Hardware hacks have some thing in widespread with renovations that involve getting down a wall: right up until a person truly will get started off and opens matters up, there’s no telling what type of troubles may possibly be lurking. [voussoir] has a challenge that demonstrates this properly: modifying a rechargeable mouse to use USB-C as a substitute of micro-B turned out to have very a couple of small glitches in the process. In simple fact, changing the real receptacle was the easiest component!
On 1 hand, the mouse in dilemma appears to be like a best prospect for straightforward modification. The enclosure is not way too really hard to open, there is sufficient room inside, and USB is employed only for recharging the battery. So what was the problem? The trouble is something common to anyone who has worked on modifying an existing piece of hardware: current areas are boundaries to hacking function, and some are less very easily modified than other people.
In [voussoir]’s scenario, the 1st minor glitch was that the compact PCB web hosting the authentic mini-B receptacle experienced a screw hole in it, employed to retain it safe through repeated plugging and unplugging. Ensuring the new USB-C receptacle applied the identical screw was a bit of a discomfort, but soon after working with that there was an additional situation: [voussoir] experienced mounted the new USB-C receptacle flush with the plastic of the mouse, but that didn’t allow a cable to seat thoroughly. The receptacle essential to protrude a bit, or the charging cable couldn’t plug in significantly sufficient. Back to the workbench, and so it went for a couple of far more iterations.
The modification was in the end effective, but the ordeal demonstrates how possessing to function around bodily style and design constraints can bring unanticipated difficulties. It is poor enough when 1 is just earning a insignificant hardware tweak to an existing mouse, let on your own totally recreating vintage Apple mice patterns for modern-day computer systems.