I've had an MX Master mouse (the "2" for maybe 8-9 years then the "3" for 2-3 years now) and love it. Great performance, great battery life, fantastic design and feel. On Windows I definitely do not love the 150Mb program to manage it (surely sending a torrent of unnecessary telemetry data back to Logitech.
I found Solaar a couple months ago after getting repeatedly frustrated with bluetooth connection issues. It really is exactly what it needs to be. Better interface than Logitech's, simple, lightweight. Devs have my thanks; what a great show of the goodness of open source software.
I never had Bluetooth connection issues with my Logitech hardware, but I wanted mine to work without an OS (i.e. with a Bolt receiver).
Solaar handled the pairing in 30 seconds flat, and I can't be happier. The only thing is, since Bolt doesn't look like proper BT to the OS, battery levels can only be monitored from Solaar itself.
What's a Bolt receiver?
Bolt is logitech's newer wireless protocol (with devices using a dongle rather than bluetooth) that's supposed to be more secure than the older one.
I think the real highlight of the Bolt receiver is being able to pair up to 6 devices with just a single receiver.
I think the real highlight is that it is not backwards compatible. So I now have an MX Keys and an MX Master 3s, both on their own dongle.
IIUIC, Unifying receiver used a completely different protocol, but Bolt protocol is just supercharged Bluetooth with some low latency and encryption sauces on top.
The old unifying receiver was also able to pair up to 6 devices.
Sounds nice, except so far I have only one Logitech device that works with the bolt receiver, which is the MX Master 3s.
I also have an MX vertical which uses the unifying receiver. Then I also have a pro x superlight, which has yet another receiver. I believe they call that one lightspeed or something.
So now I have 3 separate adapters for 3 devices, all of which theoretically support pairing multiple devices (I think the lightspeed only does 3 though).
Doesn't bluetooth handle many, many more devices?
It also introduces a ton of lag, especially when more than a single device and some distance is involved (Mouse + Keyboard + Headphones makes my headphones cut out sometimes)
Bluetooth MIDI keyboard + Bluetooth headset = audio glitches. Disappointing.
Bluetooth Low Energy with some Logitech sauce added into it. Apparently encrypted and marketed for use in contexts where FIPS level security would be required.
It's bluetooth 5 with more tx power as far as I understand
According to their website(1), the bolt is BLE, and the unifying receiver used a proprietary 2.4GHz radio signal.
(1) https://support.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500012483162-Wha...
A type of USB wireless receiver: https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/logi-bolt-usb-r...
Logitech's might be a large download, but their Windows software still seems far more optimized than Corsair's. After a few days of uptime, Corsair's processes would have nearly an hour of CPU time. Logitech's would have a couple minutes at most. I replaced all my Corsair equipment with Logitech or others after seeing that.
Why does a mouse need an app, again?
To be able to program all the configurable buttons, and upload the macros and settings to the profiles present on the mouse itself, so you can use all the features of your mouse, tailored to you, even if you don’t have the software on the target device you’re using your mouse.
Yes, Logitech’s high end mice store settings themselves. The app is just a programming interface. It sometimes does per program profile switch, too, IIRC.
All programmable mice store their settings on the device itself, like Roccat and Razer. A true programmable mouse doesn't need software running in the background. A configuration application that needs to continue running is now just a background service running in user mode and not a true configuration application.
Roccat user because of the size of the mouse is bigger than others and all the buttons can be reprogrammed, along with the wheel. No background software needed and all configuration changes are OS independent.
Not a Logitech user because the wheel could not be programmed to control the sound volume. Last time I tried their products. Even contacted their support to verify the wheel, most useful for controlling audio, is fixed to page scrolling only.
Razer mice are too small for my hands and I feel like an Eagle clawing at a minnow. At least they allow for fully reprogramming all the buttons and wheel, unlike Logitech. And you don't need background software for the programming with it being OS independent after programming.
Only bad part is that Roccat is no longer Linux supported. The original developer that reverse engineered stop supporting the products. Roccat also is like most business and blows off 1st party support for Linux. Windows VM is needed just to program the mouse, which only done once.
> because the wheel could not be programmed to control the sound volume.
If that's your biggest gripe with Logitech, then I can say they're pretty successful. Personally, I'd not prefer to reach to my mouse just for volume, but everyone is to their own.
> A true programmable mouse doesn't need software running in the background.
Logitech Mice doesn't need the application to run in the background. I'm using my G700's profiles (which I set once under Windows) under Linux without any tools for (checks notes) 14 years at this point.
> Windows VM is needed just to program the mouse, which only done once.
How this is different from Logitech devices? It's exactly the same with Logitech.
My hand is on my mouse so often that is quicker to use the wheel as volume control, with a meta mouse button to switch between page scrolling and volume scrolling.
This is not only useful in games to increase or decrease the sound in real-time while to shunt loud sounds and to improve hearing the environment you are in. It is also useful in business. Quickly controlling the volume when a person interrupts.
*Note that the scroll wheel secondary meta key is used as volume control. Primary function without active meta is page scrolling.
User experience scenario. Click on a link that starts playing a video or audio source. The source is too loud with the same volume setting that worked with the previous video. It is faster to press the meta button on the mouse and scroll the wheel or press the middle button to mute then actually moving to a physical speaker, volume control on the OS, or keyboard, which often needs a meta key too.
Volume control is more natural with the wheel because it is no different the the rotational volume control on speaker versus continual button press to decrement or increment the numeric setting.
Logitech G mice dont need the app, but regular ones do. My Mx master 3s and Mx ergo reset to the default sensitivity and button functions if I leave them alone for a while.
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That's interesting, thanks for the information. I don't use any apps with my M705s (yes, I have a couple). The user I was replying to was giving examples of mice which are in the same class with Logitech G series, this is why I directly quoted my experience with G700.
>reset to the default sensitivity and button functions if I leave them alone for a while.
I need to try that. Mine is USB wired with no battery.
I've got one of the lesser G USB 6-button "gaming" RGBs that was unused for well over a year. Never did try any Logi Windows apps or do any gaming either. Used as a mild-mannered office mouse instead :)
A while back I started using it again, this time on a Linux PC and it still glowed with the default pattern which I had never changed. Fine by me.
Then started dual booting Windows 11 and all was well until I connected to the internet, the Logitech firmware on the mouse got autoupdated, and lights out :(
Still glows during POST but LEDs go out unless Windows kicks it back on in some way or another.
You want it to do what it once was doing without an app? Your Windows 11 may already be updated far enough itself to give RGB control now.
Otherwise you can use the Logitech app.
Which doesn't have a Linux version.
Looks like mine needs a background app of some kind now if I want glowing again. Oh well.
Still looking forward to trying Solaar when I get back to that particular desktop :)
Some of the mice have a toggleable on-board memory mode, where you can configure profiles that are saved on the mouse. You may be able to change the default lighting pattern back.
Gonna have to update the apps on both Linux and Windows and give it a try :)
for Logitech G there is the Onboard Memory Manager, a portable tool to just set up the onboard profiles. Since they released it I've not had to use their normal software anymore: https://support.logi.com/hc/en-ca/articles/360059641133-Onbo...
