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(91 votes) Published: Oct 06, 2008 9:03 p.m. In 4 Favorites Lists Viewed 1020 times
Do you have nosy parents/siblings?
Have some info you don’t want the FBI to find? See if YOU can make...
A Hidden USB Thumb Drive!
Hmmm... Where to hide it... Let’s see... I upgraded my mouse about ten years ago from the stock ball mouse to an optical mouse, because, well, ball mice suck balls. If you haven’t made that upgrade, get with it. Optical is the way to go.
Now, there ARE easier ways to do this than the way I did... If you have a USB mouse instead of a PS2 mouse, use that. Then you can skip all the splicing and taping in step 1, and go to step 2. If you have a USB extension, it’s even EASIER! Just open the mouse, remove the original wire, replace with the extension, plug in the thumb drive, wedge it in, and reassemble the mouse! DONE!
So anyway, I had a spare PS2 ball mouse. I know I can get my little thumb drive in there. There’s tons of space. I have a spare USB wire from some crappy device I broke/lost long ago... And I have my little 1Gb Kodak thumb drive. That (and about a half-hour) was the bulk of what I needed.
As far as tools go, I used:
Phillips head screwdriver
Needle nose pliers
Razor knife
Soldering iron
Solder
Electrical tape
Heat-shrink tubing and lighter (optional)
WARNING... Any time you modify things and plug them into your computer, you run the risk of breaking / destroying your system. These instructions are a direct account of what I did, and my system works. You should use common sense, and double/triple check your connections. If any wire colors are different in your USB cable, you need to check continuity between the connector and the bare wires so you don’t inadvertently cross wires and fry your flash drive, or worse, your motherboard. If you are in doubt, ASK FOR HELP, or do more research online.
NOW... With that said, let’s begin...
Section 1 First, I cut my USB cable at about 3 inches from the connector. I stripped the black sheathing back about an inch. There is a green, a white, a red, and a black wire, wrapped in foil and silvery strands. The foil and strands are RF shielding.
Then I cut the mouse’s PS2 connector off. Stripped the sheathing, and found blue, white, orange, and green wires. There was no shielding in this wire, so I cut the shielding off on the other wire. Ideally, I would use shielded wire all the way from the connector to the thumb drive, but I had to make do. Then I stripped the insulation back about three-quarters of an inch on all eight wires.
I wrapped and soldered them, matching the white to white, green to green, and I paired the blue to black, and orange to red. Being that I changed the colors of some of the wires, I was careful with connecting on the other end. A crossed wire can be expensive. Make sure you know which wire is which. Make a diagram if necessary.
I taped each individual wire, then wrapped the whole area with electrical tape.
Section 2 Pop the plastic covers off the thumb drive.
I was able to easily pry them off...
I figured out how to remove the sheet metal box over the contacts... I used my soldering iron to simultaneously melt the solder holding it to the board, and to bend the tabs to the sides...
...Then slide the sheet metal box off...
...Exposing sweet copper soldering points...
Now, I took the mouse apart. There was only one screw holding it, so that was easy...
I cut the wires from their connector, and stripped them a little bit (about 1/8 inch).
I soldered the wires to their corresponding tabs on the thumb drive. I ran the razor in between the terminals, because I suck at soldering, and bridged
two of the terminals together...
If you’re in doubt, run a razor where I drew the green lines to separate them.
Then I plugged it in, just to see if i fried it...
It’s ALIVE! :-D
I replaced the plastic covers on the thumb drive, wrapped it in tape, and jammed it into an area that had enough room. The spot I chose was snug, so it doesn’t rattle around... If yours is loose, you should tape it down. Route the wire where it won’t get pinched.
Lastly, I took a piece of tape and wrote ’BROKEN’ on it. I highly doubt anyone would think there’s a Gig of info in thar.... :-D
As always, thanks for reading! Don’t forget to comment, good or bad. I can take it. :-P
Oct 07, 2008 5:51 am - I’m wondering if it was truly a USB mouse from the start if you couldn’t you simply hook up the drive and the mouse at the same time? No one would be the wiser as to there being a drive in a working mouse, and it would be less likely to be thrown away. Maybe one with encryption so even if it’s seen it couldn’t be accessed?
It would then be a working mouse with the drive built right in. You would have the drive literally right at your fingertips.
I guess there are possibilities that haven’t even been thought of in expanding this idea.
Oct 07, 2008 6:33 am - Some high-level nub came along and whacked me! X-)
Thnx for the 5*’s...
That&rsquo s a possibility, Right_hand... You’d need some sort of hub that fits in there with the drive. You wouldn’t be able to get away with using a USB ’Y’ cable because once a device starts using a port, it ’claims’ that port until it’s powered down.
That would be awesome, though...
*starts searching for a tiny hub*
Would just like to point out though, You could just split some wire into it and have both work, or even attach the wires to the solder points underneath the chip.
Oct 07, 2008 12:12 pm - 5* only problem is that hub is 1.1, which kinda sucks.
