part of a closed loop: he always moves the mouse until the pointer has reached the required place and then stops. By trying to run two processors from one mouse you are creating an open loop add-on to the whole system with no way of correcting errors. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueShift Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I'd be doing this with a MIDI controller and Midi split. There are plenty of appropriate controllers, and plenty of software that lets MIDI commands be converted into keystrokes. USB midi interfaces are cheap, and you can extend MIDI a long long way in a variety of ways using cat5 or mic cables Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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