7 ms·

Yet another reason to lament the lack of decent mouse driver support in GNU/Linux. As long as I have to relearn how to move my mouse in order to play a game, I'

Yet another reason to lament the lack of decent mouse driver support in GNU/Linux. As long as I have to relearn how to move my mouse in order to play a game, I'm going to keep a Windows box handy for games.

tomrod 13y ago
I don't follow?
- sendob 13y ago
  I think may be referring to products such as: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-epic http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-epic "System Requirements PC or Mac with USB port Windows® 8/ Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP (32-bit)/ Mac OS X (v10.6-10.8)" I enjoy the ability to fully utilize my right hand and minimize the amount of movement I do to and from the mouse, both for work and general computing. Depending upon what you want from your mouse ( in the case of the naga, do you want custom binding of macros to buttons beyond a numeric keypad? => if so you need the driver support :( ) A good alternative that I use on my linux machines is: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-lachesis/ http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-lachesis/ Which has its own memory to retain macros(can be a pain to load, I have typically used windows VMs w/ drivers :/)
  - fps 13y ago
    I have the Naga, and under linux you can program the buttons of it and any other mouse using imwheel. Then your macros are in a file on a disk, not on NVRAM on a mouse.
    - sendob 13y ago
      good to know, thanks!
- loser777 13y ago
  I play games at 1600cpi with a specific mouse with no acceleration. Even with the supposed fixes that disable acceleration in GNU/Linux, I don't get the same cursor response with my mouse that I would in Windows. In addition, my mouse's cpi can only be set to 1600 in software. This is especially problematic as I tend to play games where mouse accuracy is very important.
  - philsnow 13y ago
    Watch out guys, we're dealing with a-- okay, just color me surprised that anybody needs that much accuracy. I stopped playing shooter games in ~2004.
    - ricardobeat 13y ago
      You stopped playing shooter games in 2004.
      - philsnow 13y ago
        Yes, I said that. s/surprised/bemused/, I suppose. AAA games are srsbzns.
  - lreeves 13y ago
    For what it's worth I had the exact same problem with Ubuntu; I play TF2 quite a bit and could not get the mouse controls to feel right at all. The acceleration just kills any accuracy when playing the game.
dmoy 13y ago
Yea my mouse is wonky as hell in Linux. Keyboard drivers too :( The mechanical keyboard I have at home doesn't even work in linux. Every keystroke registers as three other characters (e.g. the F1 key types out 'mij'). None of the keys work. But it works flawlessly on Windows. I realize this is as much the keyboard manufacturer's fault as anyone, but it just adds one more thing I'd have to sink hours into if I wanted to use Linux on my hardware. If I wasn't into gaming, I'd be able to move completely off of Windows. But until games are available and peripherals "just work", that's not going to happen :(
- likeclockwork 13y ago
  Weird. I use a Das Keyboard and a $10 logitech mouse. I've never had any problems with mouse or keyboard on linux, ever. They have always 'just worked'. Is everyone with these stories using some obscure hardware which requires propietary windows drivers and/or some obscure distribution or something? I'm not trying to be snarky or dismissive, but I've been using Linux for the last 14 years and I've never had any of these problems people talk about with regard to basic input devices or audio drivers.. even when I went through my Gentoo phase.
  - zanny 13y ago
    I have a fancy Logitech G500 (which is odd, because this mouse started as a cheapo MX510 and RMAs made it better and better over the years... haha, Logitech tech support is amazing and I always buy their stuff) and I'm surprised KDE recognizes all the buttons out of the box. I also converted entirely from a Windows-only XP world, to a hybrid Ubuntu / 7 for gaming setup, and now I'm just running Arch only. I always got my pointer acceleration to align perfectly between them. Hell, even the DPI switching on the G500 works. I think it is built into the mouse, though.
  - dmoy 13y ago
    No, I've never had to download some weird proprietary driver for windows, keyboard or mouse. Doesn't work to me on vanillia ubuntu, dug around for a few hours trying to find a solution before just giving up and uninstalling. The lack of games is my main issue - if that was solved, I may go buy a keyboard that works on linux :p
loser777 13y ago
Some clarifications Yes, mice often have dpi-switching mapped to hardware buttons. However, as with my mouse, this hardware switching offers very limited granularity and many dpi "modes" can only be selected in software by a proprietary driver. I'm mostly talking about RTS games (think StarCraft) as well as some rhythm games (think Osu!) where persistent mouse behavior is essential to playability. Competitive fps players actually often play at very low dpi on essentially barebones hardware (think Intellimouse Optical @ 400dpi) compared to what's out there. Because these older mice don't actually have any dpi switching functionality, they usually don't require any special mouse drivers. This is also not about whatever special fancy macro buttons on the mice not being supported.
- ownagefool 13y ago
  If you desire a consistent mouse experience, you almost always want to leave the mice at their optimum DPI value and you are very limited in choice. RTS players tend not to care about this because they do not need the level of accuracy required to ping off headshots while moving, thus they're happy with "good enough" while manipulating DPIs in ways that'll cause all sort of sensor problems which could be a deciding factor in an FPS game. If you care about having the best mousing experince you're really talking about using a deathadder, g400 and their kin. You are correct though, fancy macro buttons and high price tags tend not to get you the best mouse. But to think the RTS player relies on their mouse as much as the FPS player is folly.