Also i could probably get my 16gb in there, but i wouldn’t need to i have my 4gb for porn, i may do this with it.
Would just like to point out though, You could just split some wire into it and have both work, or even attach the wires to the solder points underneath the chip.
I thought that too... So I did some research. If you hook it up parallel like that (spliced together), whichever is read first keeps control of the port until it is powered off. I will be looking into getting the smallest hub I can find and desoldering the entire plug area so it’s as small as possible. Then I’ll do the same with the drive, and put in small jumper wires from board to board, like you said.
Oct 07, 2008 12:54 pm - Again, if you are going to attempt this project, try to do it with a USB extension, or a USB mouse. It will be MUCH easier... Unless you enjoy tedious projects... :-P If you need any help, I R hear 4 U...
And yeah... Bigger thumb drives would work too... I have an 8Gig I want to do this with, but I am going to save it for the hub idea.
Oct 07, 2008 1:17 pm - I am definitely going to give it a shot... I have to wait for parts, but if someone else beats me to it, feel free to make an Egg on it!
Oct 07, 2008 2:34 pm - I just opened my optical USB mouse, and holy crap... Tons of space in there without that big ball cage and wheels in the middle... Without any modification, there’s an area that’s 2X2X1 inch. Then another area that’s about 2X1X1/2 inch. Then, if I shave some unnecessary plastic away, the 2X2X1 area turns into about 2X3X1... I can definitely fit a hub in there, and a couple thumb drives... :-D
Here’s a small hub on Dealextreme.com... I think that’ll work fine... It’s 2.0, has 4 ports, and only measures about 1 5/8 inches square by about 1/2 inch thick... The hub provides up to 500mA current to each port. I would bet it’d be okay... Anyone know the requirements for a typical mouse and/or flash drive?
I thought that too... So I did some research. If you hook it up parallel like that (spliced together), whichever is read first keeps control of the port until it is powered off. I will be looking into getting the smallest hub I can find and desoldering the entire plug area so it’s as small as possible. Then I’ll do the same with the drive, and put in small jumper wires from board to board, like you said.
Then just turn the scroll wheel into a toggle switch between the mouse and the usb drive.
Oct 07, 2008 9:27 pm - Five stars, but my mouse is wireless.
If someone makes an egg on how to put a usb stick into a wireless mouse, and be able to wirelessly transmit data, (You know, the bluetooth mouses, where you plug a little receiver in to a USB port) AND still have the mouse work (for a portable mouse for a laptop, with data storage as well),
I’ll five it on multiple dupes.
Should be easie to make than this one, the mous’ll work, and it’ll store 5Gb. All for $19.99 + existing USB mouse. :-D
I’ll update when the stuff comes in (in 6-7 months, LoL!)
Oct 08, 2008 6:39 pm - Would also like to point out, that if someone saw that you had spliced two different wires, (the grey of the mouse cord to the black of the usb cord)and took the time to seal it w/ electrical tape, do you not think they would realize it wasnt just junk?
Oct 10, 2008 7:10 am - Thanks... I love that you can hide them anywhere...
The parts for my ’Working Mouse with 4Gb Hidden Thumb Drive’ (Thanks, Right_Hand!) Egg should arrive from Hong Kong in 1-2 weeks. Expect the Egg shortly after...
I’m also still (mentally) working on the challenge NOF presented... Going wireless... I’m learning about Bluetooth and WUSB possibilities... Thanks for the challenge, NOF...
Oct 11, 2008 4:40 pm - Thanks...
I just got an email from Dealextreme yesterday evening. The parts are packaged and on their way... They said 5 to 14 days. Hopefully it’ll be closer to 5... :-D
Is this the card reader you have?
I was thinking about getting that one...
If that’s what you got, is it good?
ct 13, 2008 7:55 pm - Well Dodge, I used to be on this site all the time back in the day under Shaggy2Dope...and even though I just got back, your eggs are by far some of my favorites from then til now. 5* all the way. Glad someone already asked about wireless though, because I was going to. I think it would be cool as hell to be able to hide that shit somewhere and still use a thumbdrive. Please keep us posted on how that comes along. Most definately an awesome egg. L8r man.
Oct 14, 2008 10:56 am - I kept trying not to vote 5* before I read it. The momment it said dodge I just wanted ot vote 5* RIGHT THEN AND THERE!!!!!! but, i was able to rezist that and read it before i voted. btw. 5*!!!!!
Oct 20, 2008 9:56 pm - Thanks again to everyone for all the comments and the great ratings.
Just to keep you all updated:
Hong Kong delivered. All the stuff I ordered works, and is as described, but I am having difficulties getting everything to fit neatly and easily. So, I will be changing the plan a little. I happened to order a micro SD card reader, and have some extra cards. I will be using the hub mentioned above, the card reader, a card, and my USB optical mouse. I expect to have it up and running by Wednesday or Thursday, and I should have time to write the Egg on Saturday. Wewt!
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