Sure, Logitech "G" series mice are supposed to be "gaming", but for a very long time I used them exclusively for office work.
My first one was a g9x, followed by a g700s. Those may look a bit "gamery", but I later had a g703 which was as sober as they come.
And, even though it's not as critical for office use, I found it very pleasant to have next to no lag on a wireless mouse. I now have a mx master 3s, which has "ok" wireless performance and is surprisingly nimble for its size and weight. I can't complain about it while I use it, but I immediately feel the difference when I switch to a Logitech G Lightspeed or a friend's Razer with whatever their equivalent technology is called.
And since these aren't that expensive (the MX is actually the most expensive mouse I've ever had), this tends to reinforce my considering them as full competitors to logi's "office" line.
Some high-end mice and keyboard combos also support features like fast computer switching, clipboard sync etc.
Imagine you have both a desktop and a laptop, with your laptop screen positioned below the display connected to the desktop. You can make your Logitech mouse act as if they were one device; if you slide past the top edge of your laptop screen, both the mouse and the keyboard switch over to the desktop.
You can even press ctrl+c on one device, move your mouse to the other and press ctrl+v (with the same keyboard of course), and it's going to do the right thing. I think even drag and drop across computers works, at least in some circumstances.
That's pretty cool. Now I just wish they'd release a wireless G600 with this capability. Best thing I ever bought was an MMO mouse. It's incredibly useful for a lot of use cases outside of MMOs.
Just use Synergy, the OG "soft KVM": https://symless.com/synergy
USB-HID cares about that and the rest shall be done by generic APIs through the operating-system.
I avoid therefore any peripheral devices which need additional software.
Ducky provides DIP-Switches and keyboard shortcuts. Perfect :)
And I didn’t bricked it with a firmware update, which I did with the K850. Because Logitech suffered so many security issues.
> To be able to program all the configurable buttons, and upload the macros and settings to the profiles present on the mouse itself, so you can use all the features of your mouse, tailored to you
Yep. Definitely sounds like something requiring a 150 Mb program to manage the complexity..
And yet, my keyboard can do almost (no per-program switching) all of the same FROM A WEB PAGE. WebHID should be all that's needed for advanced input devices. If you want some sort of per-program profile switching, sure, release a dedicated app that handles sending a special HID command sequence to trigger a profile switch.
And if Logitech had a webpage to configure settings, HN would be up in arms about not being able to configure while offline.
If the webpage was required to be connected back to Logitech to function, yeah, deservedly so. If, like Via, it can run fully offline then all you'd need is to save the page for offline use and that would be acceptable.
They do have a web page to do pairing at least:
Wooting has their utility offline and online. I guess it uses WebHID.
WebHID would be sci-fi material in 2010. If you can reduce the power requirement for the hardware, there's no obstacle to embed it in a mouse.
Keyboard is infinitely more flexible since you can wire it without much obstruction.
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Because there's a computer in your mouse and you need software on your host computer to talk to and peogram the mouse's computer.
That of course would make it optional like with most programmable keyboards but then there's the need to manage pairing via their wireless dongles and then it quickly becomes necessary.
Outside of it all being intentionally proprietary I don't see why they couldn't take an approach similar to VIA in managing their devices. There's also prior work for flashing microcontrollers from the web browser, I'm thinking of ESP32s specifically.
Logitech devices are probably based on old code from older devices before WebUSB was a thing.
reprogrammable buttons, adjustable dpi, customizeable lights, etc
Personally, I can understand that for initial setup but hate that the way they're implemented means that it has to always be running, and it frequently has to be restarted to recognize the mouse correctly and apply those settings. Many keyboards have figured this out and don't require anything to be running to keep their settings across multiple devices so it feels like logitech will never improve in this area for the sake of keeping their bloat/spyware on your machine.
One big thing your keyboards probably aren't doing that mouse drivers are: different settings for different apps.
All of those should be state changes in the mouse.. IE. the software should run to make the settings then exit. There should be no reason for it to keep running.
Logitech's best kept secret is they do make a lightweight version of their software for exactly that, it edits the settings saved on the mouse and does absolutely nothing else. It's only available for Windows though.
https://support.logi.com/hc/en-ca/articles/360059641133-Onbo...
Logitech's mice can't do basic things like output a key chord upon a button press using only what's available onboard, sadly. The onboard capabilities are more limited than they have to be, probably to drive people to G-Hub.
They also allow you to manage the pairing of the unifying receiver from web which is neat.
Wow, this is amazing!
Their best feature - and the one thing that I have most missed for years after moving to Linux - is automatically changing the active mouse profile based on the focused application.
It's so powerful. Any custom buttons for any program, without ever having to think about it. On Linux, without it, I'm stuck manually cycling through the 3 on-board profiles.
I use Autohotkey in Windows to achieve that, because I got sick of Logitech fairly regularly misdetecting the current application (when it does that, you have to focus a different app and then try again).
I just get the mouse to always use the same onboard profile and send the higher F-keys that aren't on the keyboard (F13-F24), and ahk detects those and does whatever crazy stuff I can think up. I even have long-press/short-press for some buttons set up. Works great.
There must be a way to do something similar in Linux.
You don't need to keep it open, it just puts itself in the auto run list on install and you can disable it from launching. The configuration is just state changes on the mouse
They are.
some mice can have the config saved onboard, then don't require a driver.
we need qmk for mice
The ploopy mouse has QMK. Layers on a mouse are very useful!
This looks awesome. Now I just hope somebody will someday a 20 button version.
nice
It doesn't need the app. You can use their stuff without it.
If you want to use some of their more advanced features, you need to use the app.
For example, I have it setup so that if my macbook is on, I can push my cursor to the far left of my windows screen and my mouse will automatically switch to the macbook bringing along anything in the clipboard.
My mouse have loads of features like programmable buttons. I don't think it should be memory resident - probably could work by opening, configuring, saving to firmware and shutting down, but at least its existence is justified. Wasn't it shit, I would be OK with it.
So your mouse driver can have AI in it, apparently. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/logi-ai-prompt-build...
> So your mouse driver can have AI in it, apparently.
Just to highlight: The offline installer (supposedly for business environments) does not include AI. It can be installed directly on top of the regular application.
https://prosupport.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/10991109278871...
To be fair, it doesn't. I have Logitech mice and I have never once installed an app for them. They work great just with normal USB HID drivers.
To pair the mouse with the Universal Receiver/Bolt dongle rather than Bluetooth, and then to expose the other APIs such as battery levels.
Exactly, the OS should have the functionality and UI.
I found the Logitech software absolutely horrid, and a massive resource hog. There was weird agent software hogging CPU and using memory.
Also, why does my mouse config software need AI features? Uninstalled.
Same. It also, on install, turned on a feature letting me know caps pick on/off every time I hit it ,but on the screen. It drove me nuts until I finally realized it started after installing...
My new mouse. No need Logitech. It's a mouse.
Bruce Dawson has a blog post about Corsair. Apparently their processes constantly leak handles.
> surely sending a torrent of unnecessary telemetry data back to Logitech
To give Logitech some credit, there's an off switch for "diagnostic data" right there in the settings.
