[Psycogeec]

I use one of those "expert mouse" trackball things PS2 connected, best input device for me that i have ever found, after trying many many mouse items of all sorts.

The Acceleration Curves drive me up the wall. more like hop skip and jump curves. i really want an acceleration curve, but not a bad one.
So first i apply the XP tweak mouse acceleration curve remover off of the OS (get that normalised), then i found a way on the web to alter the curves for the kensignton MOUSE WORKS software (not the trackball stuff which only works with USB connected mouses).

but the web instructions only provided ONE new curve :-(
so i used that information and came up with many many fun Crasy curves that work.
then i ran them into a visual curve generator to smooth them out and insure they are still smooth curves.

so here is my curves.
<Multipliers>1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 19, 25, 32, 40, 50</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 17, 23, 30, 38, 47, 57</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 18, 27, 40, 60, 90, 135</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 31, 35</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 6, 12, 18, 25, 35, 50, 70, 90, 95, 100</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 24, 35, 50, 70, 95, 120</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 30, 50, 70, 95, 120, 150, 190</Multipliers>
<Multipliers>1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 150, 170, 190, 200</Multipliers>

to USE this stuff for the kensignton trackball (PS2):
find the "preferances" file thing that gets saved in your USER area.
C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Application Data\Kensington\MouseWorks
File Name is KMW_Preferences.xml (or just search to find that file).

after editing this file with your new curve things you run kmw_prb_xml.exe
which is found in default location of C:\Program Files\Kensington\MouseWorks

Then you run the mouse control pannel thing , and go to the acceleration tab, and as you move to different Fast-slow levels you should see these Crasy new curves. (probably should have the control pannel closed when editing. as this file gets saved out as preferances)

many caveats (as usual) that i dont know how to deal with yet:
1) you have to have fine tuning on to see the graphs, but adjusting the fine tuning items will save over the graph items :-( ruining it. you do NOT need to adjust the fine tuning (fast slow), when you do it will go back to defaults, and it will mess up the customisations. it may look like fine tuning needs adjustment, it doesnt, just change the top slider (level) and you will get an ample quantity of graphs.

2) helps to switch to "standard pannel" in kensington tab, then run mouse control pannel again, and set the STANDARD pannel pointer speed to its Lowest, and certannly remove the checkmark on Enhanced Precision, you dont need that curve conflicting and adding in curve.
Then switch back to the kensignton pannel

3) you might Loose your changes, so make a copy of the prefs file

4) remember for some reason you have to run that preferances inserter thing kmw_prb_xml.exe .

5) if you move the wrong things, it will set back to defaults, and you will have to make the changes again, hence the copy

6) if you get to crasy with the numbers (numbers to high) they will reset to ZERO , and you will have an even weirder curve.

that is as far as i got.

Input device , most important thing on the computer , if your going to do anything :-)
some of the curves are usefull for some games i play, some of them are more usefull for the desktop, some of them are just messing with MATH and trying to get a more mathamatical type of curve, instead of flawed humanistic one.

Other STUFF:
when updating XP to SP3 microsoft messed up whatever changes had been previously made, and installed thier intellipoint driver on it. reinstalling the kensington driver was needed.
when updating XP MS reset the normal OS Mouse Curve i had tweaked , and i had to do that tweak again

Because the "standard pannel" pointer speed adjustment is "added" or mixed up with the kensignton driver, if you dont get enough speed you can potentially crank up the standard speed . If you have way to much speed, then the Standard settings are probably to high.

the "Sample Rate" as set in the mouse driver (device manager) for PS2 type mices can change things.
(longer explaination) I downloaded a program that was supposed to display the max sample rate of the mouse-driver-connection, and it claimed 80-82max, but everytime i switched to 200 samples per sec , things changed anyways??
I get a much better "feeling" from the mouse with the samples set to 200 , even though the testing software said it doesnt do that??

I use the mouse in the PS2 only because it is avilable in the bios, and it Seems to use less "resources" than any other methods. i have no idea how or if this would work for USB or wireless items, and it is only for the Mouse Works software not the new trackball software.
.

[Kowalski3500]

Interesting. I wasn't even aware of the capability of modifying the way an input device moves the cursor, aside from simple sensitivity controls.

What do you find so advantageous about the trackball that you can't achieve with a normal mouse? I'm curious cause I've never had any problems, but maybe it's because I've never really tried anything else. I've messed with a trackball but never adjusted any settings, and found it so different to what I was used to that I didn't even give it a chance.

[Psycogeec]

not just any trackball, i tried other trackballs and they didnt work for me.
i figured i needed one like the 5 Inch Steel ball that is in the Arcade Game machines. http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=112523
enough Mass , and good enough bearings to achieve momentum throws , and to really dig in with a whole hand (sorta thing).
after realising that interfacing an arcade into my desktop wouldnt get me everything, i searched out the fattest Ball i could find.
and this 2.5inch CUE ball would just about work, it has the weight, and just needs some far better bearings, but they tried.

i had limited space on a roll out keyboard desk, so not really enough space for a mouse to begin with.
and i Have hated mices from the beginning, first it was dirty balls, then it was stickey feet, many mod types for the feet and the pads, but never precision rolling with light touch, and my hand would get sore after many hours.
plus i always wanted at least 5 buttons, scroll wheels, side buttons, all configurable, i had more shortcuts on my mouse than my keyboard :-)

Then i tried Touchpads, couldnt get over the Extra click required for ANY 1 thing, i didnt want an extra anything required to do stuff. touchpads after full configuration had awesome scrolling capability great click , but drove me up the wall with clicks drags and i use a lot of right click.

Then i tried "air mouse" too, that was fun, but the interface takes to much resources and wouldnt work well in games also. still working on that.

it was the only thing that AFTER i adopted to its interface i didnt want to throw it out (like all the others) I kept my last great mouse connected ready to switch to at a moments notice, but then never switched back.

i still do maintanance to it regularly, cleaning the ball and even waxing it, but i dont have to take a screw out anymore to do that.

so now i got the Q-Ball or is it the 8-ball :-)