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I own both a Mac and a PC, and I have recently started using Synergy in order to use the same mouse and keyboard on both computers. As of right now, the mouse and keyboard are connected to my PC - meaning that I I host the Synergy server on my PC and connect to it on my Mac via a wired network.

I am wondering if someone knows how to remap mouse buttons using Synergy. My mouse has 5 buttons and I would like to use the additional two buttons to bring up Expose and the Desktop on the Mac. As of right now, one of the buttons has no effect when the cursor is on the Mac, and the other actually performs a command on the Windows screen (even when the mouse cursor is on the Mac).

My best guess right now is to use the configuration file in Synergy, as it allows you to remap a lot of user input. In this case, however, I cannot figure out how to refer to the extra mouse buttons in the configuration file (is there a way to find out what they are called). I would also be open to any other suggestions... One thing that might come in handy is that the additional mouse buttons are programmable to almost any command on Windows.

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Do the additional buttons work if the mouse is directly connected to the Mac? – Daniel Beck Mar 16 '11 at 19:06
Yes - what were you thinking? – Berk U. Mar 16 '11 at 19:31
Sorry let me rephrase that. The additional buttons do work on the Mac if the mouse is directly connected to the Mac, but in that case they do not work on the PC. I thought maybe there was a way to have the Mac pair up a device driver with Synergy :) – Berk U. Mar 16 '11 at 19:42
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If the buttons are programmable under Windows then it means a program is monitoring them before Synergy can see them (which is why pressing a button on a client causes an action to happen on the server.) You will have to stop using that program before the button press will even be sent across to the Mac.

Possibly the only way you could achieve what you're after is to run a program on the Mac that listens for mouse button events and launches programs accordingly. I don't think Synergy can be configured to perform events on mouse/keyboard actions, only to produce other mouse/keyboard events.

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Thank you for this. It makes a lot of sense to me. I can turn off the default MS Keyboard + Mouse program. Do you know about a program for Mac that listens for mouse button events and launches programs accordingly? – Berk U. Mar 25 '11 at 15:47
I haven't tried them with Synergy yet, but ControllerMate and Steermouse are intended to intercept physically connected mouse and keyboard events. – curt Jul 31 '11 at 18:58
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