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Hacking Two Finger Right Click on Powerbook

Sorry about the title

Sorry about that...anyway no, my powerbook is September 2005...any other options?
 
I guess you're looking for a way to get the MBP's 2 finger right click onto a PowerBook?
 
I think the OP wants to know if there is any software avalible, that will give him the ability to do the 2 finger click that MBP's can do.
I havent seen one, but im sure there will be one eventually. The problem really isint a hardware problem, but a software one (as long as your notebook supports 2 finger scrolling).
 
Laser47 said:
I think the OP wants to know if there is any software avalible, that will give him the ability to do the 2 finger click that MBP's can do.
I havent seen one, but im sure there will be one eventually. The problem really isint a hardware problem, but a software one (as long as your notebook supports 2 finger scrolling).
Click to expand...

That's funny that iScroll lets me have that on my ADB-based PowerBook, but not on the latter USB-based PowerBooks. Long live Apple Desktop Bus!!!
 
dpaanlka said:
That's funny that iScroll lets me have that on my ADB-based PowerBook, but not on the latter USB-based PowerBooks. Long live Apple Desktop Bus!!!
Click to expand...

I think the problem is that creating the support for the USB trackpad is like starting over and making a new driver. Raging Menace did that for Sidetrack (Sidetrack works on Macs with scrolling trackpads). Of course that's an entirely different setup (scrolling on the edges and corner taps if you want for extra mouse buttons).

P.S. Link to Sidetrack -- probably still not what you want, but an option...
 
I've been running an early version of iScroll since it came out on my 12" PowerBook. It came out around the same time as scrolling trackpads in PowerBooks, and was intended to add that capability to older PowerBooks and iBooks. Anyway, it's had two-finger click the whole time. However, it's not really very good, because if you hold two fingers on the trackpad and then click the mouse button, but leave your fingers down, as soon as you lift your fingers the contextual menu you just brought up will go away. At least that's how it works with the version of iScroll I've got. I've not bothered to install the later versions with a preference pane and installer, anyone know if this behavior has been changed/fixed?
 
mduser63 said:
I've been running an early version of iScroll since it came out on my 12" PowerBook. It came out around the same time as scrolling trackpads in PowerBooks, and was intended to add that capability to older PowerBooks and iBooks. Anyway, it's had two-finger click the whole time. However, it's not really very good, because if you hold two fingers on the trackpad and then click the mouse button, but leave your fingers down, as soon as you lift your fingers the contextual menu you just brought up will go away. At least that's how it works with the version of iScroll I've got. I've not bothered to install the later versions with a preference pane and installer, anyone know if this behavior has been changed/fixed?
Click to expand...

it works beautifully for me. Better than the Apple version in fact. Except for an occassional glitch where the cursor just wants to drift up to a corner no matter what you do(fixes itself by going to sleep and coming back out).

I wonder if its your double click preferences stuffing things up. Theres plenty of prefs to play around with, perhaps the answer's in there somewhere. On another note, I have found sidetrack to be sluggish and awkward in comparison.
 
I probably ought to try iScroll at some point. I think the sluggish and awkward thing though has to do with first used... I started using Sidetrack a couple of years before iScroll was created. But I really do like the idea Apple came up with, and think it's more intuitive than what the Wintel world did (and what Sidetrack does). So eventually I'll probably make the switch. Just not sure if that'll be when I get a MacBook, or sooner.

The other thing I wonder in regard to the prefs issue you mention is... with Sidetrack, I get a Sidetrack prefs pane (at the bottom of the Prefs window with the other add-on panes) that supercedes the trackpad prefs pane. The trackpad prefs pane is still there, including all its settings for whether the trackpad responds to gestures, etc. But as far as I know, none of these settings does anything for me while Sidetrack is running.