tomrod 13y ago

I don't follow?

sendob 13y ago
I think may be referring to products such as: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-epic http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-epic "System Requirements PC or Mac with USB port Windows® 8/ Windows® 7 / Windows Vista® / Windows® XP (32-bit)/ Mac OS X (v10.6-10.8)" I enjoy the ability to fully utilize my right hand and minimize the amount of movement I do to and from the mouse, both for work and general computing. Depending upon what you want from your mouse ( in the case of the naga, do you want custom binding of macros to buttons beyond a numeric keypad? => if so you need the driver support :( ) A good alternative that I use on my linux machines is: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-lachesis/ http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-lachesis/ Which has its own memory to retain macros(can be a pain to load, I have typically used windows VMs w/ drivers :/)
- fps 13y ago
  I have the Naga, and under linux you can program the buttons of it and any other mouse using imwheel. Then your macros are in a file on a disk, not on NVRAM on a mouse.
  - sendob 13y ago
    good to know, thanks!
loser777 13y ago
I play games at 1600cpi with a specific mouse with no acceleration. Even with the supposed fixes that disable acceleration in GNU/Linux, I don't get the same cursor response with my mouse that I would in Windows. In addition, my mouse's cpi can only be set to 1600 in software. This is especially problematic as I tend to play games where mouse accuracy is very important.
- philsnow 13y ago
  Watch out guys, we're dealing with a-- okay, just color me surprised that anybody needs that much accuracy. I stopped playing shooter games in ~2004.
  - ricardobeat 13y ago
    You stopped playing shooter games in 2004.
    - philsnow 13y ago
      Yes, I said that. s/surprised/bemused/, I suppose. AAA games are srsbzns.
- lreeves 13y ago
  For what it's worth I had the exact same problem with Ubuntu; I play TF2 quite a bit and could not get the mouse controls to feel right at all. The acceleration just kills any accuracy when playing the game.

dmoy 13y ago

Yea my mouse is wonky as hell in Linux. Keyboard drivers too :( The mechanical keyboard I have at home doesn't even work in linux. Every keystroke registers as three other characters (e.g. the F1 key types out 'mij'). None of the keys work. But it works flawlessly on Windows. I realize this is as much the keyboard manufacturer's fault as anyone, but it just adds one more thing I'd have to sink hours into if I wanted to use Linux on my hardware. If I wasn't into gaming, I'd be able to move completely off of Windows. But until games are available and peripherals "just work", that's not going to happen :(

likeclockwork 13y ago
Weird. I use a Das Keyboard and a $10 logitech mouse. I've never had any problems with mouse or keyboard on linux, ever. They have always 'just worked'. Is everyone with these stories using some obscure hardware which requires propietary windows drivers and/or some obscure distribution or something? I'm not trying to be snarky or dismissive, but I've been using Linux for the last 14 years and I've never had any of these problems people talk about with regard to basic input devices or audio drivers.. even when I went through my Gentoo phase.
- zanny 13y ago
  I have a fancy Logitech G500 (which is odd, because this mouse started as a cheapo MX510 and RMAs made it better and better over the years... haha, Logitech tech support is amazing and I always buy their stuff) and I'm surprised KDE recognizes all the buttons out of the box. I also converted entirely from a Windows-only XP world, to a hybrid Ubuntu / 7 for gaming setup, and now I'm just running Arch only. I always got my pointer acceleration to align perfectly between them. Hell, even the DPI switching on the G500 works. I think it is built into the mouse, though.
- dmoy 13y ago
  No, I've never had to download some weird proprietary driver for windows, keyboard or mouse. Doesn't work to me on vanillia ubuntu, dug around for a few hours trying to find a solution before just giving up and uninstalling. The lack of games is my main issue - if that was solved, I may go buy a keyboard that works on linux :p

loser777 13y ago

Some clarifications Yes, mice often have dpi-switching mapped to hardware buttons. However, as with my mouse, this hardware switching offers very limited granularity and many dpi "modes" can only be selected in software by a proprietary driver. I'm mostly talking about RTS games (think StarCraft) as well as some rhythm games (think Osu!) where persistent mouse behavior is essential to playability. Competitive fps players actually often play at very low dpi on essentially barebones hardware (think Intellimouse Optical @ 400dpi) compared to what's out there. Because these older mice don't actually have any dpi switching functionality, they usually don't require any special mouse drivers. This is also not about whatever special fancy macro buttons on the mice not being supported.

ownagefool 13y ago
If you desire a consistent mouse experience, you almost always want to leave the mice at their optimum DPI value and you are very limited in choice. RTS players tend not to care about this because they do not need the level of accuracy required to ping off headshots while moving, thus they're happy with "good enough" while manipulating DPIs in ways that'll cause all sort of sensor problems which could be a deciding factor in an FPS game. If you care about having the best mousing experince you're really talking about using a deathadder, g400 and their kin. You are correct though, fancy macro buttons and high price tags tend not to get you the best mouse. But to think the RTS player relies on their mouse as much as the FPS player is folly.