If they want more credit, they should make it an on switch
For even more credit, they should leave all the extra telemetry and other crap out of the download, so it's only a megabyte or so, instead of 150MB, and let people opt-in to downloading that junk.
You're assuming most of that space is taken up by telemetry software. 100MB of that could easily just be the UI toolkit!
iirc they shipped an electron app the last time I used it on Windows. The 150 MB are likely just 30% Chrome, 40% graphics (their UI is fancy and has images of connected components) and, 10% bundled js code.
Last time I looked at Corsair they had a DLL for each device, it added up.
What's wrong with using the UI the OS provides?
Not cross platform, difficult to theme or style to Logitech brand guidelines?
That would be great if it were cross platform.
I use Solaar because there wasn't a Linux application.
Do the users care about that? Or just the management? And mouse drivers aren't typically cross platform anyway, right?
Users: maybe, but probably not many of them.
Management absolutely cares, they have a whole design guidebook why wouldn’t they follow it??
And the drivers likely aren’t cross-platform in the sense of “the windows DLL is just dead code on a Mac”, but the UI of the software can be the same across platforms. The executable is likely a tiny bit of platform-specific launcher code and then cross-platform electron fun.
Because why wouldn’t we embed the whole Chromium runtime to show the user a couple of checkboxes?
“It’s cross-platform!” - someone good at selling to the Logitech suits
> they have a whole design guidebook why wouldn’t they follow it??
So the same question applies: yes they have a whole design guidebook but why ? Does the users care ? My opinion would be that most don’t and that those who care are horrified by all those apps with all their own guidelines.
Computers used to be (and I’ll be giving credits to old windows for that) « once you learned the system/ergonomics you only have to adapt to each program’s feature set » and is now « relearn everything on my app and btw it’s not compatible with other apps except our partners ».
I mean as an example, we pretty much had a working standard in how to discover features of a program (the menu bar) and how to give back data to the user (saving and opening files). Just knowing those patterns made you apt to discover most of programs features.
I’m not saying it was perfect or intuitive, but it was not hard and OSes could have improved that.
But we collectively ditched that for, it seems, easier deployment on the web (which is not something Logitech is concerned by, btw) and since there is no UI framework, why not hire UI designers to write UI guidelines ? It’ll make marketing guys happy anyway.
I’m sorry I recognize that I’m a little salty on this topic but I do feel like the industry stole something important to the users, or at least if I’m honest, to me, which is the basic knowledge of how to use a computer.
Oh I want to be clear that I’m not defending the use of the design guide in this context - I think style guides are fine for certain things, but not necessarily desktop apps like these. I get that it’s Electron, and so in theory the same components could be shared to their web experience and to other installers etc but I don’t know if they do that.
I was one of those people who thought XP/ME went too far (im a System 7 Stan tbh, but 98 was solid enough). And then when Office got the ribbon I was so unhappy lol. I don’t like a lot of how MS has embraced trendy UI, outside of windows phone which I actually really liked (and that made sense, it was a system that didn’t have much to go on, and they weren’t living up to any expectations outside of “be different than Apple and be better than Google”. I will def be salty here because MS had a great opportunity with windows phone and just blundered it. For every solid idea they have, it feels like they fumble 10000 other actually decent products).
I personally really appreciate that Apple has largely not changed the fundamentals of their OS in regards to the dock and menu bar - sure the dock is “new” as of OSX but that’s going on what, 20 years old now? At least? And the menu bar has been with us since always. Using native MS apps in 11 and not having a visible File menu drives me bonkers.
> I’m sorry I recognize that I’m a little salty on this topic but I do feel like the industry stole something important to the users, or at least if I’m honest, to me, which is the basic knowledge of how to use a computer.
I feel this. For the company I work for, we have an A11y group that is comprised of representatives from different departments (across engineering, product, marketing, and design) that meets regularly. Our component designs focus on accessibility, discoverability, and usability. If we are going to say “well we want a blue button with a drop shadow” instead of whatever the browser and OS do, fine, I’m going to make sure it’s still USABLE and accessible dammit. /rant
To be honest I would be more inclined to install their driver if it did not include ugly Logitech branding and respected a bit more the OS it runs on. I don’t care about cross platform UI in an application for mouse settings, it’s simply not my problem. It has 1 window, FFS. How hard is it to use native toolkits?
To be fair, most people just absolutely don't care about this stuff as long as it does its job, so it makes sense for them to use a cross-platform toolkit here.
You have to remember that, besides the extra engineering effort, having a separate, native UI for each platform also increases the support burden for dealing with people having issues with the program. Companies the size of Logitech bend over backwards to reduce their support costs, so it shouldn't be surprising that they opted for the path of least resistance here.
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I think it's implicit that a switch has to be on/off. Do you mean opt-in rather than opt-out?
Not parent, but yes.
A switch that must be turned on (opt-in), rather than a switch that must be turned off (opt-out).
That would imply there’s a third, indeterminate state prior to opting one way or another (which is the ideal situation - ask on install with a non defaulted option)
A master programmer passed a novice programmer one day. The master noted the novice’s preoccupation with a hand‐held computer game. “Excuse me”, he said, “may I examine it?”
The novice bolted to attention and handed the device to the master. “I see that the device claims to have three levels of play: Easy, Medium and Hard”, said the master. “Yet every such device has another level of play, where the device seeks not to conquer the human, nor to be conquered by the human.”
“Pray, great master”, implored the novice, “how does one find this mysterious setting?”
The master dropped the device to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
And suddenly the novice was enlightened.
— The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James
No, prior to opting the state is off. This is what opt-in means.
Asking on install just gives room to implement a dark pattern and trick people into opting in undesiredly anyway.
Or you can just use Solaar :) and don’t feel bad about it, you already gave Logitech money for the freaking mouse.
A reasonable third, and default, state could be collect diagnostic data locally. The user can choose to send the diagnostic data if they have issues with the device. After all, the term diagnostic data implies that it is being used for troubleshooting.
I think, today, that state is the "Remind me later' button state.
An off switch that will get ignored for some data, re-enabled on some future update anyway, and forgotten about next time you reinstall.
IIRC I installed the Logitech software in a VM, programmed the the mouse, deleted the VM.
All I wanted to do is turn off the rainbow LEDs
Next time I get a new mouse I'll try Solaar.
Sadly the MX family of mousen need the Logitech Software for customisation. It's not saved on the mouse, so if Logi Options is not running the mouse operates in default state, with no custom button mappings, etc.
I've used the logitech g305 for at least 6 years now, and thankfully that one lets you write a profile to the chip on the mouse.
it works fine for me on windows, only annoyance is google maps, switching to street view, one wheel rotation unit acts like 15, so switches back and forth uncommanded to street mode and out
My one gripe with Logitech mice is that none of their "office" mice support high refresh rate polling.
With the Linux kernel, USB power savings are also annoying on Logitech devices. If you set everything on USB bus to powersave, their mice and keyboards will go to sleep every few seconds unless there's continuous activity.
I have experience with Dell and Apple keyboards on Linux, and they don't suffer from this issue. The problem is not terrible, but requires a special udev rule to exclude them from powersaving, which is annoying.
