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Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Switching mon focus w multiple mice/keyboards
Peter_H   2008-01-20 07:27
Does anybody know of a helper app that will allow me to assign multiple USB-connected pairs of keyboard/mice sets to a monitor? So when I press, say, F9 on keyboard3, the cursor moves to monitor3 and it becomes the active monitor?

It's a shame that Windows doesn't support multiple cursors :( [It would be more sociable if it did... Imagine collaborating where you and a friend can both have a mouse. Or kids learning together by playing an interactive game. Or the productivity boost of having a mouse in each hand!]

I'm attempting to emulate a pseudo multi-user system, where a number of rooms in the house have their own vid/kbd/mouse all running off the one machine.

Pete,
Wellington, New Zealand.
ecarlson   2008-01-20 14:23
You could just have all the monitors cloned so they display the same image everywhere. You can hook up multiple USB mice, and they can all move the same cursor (I have 2 hooked up now, and can use either one or even both -- I just tried moving the cursor with one and clicking with the other,and I tried moving both at the same time, and it works fine), but I haven't tried multiple USB keyboards to see if that will work too.

- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
Peter_H   2008-01-26 08:28
Since paying a video fullscreen uses around 5-10% CPU, I was wanting to be able for the user in each room to be able to independently play their own video, and select the music for their room (Multiple copies of MediaMonkey outputting to different soundcards).

Pete,
Wellington, New Zealand.
Peter_H   2008-01-26 09:20
I guess it could be simpler, with no need to distinguish between different mice or keyboards:

Set up some global hotkeys, so that...
Alt-1: Ultramon switches active monitor to Mon1, mouse cursor is moved Mon1, and cursor is restricted to Mon1.
Alt-2: Ultramon switches active monitor to Mon2, mouse cursor is moved Mon2, and cursor is restricted to Mon2.

Any suggestions as to how to "glue" those separate functions together...with what software? (Would be great if UltraMon could do this by itself - I'm going to the wishlist now....:)

Pete,
Wellington, New Zealand.
Peter_H   2008-01-26 09:26
OK, so after a little more browsing, I found this in the Ultramon "Other features" list:

"Various hotkeys are available:

* Move window to next/previous or primary monitor
* Maximize window to monitor or desktop
* Center mouse on primary monitor
* Move mouse to next/previous monitor
* Disable or enable secondary monitors
* Launch screen saver
* Run application or script
* Launch UltraMon shortcut
* Apply display profile
* Lock mouse to active window or primary monitor "

So I guess I'll be delving into scripting with Ultramon....

Pete,
Wellington, New Zealand.
ecarlson   2008-01-27 08:37
Sounds like you want to enable one monitor as primary while simultaneously disabling all other monitors via a hotkey. Can UltraMon help with that?

If you want to do it with hardware, just get a Reverse KVM. I just Googled, and discovered that there are many available.

- Eric, www.InvisibleRobot.com
Peter_H   2008-01-27 21:20
"...to enable one monitor as primary while simultaneously disabling all other monitors via a hotkey":

Not sure. Only if it allows a video on a disabled monitor to keep playing & displaying, when switching.

Thanks for the Reverse KVM tip. I'll check it out.

Pete,
Wellington, New Zealand.
Forums -> Multiple monitors -> Switching mon focus w multiple mice/keyboards

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