Extending Functionality of Magic Mouse: Do I Need a kext?

Question

I recently purchased a Magic Mouse. It is fantastic and full of potential. Unfortunately, it is seriously hindered by the software support. I want to fix that. I have done q

Answer 1

If you get to that point, you may want to consider the middle click being three fingers on the mouse instead of two. I've thought about this middle click issue with the magic mouse and I notice that I often leave my 2nd finger on the mouse even though I am only pressing for a left click. So a "2 finger" click might be mistaken for a single left click, and it would also require the user more effort in always having to keep the 2nd finger off the mouse. Therefor if it's possible to detect, three fingers would cause less confusion and headaches. I wonder where the first "middle button click" solution will come from, as I am anxious for my middle click Expose feature to return :) Best of luck.

Answer 2

I've implemented a proof-of-concept of userspace customizable multi-touch events wrapper.

You can read about it here: http://aladino.dmi.unict.it/?a=multitouch (see in WaybackMachine)

-- all the best

Answer 3

Sorry I forgot to update this answer, but I ended up figuring out how to inject multitouch and gesture events into the system from userland via Quartz Event Services. I'm not sure how well it survived the Lion update, but you can check out the underlying source code at https://github.com/calftrail/Touch

It requires two hacks: using the private Multitouch framework to get the device input, and injecting undocumented CGEvent structures into Quartz Event Services. It was incredibly fun to figure out how to pull it off, but these days I recommend just buying a Magic Trackpad :-P

Answer 4

How does what is happening in MultitouchSupport.framework differ between the Magic Mouse and a glass trackpad? If it is based on IOKit device properties, I suspect you will need a KEXT that emulates a trackpad but actually communicates with the mouse. Apple have some documentation on Darwin kernel programming and kernel extensions specifically:

• About Kernel Extensions
• Introduction to I/O Kit Device Driver Design Guidelines
• Kernel Programming Guide

(Personally, I'd love something that enabled pinch magnification and more swipe/button gestures; as it is, the Magic Mouse is a functional downgrade from the Mighty Mouse's four buttons and [albeit ever-clogging] 2D scroll wheel. Update: last year I wrote Sesamouse to do just that, and it does NOT need a kext (just a week or two staring at hex dumps :-) See my other answer for the deets and source code.)