Also they've been very slow to adopt optical switches compared to other brands, a handful of their high end gaming mice have them, but the vast majority of their range still uses the same old mechanical switches that tend to start erroneously double clicking after a while.
The issue is actually the static electricity buildup in the plastic somewhere. It doesn’t happen if the air is humid enough.
So, just turn off the mouse and blow in it a few times. It will work normally for a few days after that.
I found this solution on approximately the 12th page of a Google search ~9 years ago. Every other solution was wrong.
If your mouse starts double clicking, play a game of Quake 3 for an hour, or just click a bit more aggressively for the next hour. It clears the problem, per my experience.
What I understood is, the switches on these mice (I have G700) are practically abuse-proof. However, they don’t like to be used lightly and start to glitch possibly from fine dust. Using the switches more aggressively cleans them up.
My first generation G700 still works great.
Their switches are just crap. They use Omron switches mostly due to their low cost, even on supposedly "high-end" mice. People routinely replace them with better alternatives (e.g. TTC Gold or Kailh, but there are lots of them) and get years of heavy usage after that without any problems. The switches can be obtained on aliexpress, you do need a soldering iron though.
It’s not just a soldering iron needed. I replaced the switches on my 17-year-old Logitech MX Revolution and on a newer Performance MX and the old switches are completely impossible to remove from the PCB without snipping away at them and a lot of (careful) force. However I can say that the result was worth it, no more phantom double-clicks. Mouse itself was fine.
Maybe for some of the newer mice it’s an easier ordeal, though.
I mean, if a mouse is working for 10+ years for 8 hours a day (M705) or for 14 years for 2-3 hours a day (G700) without any major problems, I wouldn't call that switches crap.
But that's only me, of course.
That sounds like a job for contact cleaner, assuming it’s possible to non-destructively get a tube next to the switches.
I’m about to open my second bottle. My first bottle is from the 1990’s.
No, it's a job for a sewing needle or a toothpick. Logitech switches can be temporarily fixed by disassembling the switch and adjusting the contact plate inside because it gets bent out of shape and stops registering the clicks correctly. But it's easier (and more reliable) to replace them with higher quality alternatives while you're in there.
The G700 in question registers clicks correctly for 14 years at this point. The problem in my case is very light clicks and dust ingress to said switches. I have 10+ year old M705 mice which doesn't have any switch problems.
The left-click switch on my Logitech G305 started glitching-out after a couple years, particularly noticeable when trying to drag something, the drag would drop randomly in the middle. Disappointing to only last a couple years.
I found replacement switches for $10 on amazon, pre-wired with little plug, easy enough to install with just a micro-screwdriver, no soldering. This problem is common enough that there is a good selection of different switch brands/types available. Fantastic. Not disappointed at all anymore, honestly.
I also have a G305 where the left click button wore out.
I removed a switch from the Pi 400 desktop kit mouse I had laying around and replaced it with that.
Upgraded the slider pads while I had everything apart. These actually made more of a difference than I anticipated.
Virtually brand new, although amuses me that left and right click sound different now.
May I suggest you use the bolt receiver instead of bluetooth, and you will have a much more reliable connection.
Using Linux with an MX Master 3S, I see noticeable lag sometimes when moving the mouse cursor around when using the bolt receiver. Using regular Bluetooth gives me no issues.
Parent had this exact issue: > getting repeatedly frustrated with bluetooth connection issues
My suggestion to use the bolt reciever was in response to that.
Why you suggest to me and parent to just forget about it because you have such great experience is depressing to me.
I have the MX Master 3 and MX Keys Mini. Using Solaar on Linux for 2.5 years without a single issue.
I did have more issues using pure bluetooth with an external bt antenna (intel bluetooth hardware).
That might be true for Windows, on Mac OS I get perfectly reliable connections (years of usage with multiple mice) with Bluetooth. And I don't have to use any stupid dongles.
I wouldn't know.
This thread is about Solaar and i suggested parent try the reciever to resolve their bad connectivity.
You telling us that your macbook is great helps who exactly?
I am a solaar user on arch linux, btw ;-)
This says it’s for Linux, and a search doesn’t find a Windows version. Are you using this on Windows?
I suppose that could have been clearer. I use Windows on my desktop and Linux on my laptop.
Awesome. Thanks for the info here. I have a couple of useful Logitech peripherals too. It should be quite useful.
I'd love to see this ported to Mac.
Just discovered the bloody AI prompt builder enabled by default in my mouse driver today. After patiently declining input recording permission for months.
Managed to get rid of the most of bloatware using their corporate "Offline" version which supposedly doesn't phone home and doesn't ask for extra permissions. YMMV.
https://support.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/11570501236119-Lo...
> AI prompt builder enabled by default in my mouse driver
That's so wild I had to go and look up what that could possibly mean. What a world we live in. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/logi-ai-prompt-build...
I worked at a fucking air conditioner manufacturer, and sure as shit they had an AI developer. people are huffing some strong shit.
I didn’t even check what it could be. I just got the rainbow cursor suddenly on boot, and the process name was enough to instantly uninstall the driver and search for a replacement.
What is a rainbow cursor?
Do you mean the mac beach ball, or is it a misguided feature of the mouse?
Beach ball, yes. I've started to call it rainbow cursor 30 years ago on air gapped Macs, and still reluctant to absorb any other names.
Logitech implements the forward and backwards buttons on macOS in a REALLY weird way. It simulates swipe events. And you cannot set them to the default Mouse Forward and Mouse Backward (M4/M5). https://superuser.com/a/1216049
On Windows that is what I do to make sure behavior is consistent across applications.
Oh awesome, so that's why Logitech mice work so much better than other mice in macOS. Cool project:
Just switched from logi options to Steer Mouse myself.
You can map the buttons and add chords. The only thing it might lack is being able to use mouse movement as a trigger (eg hold the back button and move left to change spaces). Still looking for it
SteerMouse is fantastic. I’ve been using it for about 20 years now.
I switched about a year ago. After about two days of trying it, I was throwing money at them. It's sooooo much better than Logitech's enormous blob, and actually looks/acts/feels like a Mac app. It was totally worth the small price.
At least it's not actual spyware.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29056847
Wacom's drivers collect and send both application and window title names to them. It still does, even after all the outrage.
How on Earth they’re not sued into oblivion?
But you agreed to it in the ToS when you installed it. You can disable this however (before it was discovered you could not).
Yet.
I use BetterMouse with my MX Anywhere 3S and it does everything I need it to. It’s a few dollars but it has a trial and is available via Homebrew.
Corporate "Offline" version. Yeah it is not: https://pasteboard.co/RN7nDiZfHztb.png - but hey there is also Upgrade Agent that lunches after install, also "Offline" ;P
Do you have problem with your left button after guarantee expires? Here you go: https://www.reddit.com/r/logitech/comments/15yl9ix/fixed_my_...
I just did not figured out how to fix side scroll wheal which does not work on web pages in any browser... and how to fix Logi Agent preventing Windows shutdown each time I shutdown my PC.
Ower 700 MB of crap to spy on you. Can we call this scamware?
