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Logitech RX1000 in linux   Filed Under: Linux & BSD

Introduction

I normally use a laptop at home for everything but after 4 years with the same laptop (and still going) my right thumb is getting a bit sore sometimes of clicking using the mouse pad in the laptop so finally I decided to buy an external mouse to use with the laptop. The mouse I bought is the Logitech RX1000, see picture and description of the mouse below.

Logitech rx1000

High-performance laser engine with 1000 dpi resolution that works on most surfaces—with an ultra-comfortable grip!
Logitech’s High Performance Laser engine offers 20 times more tracking power than standard optical.
• Tracks on more surfaces – performs flawlessly on the high-gloss surfaces that LED-based mice can’t negotiate
• 1000 dpi for extraordinary accuracy and precise control
• Logitech Tilt Wheel plus Zoom technology allows the user to scroll horizontally and vertically or zoom in and out
• Ambidextrous design

Configuration under Linux

The basic configuration under Linux was straight forward. I just plugged the mouse and started working but just the basic functions of the mouse but the additional buttons of the mouse weren’t still working. To configure the additional buttons of the mouse in Linux we will need to edit our xorg.conf file.
In your xorg.conf file you will need to add/edit the following (leave your current mouse configuration there if you have a laptop).

Section "InputDevice"
   Identifier      "Logitech RX1000"
   Driver          "evdev"
   Option          "Name"                  "Logitech USB Optical Mouse"
   Option          "Device"                "/dev/input/event5"
   Option          "Buttons"               "8"
   Option          "HWHEELRelativeAxisButtons"  "7 6"
EndSection

We are going to use the evdev driver as this is the generic input driver in X.org.
Under Option “Name” you will need to type exactly (case sensitive) the name that appears in /proc/bus/input/device for your mouse. In the Option “Device” you will need to type the event device number that appears in the output.

I: Bus=0003 Vendor=046d Product=c046 Version=0110
N: Name="Logitech USB Optical Mouse"
P: Phys=usb-0000:00:02.0-2/input0
S: Sysfs=/class/input/input5
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=mouse1 event5 
B: EV=17
B: KEY=ff0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B: REL=143
B: MSC=10

Finally under your “ServerLayout” section in your xorg.conf you will need to modify or comment the line for your mouse input device if you have added a new Inputdevice section

Section "ServerLayout"
   Identifier      "Default Layout"
   Screen          "Default Screen"
   InputDevice     "Generic Keyboard"
   #InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
   InputDevice     "Logitech RX1000" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Now restart your X and try the mouse if it is working or not.

Firefox configuration

With this mouse you can configure the horizontal browsing so rather than horizontal browsing is used as the forward and back buttons in Firefox. Just edit the following parameters in your about:config

mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.action = 2
mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.numlines = -1
mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.sysnumlines = false

For reference the numbers for the action that are available are:

0=lines, 1=pages, 2=history, 3=text size

References

http://adventuresinswitching.blogspot.com/2008/04/logitech-mx1000-mouse-on-ubuntu-804.html
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Mouse+buttons+do+not+work+as+Back+and+Forward

Tags: extra buttons, linux, logitech, rx1000