i’m planning to add some leds to some mice soon and was looking around for a guide to cracking open an apple pro mouse, and here it is. the upcoming project will add lights to just about any mouse, not that it’s needed, but hey, why not.
I agree with the other comment–there’s a bit more snappin’ breakin’ and glue’in going on there than I like. For a do-or-die repair maybe, but to add lights, it’s a bit of a kludge. Good info though–I’ve often wondered whether its worth the trouble and this article saved me some exploratory surgery.
i mean, if it takes breaking several holds, cutting the cord and using a saw?!! >_< Not a good idea.
Yes yes, we can open up and destroy our mice. Now, where’s the part about doing something cool with it? A great hack would be some way to add a right-click button, but that may require a little bit more hardware/driver hacking than it’s worth.
if you’re going to hack a mouse, why bother with an Apple one? It’s a well known fact that Apple’s mice are all form over function, with a definite emphasis on the lack of function. So why not get a mouse that will actually be worthwhile to hack?
I’ve actually done this hack myself on a white pro mouse, and I didn’t use a saw, nor did I cut the cable. :P
I replaced the red led with a blue one. Perhaps I can take a pic and post it.
The problem is, I’m having a hard time finding a surface that the blue led tracks well on. It’s quite inferior to the stock red one I have. :(
Yeah… well. I guess that could be because the sensor works with red light. And since LEDs are pretty monochrome there’s not much red light from a blue LED to work with.
Speak about form over function… ;-)
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wow, that seems like a helluva lot more work that it’s worth.