Hack Your Toys
Posted 02/01/2006 at 2:47pm
| by Niko Coucouvanis
Part 2/Step 1: Make Your Mouse a Mighty Rodent/Flay the Prey
Now that Santa brought you a real (multibutton) mouse, you can turn your old Apple Pro jobbie into the rat that it is. This hack works on most any mouse - if you're using a non-Apple mouse, you'll usually find screws under the footpads on the bottom; remove them to open the mouse.
On the one-button Apple Pro Mouse, wedge a screwdriver or other stiff, slim tool into the seam where the flat white bottom sled meets the clear-plastic upper piece, and pry the mouse apart. Don't worry about breaking the top pieces - it's the bottom flat piece you want, as it contains the important bits (the USB cord, button switch, optical sensor, and lens). Keep in mind that the lens is usually attached to the bottom sled rather than to the circuit board, and the lens needs to be positioned just so relative to the sensor, or the mouse won't function.

Unless you need a new soap dish, don't worry about thrashing the upper pieces.