Sorry. Can't comment for the Windows version. At least it doesn't require input logging permission on Mac. I'm OK with upgrade checks but don't want a keylogger. Which is allegedly not.
I tried all the Logi alternatives for MacOS two years ago and found Steermouse the best. Has been solid through OS updates and has many great features I live by, especially chords.
Solaar works on Mac with some tries, at least for me the best approach was to get the repo and run the binary directly instead of trying to install it
"Mac Mouse Fix" or "Better Mouse" does everything I need on my MX Master 3S
I paid for bettermouse to replace the atrocious logi drivers.
Is there anything like this on Windows? Logitech mice are mostly nice, but one of their major flaws is that their macro capability is not onboard but requires some kind of supplemental software like this, so even just binding a single button to multiple keystrokes as a chord is not possible without G-Hub.
Linux has stuff like Solaar and Piper/libratbagd, which is great. For macOS, it looks like SteerMouse does quite nicely, even for mice with many extra buttons. So does G-Hub have any alternatives like this on Windows? It would make recommending Logitech mice to Windows-bound friends and family so much easier.
(My favorite forever for these reasons was Roccat, everything their mice can do they can do onboard. Configure your mouse once and you can purge whatever software you've used to do it if you don't like it, without limitations. But hardware quality control with them has long been iffy, and I think since their buyout by Turtle Beach it will only get worse.)
Their major flaw is that they purposefully use shitty switches that fail, sometimes within months. This is true even with their absurdly overpriced gaming mice.
I have never had a mouse whose buttons failed until I bought a logitech. Every person I know raves about them until you ask them how many they've had to buy.
I can't confirm that. I have a few Logitech devices and they are still fine after years of heavy use (mx ergo, and master series).
Same, been using a MX Vertical daily for almost 5 years now and, aside from flaking off the finish in some places, it works perfectly fine. Battery life is pretty good as well, I think I can avoid using a cable for months
Nah, I deployed Logitech for ~300 users in a manufacturing environment for years and they were just fine. You got unlucky or are beating the shit out of them.
I’ve had a MX1000 (which did not fail but had terrible battery life), a G7 (which double-clicked on the right button after 3 years), a G602 (which just stopped working one day), a G502 (which stopped clicking at all), and a G604 (same).
I won’t claim to be a statistically representative sample, but from my experience their high-end stuff is expected to break after between 2 to 3 years. I kept going back to them because the hardware is very nice when it works. I gave up and bought a Razer Naga about 3 years ago. Hopefully it fares better in the long run.
Agree. It's rare to find a failed Logitech mouse.
It is actually quite common for some mice because logitech uses the wrong switches for a 3.3v logic level mouse.
I have a drawer full of failed Logitech mice (about 10).
They're mostly M100(?) mice from the MK120 combos. They basically all start doubleclicking eventually.
They're not all from my personal computer though, probably from about 8 different PCs.
Warranty will often get you a new one. I had a mouse fail about 2.5 years in and they sent a new one.
OTOH, it speaks terribly of their quality; a mouse should work fine for 10-20 years, like some mice from 20 years ago.
Even 20 years ago mices weren't always that reliable. I used to have a Microsoft ball mouse from the late nineties and I remember the micro switch giving up after about 4 years. Even the replacements (albeit much cheaper/more generic brands) from the time didn't fare better, but at least by that point they were all optical.
And I say "replacements" because they all didn't last very long, until I got the memo and started buying decent stuff from brands like... logitech. And then there is the conundrum of going with something even more "premium" than a logitech, there's very little guarantee it's really gonna last. You may be paying twice as much for it but it still ends up lasting about as long.
Like the others I can't say I have had a mouse button crap out on me. My problem is with the mouse wheels but I'm not sure if that is the manufacturer's problem or poor cleanliness on my part.
If you don't want to worry about this you can get an Asus mouse that is designed to be repairable: https://rog.asus.com/articles/gaming-keyboards-gaming-mice/g...
I bought some switches from aliexpress for my Logitech G203 and replace them when they fail. I've had it for 5 years now.
Semi-agree. I've had 2 mx525s fail within ~6 months of purchase but I've also had a mx anywhere 2s that I bought used and got 3 years of usage out of it before I had to replace the switches.
I wouldn't buy a cheap mouse from them again.
Three years is below what should be considered acceptable, let alone impressive. I got a bit over ten years of really heavy use out of a dirt-cheap Genius mouse ($3-4) before it had to be replaced, and not because of the switches but because of the physical wear of the case.
I've used a G203 ($20) daily for 4 years and it works like new.
This saved my butt when I lost my mouse dongle and only had an Ubuntu instance available at the time. I was able to pair my mouse to the same dongle my keyboard used and have been using the software ever since without issue. Thank you!
If you ever need to do this in future, Logitech have a web only tool that uses web serial to pair the receiver.
Yooo, I've been so frustrated with Logitech! I have an MX Mechanical Mini keyboard and MX Ergo mouse. For some reason they don't pair to the same dongle because the dongles are different and not interchangeable. In addition, whatever dongle is plugged into the right USB-A port of my laptop always lags for some reason. Does Solaar solve those issues?
I've found that using a short usb extension cable with those wireless dongles, rather than plugging them directly into the computer, works loads better and fixed "lag" issues for me. Maybe some kind of EMF interference?
I can partially confirm: 2.4ghz, or at least the common USB mouse implementation, is very susceptible to interference, it's sent me down a few wild rabbit holes with my Basilisk v3
Same thing helps with USB Zigbee interfaces that use 2.4GHz.
It seems most-useful to make sure it is only a USB 2 cable, without the extra USB 3 data lines.
(USB 3 makes a ton of noise at ~2.4GHz. They could have spread out emissions and dialed them down, but they stuck them in the same trash band that microwave ovens [and mouse dongles] use because... well, it's cheaper and easier that way.]
Also, try using a USB2 port instead of a USB3 one.
USB3's high speed produces EM inference with some receivers.
there is an interference from usb to 2.4ghz devices
Solaar mostly changes configuration and helps pairing devices, but it's not part of the drovers, so it might not help you. Anyway I dump some info about dongles here just in case, if you find your devices are compatible you might use Solaar to reset the pairings.
IIRC, there are three types of dongles: the old basic ones, that only work with one particular device, the not-that-old "unifying" dongles (they have a red logo with a star or ray of light), and the new ones that are called "bolt" (green logo with a bolt in it).
I have mostly experience with the "unifying" receivers. Those can pair to any "unifying" compatible device, and keep connections with up to 6 devices. Bolt dongles work similarly but with better encryption.
I had this happen when the dongle is a little loose in the port. Solved lag with a couple of dongles by sliding a tiny bit of paper in alongside it.
The mouse buttons tend to go long before the keyboard, but wireless HID devices tend to be a consumable for most people that use their computer a lot.
We issue the wireless keyboards/mice kit as it is cheaper than swapping a proprietary keyboard in your laptop, and less likely to give users an RSI (really not funny if you are a Jr and have to learn this the painful way.) =3
why not a corded one, if you'll always be using it with a laptop?
In general, for mobile these can get broken up rather quickly, and increase probability of pulling a laptop off a table.
