The video in the Readme is well worth watching. I expected some kind of clicking to enable the kvm and switch devices. This is moving your mouse and keypresses across devices instantly. While I like Synergy, a hardware solution would work without much software and potentially much configuration.
DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
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Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#12I recently had the idea of making similar hardware with ESP32 (some of them has USB hardware). You may lose mouse acceleration, but many do not like this to begin with, so it's fine.
Does absolute mouse work correctly when two systems have very different (total) resolution? For example, one is a laptop with a single screen, and another one is a desktop with three screens.
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#13> Ever tried to move that YT video slider to a specific position but your mouse moves too jumpy and suddenly you are moving your hand super-carefully like you're 5 and playing "Operation" all over again?
On YouTube specifically, you can scrub through a video frame-by-frame using the , (comma) and . (period) keys, no custom hardware required. :-)
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#14Seriously, if any VC is reading this, get this man some funding to make it a real project. Even at double or triple what it costs, it's still cheaper than any other commercial competitor.
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#15Seriously, if any VC is reading this, get this man some funding to make it a real project. Even at double or triple what it costs, it's still cheaper than any other commercial competitor.
Not every cool project needs to be a startup.
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#16I bought 4 USB hubs just to switch the keyboard and mouse, it's just so annoying how most devices are so terrible. Randomly you have to physically detach the hub several times a day. If you plug webcams and/or USB mics, it only gets even worse. I'm using Synergy software and it works well, but I still want a proper KVM that can allow for webcams, mics, audio, etc. Features like moving only a group of plugged devices…
> KVM users are underserved for sure. 100% I want to share keyboard, mouse and monitor between a PC and a MacBook. A KVM with DP+USB on one side and Thunderbolt on the other doesn’t seem to exist.. I feel like this has to be a common use case :( I know I could break out on a dock first, but I have a particularly high-res monitor which most of the docks baulk at, or only support at 30Hz
Closest I’ve found is manually switching the machine plugged into a TB 4/USB 4 dock (CalDigit TS4), with the cables for each computer being managed when unplugged by a magnetic cable pad[0].
It’s a bit clunky but not too bad once you have a feel for swapping cables and is less flaky than the more affordable KVMs I’ve tried. Gets me a nicer port loadout to share between machines too, and can be expanded to support as many computers as you’ve got space and patience for.
This does however assume all machines involved can handle outputting a display signal via Thunderbolt or USB C. Not too much of an issue with laptops but it’s still unusual for desktop PCs to have their GPUs hooked up to support TB/USB alt modes.
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#17Seriously, if any VC is reading this, get this man some funding to make it a real project. Even at double or triple what it costs, it's still cheaper than any other commercial competitor.
Not every cool project needs to be a startup.
This. So much this. It's also really cool as a 'niche' project, and felt even approachable to someone like me who hasn't ever done more soldering than his first PS1 and a modchip.
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#18> All I wanted was a way to use a keyboard shortcut to quickly switch outputs, paired with the ability to do the same by magically moving the mouse pointer between monitors.
Most KVM switches have a keyboard shortcut (mine is scroll lock, scroll lock, 1/2). Mine also supports the mouse based switching but it's unusable because to work it needs to emulate a mouse with zero acceleration. Also this doesn't switch video.
I've had the same idea tbh but the inability to switch video and the software complexity put me off. A KVM switch is better (except the cost).
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#19> Ever tried to move that YT video slider to a specific position but your mouse moves too jumpy and suddenly you are moving your hand super-carefully like you're 5 and playing "Operation" all over again? On YouTube specifically, you can scrub through a video frame-by-frame using the , (comma) and . (period) keys, no custom hardware required. :-)
Anything between 30 seconds and 1 frame is impossible.
Re: DeskHop – Fast Desktop Switching
#20I recently had the idea of making similar hardware with ESP32 (some of them has USB hardware). You may lose mouse acceleration, but many do not like this to begin with, so it's fine. Does absolute mouse work correctly when two systems have very different (total) resolution? For example, one is a laptop with a single screen, and another one is a desktop with three screens.
How does absolute mouse work? The mouse hw just reports delta x/y and has no idea how the corners of your screen map to your desk surface. So it sounds like special hw. or very frequent recalibration of “corners” after moving mouse when machine is off or lifting+moving (which would essentially be what would happen when using it on machine 2)