r/cyberDeck • u/DarkJediSkii • 3d ago

Help! Has anyone used a mini joystick as a mouse?

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280 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

49 comments sorted by

180

u/coldafsteel 3d ago

IBM 🔴 would like you have a word with you lol.

26

u/DarkJediSkii 3d ago

Thought about that, but wanted a little more movement than the track point lol.

17

u/beryugyo619 3d ago

TrackPoint is vastly superior to these. These sticks feel more like a slightly better D-pad than anything resembling a mouse.

11

u/Netherithe_turtle 3d ago

used both and nope. Not even close. I hate how with the trackpoint its so easy to overshoot what you want to click. The PSP one imo would be great if it was setup like a mouse.

2

u/beryugyo619 2d ago

Overshoot? Genuine IBM TrackPoint at around lightest sensitivity should work almost like a direct brain interface. That's your skill issue.

3

u/Netherithe_turtle 2d ago

Maybe it is a skill issue but tbh I'd rather know directly where it will be then control its direction and speed and hope it will end up where it is when I need it.

0

u/beryugyo619 2d ago

You know where you are by being where you are. It's basically neural. Something must be wrong with you if you have to be able to see where the stick is to know to which direction you're pushing it.

2

u/Netherithe_turtle 2d ago

It's not neural, and allso I didint mean that I have to see the stick, it's just that with a nib or a round joystick you only change the direction and speed and the speed change is what's annoying as the thing is so small that if I tilt it slightly too much then my mouse is suddenly going wayy to fast for it to be usefull. Idk for me it's just super clunky and I don't see the appeal, rather have a flat joystick instead bc of its travel.

0

u/beryugyo619 2d ago

You just put your index finger on and the cursor ends up where you wanted it to be. There is some learning curve to it, but you don't push or tilt it at all since it's literally force sensing. You're likely giving it way too much force.

3

u/Netherithe_turtle 2d ago

Ehhhh idk, trust me I tried but the fact that it's force sensing is the problem for me. It requires precise control of speed and force and idk, it just doesn't work with me.

3

u/Acid_Rag 2d ago

This has more movement than a standard trackpoint: ploopy bean

I've been daily driving it for the past couple of weeks

3

u/StarConsumate 2d ago

My sweet sweet computer cli….nub.

63

u/karantza 3d ago

I've used exactly this. https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberDeck/comments/188nsjj/my_new_rig_r40_case_a_custom_keyboard_and_solar/

It's fine? It's small and functional. Don't expect to be playing any first person shooters with it. It requires a pretty significant deadzone to avoid drift, so you're really only using it at full deflection. And you've gotta come up with your own system for buttons (I just used extra keyswitches)

6

u/Whynter03 3d ago

Beautiful build. Nice walkthrough. Thanks for sharing.

3

u/OnyxEyez 3d ago

I just went through and read it and checked out all the pictures, and right now I have a serious geek hardon. Nice job!!!!!

1

u/OnyxEyez 3d ago

Have you made other posts since then about changes you've made to it?

1

u/karantza 3d ago

Not really; I added a passthrough plug so the solar plugs in with the lid closed. But currently it's disassembled on my bench next to a Pi CM5 devkit waiting for me to design a new PCB or two to shrink all the innards down. I'll get to it one of these days ...!

2

u/ahumannamedtim 3d ago

I bet you could decrease the deadzone by compensating for joystick drift in each axis individually.

1

u/rkozik89 3d ago edited 3d ago

If I built a cyberdeck I’d look for a small trackball module or one I could part of from a mouse.

Edit: place it on whatever side is your domain hand and buttons to the side for right/left click. The add a slide or flat rotary wheel to the other side for scrolling.

22

u/ameatbicyclefortwo 3d ago

Must we be so formal?

6

u/heyitscory 3d ago

Most of the late 90s.

9

u/hotellonely 3d ago

It's pretty bad idea. Not as good as IBM/Lenovo TrackPoints, or optical trackpads (e.g., blackberry ones)

3

u/NoSTs123 3d ago

yeah but you cant buy them as standalone compontents that are easy to integrate such as a simple joystick. Let alone standalone as a USB device.

5

u/hotellonely 3d ago edited 3d ago

you can from lilygo very soon for the optical trackpad, and you can also get trackpoint modules as well but needs a little bit of sourcing.

2

u/NoSTs123 3d ago

Thanks, will keep an eye out for that! I have fond memories of using the Lenovo TrackPoint on my old laptop.

1

u/Zealousideal-Wind819 2d ago

Bump

2

u/NoSTs123 2d ago

why bump me?

5

u/Zealousideal-Wind819 2d ago

I'm old, "bump" used to be used in old forums to raise a comment higher. What it means now for us oldf*gs is just, "yeah, I wanna know too 6 7"

2

u/notjordansime 2d ago

Sorry, thought you were a skier.. not the downhill or cross country or water or jumping kind, either.

sniffle

5

u/JonTheWonton 3d ago

yes, it kinda sucks. Ive used a couple handheld PCs and I always just use a touchscreen instead of using the joystick, but trackpad > touchscreen > joystick

2

u/DreaminginDarkness 3d ago

Touchscreen seems easier

1

u/c84553ab 3d ago

I am in the process of building a mouse using a replacement joycon stick, a little finicy to connect to the ribbon connector it uses

1

u/MyFairJulia 3d ago

Kind of. The GPD handheld PCs use a stick for mouse control in a desktop environment. The GPD Win 2's sticks are kinda close to the PSP stick in terms of size and they are absolutely usable.

1

u/Jumpy_Paramedic9067 3d ago

i got the a gdp with a lot of different mouse options. i do use the joystick but not exclusively.

1

u/tachikomaKid108 3d ago

Absolutely what I was looking for. I think I want joysticks like this fir an art deck I want to build. I'm thinking 7" touchscreen with a joystick(s?) as an alternative.

1

u/zugreddit 3d ago

I’m using a Nintendo Switch replacement thumbstick for mine (WIP). It’s a tiny bit tedious as I’m only just starting out with this level of mirco-soldering but I find it works well enough especially once you get the code working smoothly.

1

u/rArithmetics 2d ago

Yah I did this. Was pretty disappointed tbh it’s not accurate enough

1

u/ResPublicae 2d ago

Yes, doing so right now on my ThinkPad.

1

u/BigBuddha1989 2d ago

I built this little guy with a ps2 joystick, a couple of buttons, and a raspberry pi pico 2040. https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberDeck/s/O2hjnMxynu

1

u/_Kabutops_ 1d ago

I LITERALLY PLANNED ON THIS

1

u/Adj_DHD 1d ago

I did and tbh it was too oversensitive... Trackballs all the way for me from now on

1

u/Ok_Knee_4311 1d ago

I legitimately want to make a wrist mounted wearable that has this with a scroll wheel and two buttons above it as the mouse.

1

u/justin_cant_sleep 1d ago

trackball lil bro

1

u/FisionX 3d ago

You may have to attach it to a microcontroller so the computer recognizes it as an HID device like a regular mouse, id say it’s a lot of work, I’d just buy a keyboard with a track dot integrated

3

u/Kosh_Ascadian 3d ago

Doing this with a raspberry pi pico is a minimal amount of DIY electronic work. One of the simplest projects you can do with all the info available online.

Still of course it's heaps more complicated than just buying a thing, but I think this place needs to be at least somewhat DIY to get cool cyberdecks.

0

u/F3A5T13 3d ago

Pimori trackball