For servers and desktop towers, a cabled solution is more secure... and never runs out of batteries. YMMV =3
I have been using this for my ancient MX Master 2s for quite some time now.
I use it mostly to adjust the point where the scrollwheel no longer ratchets and just freewheels (Logitech put an electrically actuated lever that controls the ratchet into their mice), Solaar has an option to tune it, it works amazingly.
Not to mention how you can bind keyboard shortcuts to specific "gestures" using the palm button.
Solaar is awesome, thank you, Solaar devs!
I only buy Logitech because Solaar exist. It would be nice if they’d get some kickback. I just feel like it needs an AI prompt builder and then it’s finished.
Was the AI prompt builder sarcastic or a serious suggestion? I can’t figure out how any AI fits into my mouse configuration utility
Sorry, it’s absolutely sarcastic. I thought I wasn’t able to couple my MX Keys to the Bolt dongle and the MX Master 3S to the “Unifying” dongle because I needed Windows (but no, it’s by design!). So I grab my wife’s laptop, install that Logitech garbage and it greets me with an AI prompt builder. I was like that Picard Gif, squared. Unbelievable.
It seemed so ridiculous that I thought it must be sarcastic but you never know with how rabid AI people are. Absolutely insane that they included that in the official software!
Yeah, I mean what is the thought process here?
- Lets build a plug-in that can put an AI prompt builder under a mouse button!
- But nobody would download and use it!
- You're right, lets force-feed it through our main app!
For Linux pros here, can anyone explain how is this, in my understanding, driver implementation for Linux to be completely written in Python?
My understanding is most for driver code is written in C or C++. The 'new' way of developing - the kernel development is in Rust.
How can this work that is written in pure Python?
> Solaar is not a device driver and responds only to special messages from devices that are otherwise ignored by the Linux input system.
The normal Linux drivers implement what's needed to receive the HID message. This just handles some vendor specific messages on top of that. A bit like how a program can send a custom vendor specific TCP message on top of the existing OS network drivers without having to itself be a kernel level network driver.
From the second sentence of the readme:
Solaar is not a device driver and responds only to special messages from devices that are otherwise ignored by the Linux input system
Sounds like this isn't working at the kernel level.
for a more general answer, if you rewind the clock back to the 80s and early 90s: a hardware device required setting a COM port or IRQ, which was often done by physically setting jumpers on the device, and the user was responsible for making sure that, e.g. IRQ21 wasn't already being used by the BIOS or another device on the system. Then, you'd install a device driver that knew the specific memory addresses to read/write to in order to communicate with the controller on the device, based on the proprietary way the company decided to do it.
fast forward to today, and the hardware industry has made great advancements in standardizing how devices operate. memory-mapped I/O allows the OS to treat many device drivers the same, they just need to handle manipulation of the memory after it's read/written. for USB, the industry standardized on device classes , so something either acts like a communication device (serial port, JTAG reader), an audio device, a video capture device, or in this case, an HID (human interface device). So based on the general characteristics of how the thing operates, the kernel can do 80% or more of the driver development for you. especially because of the linux credo that "everything is a file"
you plug in a usb dongle and you get (hypothetically) a few files called /sys/class/hid/<serialnum>/{control, data}. so you could, say, change the RF channel of the dongle by writing a very specific value to the "control" file, which will get sucked in by the kernel and sent to the device. Or you could get raw kb/mouse data by catting the .../data file. this would in theory, allow you to write a device driver in python by connecting the .../data file to a read handler, processing the input (the hard part, which requires reverse engineering), and emitting the corresponding output, such as the OS command to move the mouse or generate a keyboard event.
I made some generalizations here, but this is the main idea.
It's a manager for the device's extra features, and pairing of dongles since that's not handled by the OS. It replaces a few of the typical Logitech applications that normally do this.
Probably they used LibUSB bindings or something
Pardon my ignorance but why would you need an app to manage keyboards and mice in the first place? Aren't they supported out of the box by generic drivers?
Most Logitech devices have settings for particular parameters that are not covered by generic drivers. E.g on my MX Master, I can set what events the buttons (it has 6) will generate. My K810 has borked function keys (they trigger special events instead of just being good old F1). You can switch these back to standard function using software. Edit: typos
Essentially Solaar is open source interface to few extra features (exposed as application custom hid use pages) of the Logitech "HID++" stack (aka Logitech "dongle", sometimes also combined with bluetooth support on the actual device).
Consider this screenshot[1] of additional options on Logitech trackball + ofc pairing control
[1] https://usercontent.irccloud-cdn.com/file/2cZcZiNk/image.png
Some of them have software controls for hardware behavior (like optical sensor polling rate and scroll wheel clutch mode) that no OS has built-in support for, because these features are not part of the USB HID standard.
Also, working Linux software to pair new devices with unifying receivers is great to have.
Fair question.
In general, custom configuration on both mice (DPI, refresh rate, etc) and keyboards (tactile response settings [See https://wooting.io/], hot binds, etc).
It's a nice to have (almost to the point of necessity) especially when you go to LANs and need a consistent way to load your settings on a computer that's not yours.
They are supported out of the box by generic drivers!
But most Logitech devices have settings that can be changed. This allows you to change them.
Using this software, I disabled tap to click on my K400 Plus’s trackpad. Super useful.
In most cases, most usb wireless hid-devices auto-bind on most linux distros, but some models of mice/keyboards do require wireless pairing after a battery change (they may or may not be Bluetooth.)
It is an "install if needed" utility if your mouse seems dead after a battery change or wireless power cycle. =)
I used to have a Logitech mouse that allowed you to reconfigure some buttons to use shortcuts and things like that. Plus it lets you see if the battery is running low, which I don't think the out of the box drivers do. But for basic mouse use you don't need it.
No, all features are not exposed by the generic drivers. And the extra features aren't just "who cares" goofy things.
For instance, my mouse has a wheel which is also the middle button. To press the middle mouse button, you click the wheel as if it were a button.
It also has another little middle button right in line with the wheel. That other button does not generate any scan codes or hid events.
All that button does is toggle the detent on/off for the wheel. It's effects are entirely within the mouse and does not talk to the host. Does not generate any mouse events or xev events or hid or scancodes etc.
The wheel detent toogle thing is, the wheel has some mass to it, and if the detent is off ,then the wheel can be flicked and it will spin freely for some time by inertia. This is great for zipping up or down in a long document.
But it also means that in free-wheeling mode, the wheel is always generating wheel movement events, since it's always moving. If you so much as look at it funny it moves a little, let alone actually intentionally handling and moving the mouse.
So mormally you want the detent mode on so that the wheel does not spin freely.
Having the middle mouse button be the wheel is extremely agrevating to me, because even in detent mode I can't press the middle button without also scrolling the wheel at least a little at the same time, except with annoying great care. It reeeeely screws up cad work.
Luckily, the mouse allows you to swap those two functions around. You can make it so that you click the wheel to toggle the wheel between detent and freewheel, and use the button as the middle mouse button.
Like I said, whichever button is acting as the detent-toggle, that button does not generate HID events. So you can't do this button remapping the normal way like you might swap left & right buttons for instance.
