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  3. Looking for Software Recommendations: Sharing a mouse/keyboard between PC/Mac

Looking for Software Recommendations: Sharing a mouse/keyboard between PC/Mac

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  • D Dan Neely

    For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

    Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

    R Offline
    R Offline
    Ron Anders
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    Stardock synergy?

    L A 2 Replies Last reply
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    • D Dan Neely

      The same way mousing from one monitor to the next works. 0) Install the software on both computers. 1) Set your config so that Computer 1 is to the left of computer 2. 2) Then when your mouse cursor reaches the rightmost edge of computer 1's screen the software on comp1 starts intercepting and sending mouse and keyboard data to computer 2 which sends keyboard/mouse input commands to that systems OS. 3) Then when you attempt to mouse past the leftmost edge of computer 2's screen it stops sending the input too computer 2 and allows computer 1 to handle it again. The one I used years ago also shared the clipboard contents the same way. Under the hood I suspect in windows it just used global input hooks to capture the user input, that's what I did when I wrote an app to send them to another system over RS232 (yay for proprietary input standards on custom hardware). I'm not sure if you can inject the input the same way or would need to write a driver to do so. I never looked into the technical details though; it just worked.

      Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

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      CodeWraith
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      Did he not write something like one computer being a PC and the other being a Mac?

      I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

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      • C CodeWraith

        Between the lines I thought I read 'WIN laptop and mac'. He would need these services on both.

        I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
        Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
        wrote on last edited by
        #15

        Just right... There are solutions for that...

        Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

        "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

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        • C CodeWraith

          Between the lines I thought I read 'WIN laptop and mac'. He would need these services on both.

          I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
          Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          YouTube[^]

          Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

          "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

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          • C CodeWraith

            Did he not write something like one computer being a PC and the other being a Mac?

            I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

            D Offline
            D Offline
            Dan Neely
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            Yes I did.

            Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

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            • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

              OriginalGriff wrote:

              not too sure how that would work

              It works as a master-slave service-ring... However in contrasts to the hardware solution you have to have separate monitors for each computer...

              Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

              OriginalGriffO Offline
              OriginalGriffO Offline
              OriginalGriff
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

              You can get KM switches which are a lot cheaper than the KVM versions, if you want separate monitors (which can help, and can be confusing, all at the same time!). I'd certainly prefer it to the software solution, if only because it'll work even if the master computer isn't switched on, or even working.

              Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

              "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
              "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

              Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK 1 Reply Last reply
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              • D Dan Neely

                For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                J Offline
                J Offline
                Jorgen Andersson
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                Use a virtual machine. :~

                Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

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                • D Dan Neely

                  Yes I did.

                  Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  CodeWraith
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

                  Oooops. :-) Sorry, I was distracted by the boss. He rambled about something he calls work.

                  I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

                  D 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • J Jorgen Andersson

                    Use a virtual machine. :~

                    Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello

                    D Offline
                    D Offline
                    Dan Neely
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

                    A VM can't: 0) use the screen in my second laptop. 1) Be OSX on my PC. 2) Have access to all of my configured windows software on my PC if running on the mac. 3) Run acceptably fast as a windows VM on the old macbook I've got.

                    Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                    OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • R Ron Anders

                      Stardock synergy?

                      L Offline
                      L Offline
                      Lost User
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      Synergy - Mouse and Keyboard Sharing Software - Symless[^] Here is a link for the lazy among us... ;P

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                      • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                        You can get KM switches which are a lot cheaper than the KVM versions, if you want separate monitors (which can help, and can be confusing, all at the same time!). I'd certainly prefer it to the software solution, if only because it'll work even if the master computer isn't switched on, or even working.

                        Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                        Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        ...and a nice reliable cable solutions cost half of the price of the supported (not free) version of the software one...

                        Skipper: We'll fix it. Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this? Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.

                        "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • C CodeWraith

                          Oooops. :-) Sorry, I was distracted by the boss. He rambled about something he calls work.

                          I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

                          D Offline
                          D Offline
                          Dan Neely
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          Ugh, how rude. :rolleyes:

                          Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                          C 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • D Dan Neely

                            For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                            Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                            R Offline
                            R Offline
                            Ravi Bhavnani
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #25

                            Remote desktop? /ravi

                            My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

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                            • D Dan Neely

                              Ugh, how rude. :rolleyes:

                              Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                              C Offline
                              C Offline
                              CodeWraith
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              Not really. A good boss was just what I needed after some really bad ones.

                              I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

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                              • D Dan Neely

                                A VM can't: 0) use the screen in my second laptop. 1) Be OSX on my PC. 2) Have access to all of my configured windows software on my PC if running on the mac. 3) Run acceptably fast as a windows VM on the old macbook I've got.

                                Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                                OriginalGriffO Offline
                                OriginalGriffO Offline
                                OriginalGriff
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                Well, if you're going to be picky ... :laugh:

                                Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                                "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                                "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

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                                • D Dan Neely

                                  For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                                  Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                                  S Offline
                                  S Offline
                                  S Douglas
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  I've used Synergy in the past, works well (Im now using Mouses without boarders from MS) [Synergy - Mouse and Keyboard Sharing Software - Symless](https://symless.com/synergy)


                                  Common sense is admitting there is cause and effect and that you can exert some control over what you understand.

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                                  • D Dan Neely

                                    For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                                    Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                                    M Offline
                                    M Offline
                                    Marc Clifton
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    As others have recommended, Synergy. Awesome product.

                                    Latest Article - Code Review - What You Can Learn From a Single Line of Code Learning to code with python is like learning to swim with those little arm floaties. It gives you undeserved confidence and will eventually drown you. - DangerBunny Artificial intelligence is the only remedy for natural stupidity. - CDP1802

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                                    • D Dan Neely

                                      For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                                      Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                                      K Offline
                                      K Offline
                                      Kris Dekeyser
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      It's not free, but not expensive either: I have been using Synergy for years for exactly the same purpose. It now costs $19 for the basic version, which is probably what you want. The Pro version for $49 will get you also clipboard sharing (and a lot of other things which are still in development), but for the basic keyboard/mouse sharing the cheapest version should be fine. I believe they have a money-back guarantee too. If you really want to squeeze out the last penny, the source code for the core component is available on GitHub. You will have to compile the C++ code yourself and check out the docs and code to find out how to configure it. I would probably go with the 1.8.8 version in that case.

                                      - Kris

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                                      • D Dan Neely

                                        For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                                        Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                                        R Offline
                                        R Offline
                                        R Steyn
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        Try Synergy

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                                        • D Dan Neely

                                          For my sins I'm currently splitting my working time between two computers but don't have room on my desk for 2 keyboards (and would rather just use one anyway); is there something - preferably free - I can install to share them between the two systems? It doesn't matter (much) if the keyboard and mouse are plugged into my windows laptop or the mac.

                                          Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

                                          W Offline
                                          W Offline
                                          whogotmyname
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          Back in the day, I used "Synergy" for that. It worked then, but have not used it in years... AFAIK it still exists in a free version though.

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