Is it possible that the issue that was being described stems from a conflict between what was selected in the trackpad pane (from before iScroll was installed) and what is selected in iScroll's prefs pane (if it does the same thing as Sidetrack and has a separate prefs pane)?
 
mkrishnan said:
I probably ought to try iScroll at some point. I think the sluggish and awkward thing though has to do with first used... I started using Sidetrack a couple of years before iScroll was created. But I really do like the idea Apple came up with, and think it's more intuitive than what the Wintel world did (and what Sidetrack does). So eventually I'll probably make the switch. Just not sure if that'll be when I get a MacBook, or sooner.

The other thing I wonder in regard to the prefs issue you mention is... with Sidetrack, I get a Sidetrack prefs pane (at the bottom of the Prefs window with the other add-on panes) that supercedes the trackpad prefs pane. The trackpad prefs pane is still there, including all its settings for whether the trackpad responds to gestures, etc. But as far as I know, none of these settings does anything for me while Sidetrack is running.

Is it possible that the issue that was being described stems from a conflict between what was selected in the trackpad pane (from before iScroll was installed) and what is selected in iScroll's prefs pane (if it does the same thing as Sidetrack and has a separate prefs pane)?
Click to expand...

iScroll has no effect on trackpad speed, nor does it even have options to change it. Also, it's scrolling features have many levels of sensitivitiy and speed etc for you to customize to your content.
 
i've got a 17" powerbook from jan of this year. would iscroll be my best bet to get the two finger right click?
 
billchase2 said:
i've got a 17" powerbook from jan of this year. would iscroll be my best bet to get the two finger right click?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that, if your powerbook already has a scrolling trackpad, iScroll is not an option for you.
 
hmm... okay, so then are there any other options on getting the two finger right click? something that would work on my PB?
 
billchase2 said:
hmm... okay, so then are there any other options on getting the two finger right click? something that would work on my PB?
Click to expand...

I don't think so....

Although for any other souls wandering here, there is one more opportunity...that still won't work for you, Bill. 🙁

http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?showtopic=17685&pid=118022&st=20&#

(This is a solution for MBP's that shipped before Apple started including the two finger tap... AFAIK it does not work if you have a PPC-based Powerbook.)
 
billchase2 said:
i ended up just using this for now. thanks for posting about it.
Click to expand...

No probs. I actually started using it on my iMac's wireless mouse too. 🙂 There had been an application that dated back from the pre-OS X days that did something like this, and I tried it when I first got my iBook, before I started using Sidetrack. But unfortunately, it became abandonware and got broken by a system update at some point. So I was glad to recently find that someone had written a new app like this -- I think it's a beautiful addition to a one button Apple mouse. And brings everything back to Apple simplicity. 🙂
 
I also have to say thanks for posting the OneFingerSnap link. I was looking for something that would allow me to use my trackpad like the new MB and MBP. I did not like Sidetrack cause it was to much for what i wanted. This program does what i need it to do and does it very well.

Thanks for the link.
 
mkrishnan said:
Oh, so some people are reporting that 15" MBPs have two-finger right click as of 10.4.7... I don't suppose anyone magically got this feature on a late model PB? 😱
Click to expand...

See this is the kinda stuff that annoys me with Apple sometimes. I mean how hard would it be to give iBook and Powerbook owners with scrolling trackpads this feature??

It's not like i am going to upgrade my iBook just to get this feature and it seems like a minor thing so you would think apple could implement it on the iBook and PowerBooks with scrolling trackpads.
 
aa... said:
I wonder if its your double click preferences stuffing things up. Theres plenty of prefs to play around with, perhaps the answer's in there somewhere. On another note, I have found sidetrack to be sluggish and awkward in comparison.
Click to expand...

That's just the thing. I've got one of the very early versions. You had to install it yourself using Terminal and it doesn't include a preference pane nor preferences. I should probably try the latest version, but I like the way it was originally completely transparent. You'd never notice that I've got anything extra installed, it seems like my PowerBook just came with two-finger scrolling.
 
I sure wish I could get the 2 finger right click on my last gen 12" iBook, but iScroll won't install since it already has a scrolling trackpad. I e-mailed him requesting that he should make another version for the G4 based power/i books that have scrolling, but would like the two finger right click and never received a reply.
 
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