The official Windows software talks to the mouse and reconfigures something inside the mouse, via some special protocol of it's own.
Solaar does the same thing.
That is just one tiny example that isn't "control the rgb lights", there are others.
Actually even controlling the rgb lights is a real issue too.
I also have a keyboard that I wanted because it is mechanical and low profile and TKL layout (ten-key-less, full keyboard and edit/arrow blocks, but just no 10-key to the right of that.), and wireless including bluetooth so I don't need a dongle with my laptop normally, but still able to be used in bios/uefi because it comes with a usb receiver as well as supporting bluetooth.
That thing is pretty good in all those aspects, but it also has ^%$%#%% rgb lights, and the firmware in the keyboard defaults to a continuous disco show of changing colors. It's completely ridiculous.
You need to use the software to shut the damned lights off, or really not merely off but make them function just as normal backlights.
I'm not a gamer and do not want rgb lights, but I do want everything else about that keyboard, so a non-gamer needs an rgb gamer keyboard light control.
It has to do it's thing on every power cycle too. The setting isn't saved in the keyboard, the software has to perform the action over and over, either everytime the pc boots or every time the keyboard loses power or every time the keyboard goes to sleep and wake, I don't remember exactly which. I don't use that keyboard any more. And that api is not exposed through normal HID. The special software has to talk via it's special interface.
So that's another example.
Those are goofy "who cares" things, though. Doesn't mean you are wrong to want them, just they are very very niche use cases which almost nobody else is going to want.
Wanting a middle mouse button that can be clicked without scrolling the wheel is not goofy.
It's the most basic function of a button that you can press it, and it alone.
And I don't know how many more times I could have repeated that I wanted the control over a goofy feature only to disable it. The only way to make that into something dismissable is by saying "you should either just enjoy the 24/7 disco light show or use some other keyboard"
Both are ridiculous invalid inconsiderate & ignorant. No one gets to tell anyone else that. It's perfectly reasonable to want a mechanical keyboard, or tenkeyless layout, or bios functionality, or bluetooth, and not rgb multicolor flashing lights. And it's perfectly valid to have landed on some particular model that is available that hits almost all the tickboxes one cares about and just have some particular thing that needs to be changed somehow.
And all this whole thread answering the parent question is just explaining why the software exists and the fact that the normal driver interface does not handle these aspects of driving the hardware.
Why in the world would you even care? What in the world is even the point of hearing that explaination of a simple technical thing, and trying to say "that's why you need it? so you don't need it then"? Like in what way does this affect you even the slightest?
Where does that instinc come from? It sure is common though.
Is that why those mice sell well? Because no one cares about those features? Sure, they might be rarer but not as rare that you think they are just looking at the Amazon top selling charts.
G502
MX Anywhere, but G502 looks like it has the same thing.
Keyboard was G915 TKL. I didn't keep using it though. What I really want is a tenkeyless mx keys, but failing that I'm using a full mx keys.
You can attach multiple devices to a single dongle using this app.
Been using this for years, works exactly as advertised, no issues. Thank you Solaar team for your work and dedication to this useful project!
Been using Solaar for a few years with a Logitech K400 keyboard with the built-in touchpad. Running on a Raspberry Pi connected to my TV. No issues and works very well. Have never even connected to Logitech's software on a Mac or Windows.
Flathub version here: https://flathub.org/apps/io.github.pwr_solaar.solaar
One thing I'm kind of surprised by is that the custom mouse space is so empty, compared to custom keyboard scene.
I would like to have some custom micro controller/ZMK based mouse that I can pair with say my wireless split keyboard. Logitech has OK hardware but they don't have basic functionality like sync switching between devices - this would easily be handled by OSS firmware.
I've wanted the same for a while. I think there are two main restrictions:
- Mouse bodies are harder to make, since they generally have more complex curves compared to a flat keyboard. 3d printing helps a lot, but you don't get the same durability or quality as injection molding
- Mouse sensors are strangely hard to find. The "good" sensors on a lot of the high-end mice are difficult to find as individual components. From a quick look at what custom mice exist, they'll often cannibalize an existing mouse for components rather than order things from say DigiKey, like you can for keyboard components
Slowly but surely, desktop Linux is developing an ecosystem of quality of life applications like this that make using common peripherals and stuff on Linux not feel so bad.
Some of my other current favorites are:
- CoolerControl (https://gitlab.com/coolercontrol/coolercontrol) - fan control/curve designer/temp sensor overview tool. Seriously awesome tool!
- LACT (https://github.com/ilya-zlobintsev/LACT) - AMD GPU tool for overclocking, etc. Anything you would do with the radeon app on windows
- BoatSwain (https://flathub.org/apps/com.feaneron.Boatswain) - Elgato StreamDeck tool
Thanks to Solaar I hot my F1-F12 keys back on a Logitech keyboard that defaults to requiring Fn to use those (on Mac/Win you can change this using an app by Logitech). It’s been working well for a long time. I suggest getting it from their own ppa because the version in your Linux distro might be pretty old
same here! big kudos to the devs!
Thanks! This is timely. I just spent an hour of my working morning fiddling with my Ergo K860 keyboard after changing it from Bluetooth to Unifying receiver. Having to find the secret reset key sequence, swapping ports, restarting everything, argh!
What does this offer me over piper and libratbag? I only need something to configure the extra 2 buttons on my mouse. If it has its own profiles or a command line interface then I would see some value in using it myself.
Since we're on the topic of Logitech keyboards, does anyone know of a wired-only keyboard that has the same feel as the "Logitech MX Keys S Wireless"?
I love this keyboard's feel, but I need to switch to wired-only for $reasons.
If you can find mechanical switches you like that is your best option. Lacking that, nothing stops you from ripping out the electronics and putting in the controller from a mechanical keyboard. It would be a lot of work to trace the circuit board and figure out where to jump in (and what to cut out), but any mechanical keyboard controller should work (QMK seems to be the most popular today)
Razer and Cherry both have low profile switches, apparently Kailh are also low profile.
You seem to not have read/understood OP's problems. He stated mechanical switches are not what he wants. Now if you can suggest switches with a membrane feel that would be helpful - I'm not aware of any but I don't know everything.
I figured that if they have the same feel as the membrane, them being mechanical is not relevant, as OP never gave a veto on mechanical options. I looked up the estimated travel and actuation pressures for those offerings in comparison to the Logitech.
Thanks, and you're correct. I'm not very knowledgeable about keyboards, so I have no opinion about the switch technology per se.
I just know that I love the user aesthetics of the MX Keys.
I'm happy with a Cherry G84 compact wired keyboard (G84-4100). Maybe it helps...
Could you just disable the bluetooth chip? Depends on the specific reason, I suppose.
AFAIK the keyboard in question only uses USB for charging. It can't send keys over the wire.
That said, before getting the MX keys I bought a Dell 7440 keyboard on ebay for $20, fastened it on top of a 6mm clear acrylic plate with M3 screws, along with a Teensy chip running kbd firmware:
https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-USB-Laptop-Keybo...
Interesting idea.
If a keyboard has both wired-USB and some wireless technology, it's conceivable that physically disabling the wireless module(s) would be allowable.
