4 ms·

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?

Hemospectrum 2y ago
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.
dandellion 2y ago
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.
pknomad 2y ago
Fair question. In general, custom configuration on both mice (DPI, refresh rate, etc) and keyboards (tactile response settings [See https://wooting.io/ 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.
Joel_Mckay 2y ago
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. =)
rostigerpudel 2y ago
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
rostigerpudel 2y ago
Also, working Linux software to pair new devices with unifying receivers is great to have.
dmm 2y ago
You can attach multiple devices to a single dongle using this app.
skyyler 2y ago
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.
p_l 2y ago
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 https://usercontent.irccloud-cdn.com/file/2cZcZiNk/image.png
Brian_K_White 2y ago
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.

Hemospectrum 2y ago

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.

dandellion 2y ago

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.

pknomad 2y ago

Fair question. In general, custom configuration on both mice (DPI, refresh rate, etc) and keyboards (tactile response settings [See https://wooting.io/ 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.

Joel_Mckay 2y ago

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. =)

rostigerpudel 2y ago

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

rostigerpudel 2y ago

Also, working Linux software to pair new devices with unifying receivers is great to have.

dmm 2y ago

You can attach multiple devices to a single dongle using this app.

skyyler 2y ago

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.

p_l 2y ago

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 https://usercontent.irccloud-cdn.com/file/2cZcZiNk/image.png

Brian_K_White 2y ago

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.