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Author Topic: DONE: Toggle mouse acceleration with a simple program  (Read 1706 times)
doctorfrog
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« on: September 02, 2009, 11:24:46 PM »

My annoyance is fairly straightforward, as well as (I would hope) its solution:

I want to toggle this with a hotkey:



THE STORY:

I bought a touchpad for my desktop to combat RSI. It's... ok, I guess. See, the driver that it comes with doesn't actually recognize the touchpad, which means that Windows sees it as a mouse. This isn't a huge problem; it works fine. Though without the driver, it lacks some customizable options, I can live with it. My mouse remains plugged in, since I will be swapping between the two devices based on the tasks I am doing.

The problem is that I now have two devices that run on the same control panel settings, and physically are two devices with different kinds of sensitivity.

The touchpad actually causes more strain without the "Enhance pointer precision," option enabled, since moving the pointer requires repeated 'scrubbing' with the fingers. With the feature enabled, I can move the pointer much more easily while retaining control.

However, this setting is far too sensitive for my mouse, which flies all over the screen like an out of control fighter plane.

To switch devices, I have to launch the Mouse applet, toggle the "Enhance pointer precision" setting manually, then resume using my input device. Without a helpful shortcut, I have to do this many times a day.

PROBLEM: Two pointing devices on one system, one that needs mouse acceleration, the other doesn't. Need an easy way to toggle the "Enhance pointer precision" setting to aid in switching between the two devices.

SOLUTION: A small program that launches, toggles the "Enhance pointer precision" setting from the Mouse control panel applet, and then closes itself. (If the setting is active, it deactivates it. If it's inactive, it activates it.)

Since this is an issue I've found with laptops I've used as well, this could be useful beyond my specific use case. I've often had to resort to touchpad on the go, and later dock, to find that my mouse is flying uncontrollably until I toggle this setting off.

Since I already use a decent hotkey manager, I don't need this to be a running program. Ideally, it would just execute, toggle the setting, and close. I can call upon the program when I need it.

BONUS: The ability to store actual mouse settings as profiles, and toggle in between them with user-configurable hotkeys. This is far beyond my own needs, of course, but this might be a more interesting challenge for some.

Thanks for your time, o programmers of tiny things.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2009, 06:58:25 AM by mouser » Logged
doctorfrog
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« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2009, 11:27:56 PM »

Darn, I think I may have posted in the wrong forum. Mods, can you please move my post to the correct place? I apologize for the mistake. tellme
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skwire
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« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2009, 01:03:32 AM »

Try this:  Mat (Mouse Acceleration Toggler)

1) Unpack archive to a folder of your choice.

2) Run MouseAccelToggler.exe with one of the following switches:

    1) -on       This will turn mouse acceleration on.
    2) -off      This will turn mouse acceleration off.
    3) -toggle   This will toggle mouse acceleration from its current state.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2009, 09:35:21 PM by skwire » Logged

doctorfrog
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« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2009, 01:56:13 AM »

Perfect. Thank you!
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skwire
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« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2009, 02:11:20 AM »

You're welcome.  May I assume it's working for you?  If so, we'll call it done.
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Kamel
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« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2009, 12:16:37 PM »

And I thought I was the only one with these problems haha.

Thanks for this, I too will be using it. If you would like to improve it, I think it would be best improved by having mouse sensitivity and/or acceleration options, and store/load all of them according to which one you're using.

I actually switch between my touchpad and a gaming mouse, so the sensitivity difference is quite substantial. This little app will probably be all that I need to switch between the 2 easily though.
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skwire
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« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2009, 01:34:30 PM »

If you would like to improve it, I think it would be best improved by having mouse sensitivity and/or acceleration options, and store/load all of them according to which one you're using.

Just to clarify, you would like to be able to set the pointer speed value, right?

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doctorfrog
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« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2009, 03:52:58 PM »

If you would like to improve it, I think it would be best improved by having mouse sensitivity and/or acceleration options, and store/load all of them according to which one you're using.

Just to clarify, you would like to be able to set the pointer speed value, right?
 (see attachment in previous post)

Just a quick update: yes, this simple software has solved my problem. However, being able to toggle pointer speed settings would also be preferred, since in my specific case, mouse acceleration isn't quite enough to make the touchpad respond the way I'd like. Instead of simply toggling a single setting, the software would also have to retrieve, store, and apply two alternating speed settings.

I do realize that this would increase the scope of the software, so I choose to be happy with what I have right now, especially since I'm in a little financial difficulty at the moment and don't have a roll of quarters to drop in some kind programmer's bucket.  embarassed
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skwire
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« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2009, 04:11:18 PM »

Just a quick update: yes, this simple software has solved my problem. However, being able to toggle pointer speed settings would also be preferred, since in my specific case, mouse acceleration isn't quite enough to make the touchpad respond the way I'd like. Instead of simply toggling a single setting, the software would also have to retrieve, store, and apply two alternating speed settings.

Adding the speed setting stuff is easy.  Give me a few minutes.

I do realize that this would increase the scope of the software, so I choose to be happy with what I have right now, especially since I'm in a little financial difficulty at the moment and don't have a roll of quarters to drop in some kind programmer's bucket.  embarassed

Please don't ever worry about stuff like this.  I'm happy to help.
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skwire
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« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2009, 05:14:39 PM »

v1.0.1 - 2009-09-27
    + Added ability to set mouse speed.
    * Changed up the parameter syntax.  Please adjust any of your scripts accordingly.

Website | Download

Run MouseAccelToggler.exe with one or both of the following parameters:

    accel=[on|off|toggle]  This will turn mouse acceleration on, off, or toggle its state.
    speed=[1-20]             This will set the mouse speed.
   
    Example:  c:\path\to\MouseAccelToggler.exe accel=on speed=8

Also...if you run the exe without any parameters, it will pop up a box showing your current speed setting.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2009, 08:40:36 PM by skwire » Logged

Kamel
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« Reply #10 on: September 27, 2009, 08:28:21 PM »

Thanks, works just fine cheesy

The popup box is a nice touch as well.

For clarity, you might want to do accel=[on|off|toggle] instead of mode, but not picking, it's perfectly fine as-is
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skwire
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« Reply #11 on: September 27, 2009, 08:40:20 PM »

v1.0.2 - 2009-09-27
    * Changed "mode" to "accel" for more consistency.  (Thanks, Kamel)

Website | Download

« Last Edit: September 27, 2009, 08:42:50 PM by skwire » Logged

doctorfrog
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« Reply #12 on: September 28, 2009, 01:30:29 AM »

Now this was exactly what I needed. Thank you, Skwire!

For what it's worth, I blogged about it here: http://drfrog.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/mat/
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skwire
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« Reply #13 on: September 28, 2009, 05:36:19 AM »

Thanks for the wonderful writeup and kind words about DC.  Much appreciated.  =]
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skwire
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« Reply #14 on: September 28, 2009, 05:43:59 AM »

BTW, I'm a blackbox user myself and downloaded plenty of your styles over the years.  =]
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doctorfrog
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« Reply #15 on: October 01, 2009, 12:18:09 AM »

Cool, I'm actually just now updating to the latest 1.17 of bblean and creating a new suite of styles. I thought I had the latest 1.17, but I guess I've been using an RC of 1.17 for more than six months. Oh, the bugs that I've endured...

I've foregone the Windows shortcuts by now and now call Mat directly from Blackbox hotkeys. Ah, but it's a good time to be alive, and also a nerd.
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