I guess there are two possible hurdles: (1) getting permission, and (2) finding a keyboard in which I can disable the wireless module without causing too much havoc with the rest of the electronics and/or with the firmware.
It has PerfectStroke keys, so maybe the K740?
Thanks for the tip. There might be two issues with that particular model:
(1) It's out of production AFAICT, and (2) one thing I really appreciate about the MX Keys is the indented key caps.
IIUC, if I'm willing to put together my own keyboard, I can ensure it's wired-only and I can have the key caps that I like.
The only remaining challenge at that point (I think) is finding switches with a similar feel. This is the part that's tripped me up in the past:
I've bought a few switch testers (e.g., [0]), but all of the switches I tried were way more clicky than I wanted. I really like the travel-distance, gentle landing, and relatively quiet action of the MX Keys.
Thanks for the tip about PerfectStroke keys, btw.
Based on [0], it sounds like what I'm looking for is something like "fake PerfectStroke" keys.
This has been part of standard ubuntu repos for sometime. (apt install solaar)
I like this a lot, and the rule editor is able to create some very powerful workflows.
My mouse has two side buttons, and I bind one of them plus scrollwheel to virtual desktop switching. Unfortunately this takes complete control of your scrollwheel, so you need to experiment with the rules a little in order to avoid performance issues.
Honorable mention: https://github.com/PixlOne/logiops/, although its rules are much less powerful.
Is there a same thing for macs? The native logitech solution requires me to install a .pkg and I'm not really a fan of it to say the least. I'd rather install something from homebrew.
I use BetterMouse: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42457393
Thank you very much! This one took a bit to get a hang of settings but I'm very happy that I finally can use side buttons again!
Logitech used to have a Chrome plug-in that could manage their unifying devices.
It's a shame vendor specific software like this is necessary.
I wonder why setting DPI and stuff like that were never added to the standards so the baseline drivers can use them?
I use solaar with a mx master 3s and it's great (thumbscrolling works as it should) except the mouse battery level indicator is uncalibrated...20% at the highest, then it's quickly at 5% where it stays for-e-ver.
I gas-up my car when my tank is below 1/4, so it's a little disconcerting to have a red battery indicator with an exclamation point on it...not enough to actually want to use it with the cable plugged in, but still...
I hurt my right wrist on a bike fall, it's long term injury. I found that my left hand is much more compliant with touchpads than mice so I found an old Logitech T650 in second hands.
With solaar on Linux, the thing work flawlessly. On Windowsthe device is not supported by the official firmware so no gesture or click. It's a shame !
I love my Logitech G602/502 series but after they killed the line it’s time for my money to go to a company that values me.
The problem is, I LOVE my 8-programmable buttons and there isn’t another mouse I’ve been able to find that approaches the number of buttons and ergonomics of the G602.
The price I’m willing to pay for the right mouse is absurdly high, but it isn’t $200 for a mouse that dies within a year due to shitty switches.
I use for pairing etc and it's great, but the rule editor is just completely bonkers. I tried several times to add a gesture move for the 'gesture' button on my 3S, and eventually gave up!
Seems you need to know the exact keycodes, or names, or whatever key you want to use. Like XF86_MonBrightnessUp. Want to add a combo? not sure how to do that either.
I tried to get this to work a couple of times and gave up. I was trying to rebind a mouse button (back) to a macro and just gave up after a while. I ended up using the G Hub on a Mac and applying settings to the onboard config. I like the idea of Solaar, but the initial learning curve was more effort than I wanted to put in to rebind a single key.
If the button already has a function (like back) assigned to it, I think the input-remapper[0] software would work. That is what I use with my deathadder.
Does anyone know of a good program to help tweak the mx ergo on linux? I have some xinput tweaks, but I feel I am leaving much on the table - probably by not really understanding xinput. It is also soooo much more comfortable to use the trackball on my mac where I have the Logitech software installed.
That looks great, thanks. Just for info: if needed only for pairing dongles there is an even more lightweight approach https://lekensteyn.nl/logitech-unifying.html
Out-of-the-box Linux distributions give me a desktop notification when my 17-year-old MX mouse (connected via unifying dongle) is low on battery. Does anyone know how to get this on Windows? Nothing worse than the battery dying mid-use.
Does anybody install the Logitech SW on their computer? Does it phone home?
Yep. I installed it in my work Mac and it's terrible. It phones home. It's huge. It tries to convince you to install other stuff. Off it goes.
I haven't found a way to reconfigure the side buttons on my Logitech Lift Vertical without that bloated software permanently running in the background on Windows. I'm honestly afraid to check how much it phones home.
I wish Solaar got ported to Windows.
Huh. I bought a Rii brand keyboard/trackpad combo for my couch because logitech and all other brands I’d heard of only have humorously bad form factors or are out of business (like gyration).
Bullet dodged.
Piper[1] has always worked for me. Granted I only use wired mice.
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Good software, simple, does what it says.
I rarely need it; now BT mice work quite well, but sometimes, to avoid pairing one mouse with a new device (and losing the previous one), I will use it.
What is the average lifespan of a logitech gaming mouse? I bought 3 over the years and the average life span has been around 2 years.
It's so good in fact that I wish it existed for macOS so I wouldn't need to use the official Logitech crap
If you look on their GitHub there's a WIP Mac version you can try
The Logitch Options+ is super hot garbage I tried once. The regular "Options" I don't find to be as obtrusive. But I would use this in a heartbeat if it existed.
im currently struggling to pair MX mice (anywhere S2 and S3) and keyboard via bluetooth in endeavourOS.
works okay with intel ax-210 chipaet/driver on one machine but on another machine i can only get both to pair to a bluetooth 4 (le) dongle but not bluetooth 5+ chipset (realtek or intel 9560). not sure if bluez bug or btusb driver or smth :(
any tips?
Been using this for years on my Debian 12 install and it’s been very solid. Why it’s on the homepage though is perplexing.
Lightweight software that does one thing well always makes for a great casual conversation topic here. You learn how widespread knowledge of it it is or isn't. And, often adjacent tools that might be of interest are mentioned. Admittedly not "news".
Please port to Windows, I don't want 500mb of shitware to change settings on my mouse.
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The source code is available, so if you think this project is so important, you can do it yourself.
I like Solaar more than the actual Logitech shit actually cuz 1. you can see actual battery % and 2. you can set actual dpi numbers instead of a f*king slider like the actual logitech app, like the software department for logitech should get fired just for that.
How does its functionality differ from the logiops package?
Can't tell anything about functionality, but logiops does not include a GUI. Solaar tries to pull GTK so that's why I prefer logid I just wanted the screen brightness keys to work and though in past versions it was really funky the latest version has been actually reliable and stable.
Oh god, someone needs to port this to Windows.
But does it have AI like Logitech's other products?
I'm using this right now! It's awesome!
Did not realize it was written in python of all things! Inspiring me to right now to write more FOSS software!
I don't get the use case for this, all Logitech keyboard and mice are supported with the default USB/Bluetooth HID drivers shipped by any OS in the last 20 years
You're right. It's not a driver. It's a configuration tool. I use it to associate devices with the little dongles.
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