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Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

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Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#241

Post by phatskat »

pjerem wrote: post #166
phatskat wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 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…

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

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#242

Post by vladvasiliu »

bayindirh wrote: post #187
vladvasiliu wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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.

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#243

Post by phatskat »

kergonath wrote: post #157
phatskat wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#244

Post by brokenmachine »

juancb wrote: post #64
myself248 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does a mouse need an app, again?

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…

Logitech devices are probably based on old code from older devices before WebUSB was a thing.

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#245

Post by BenjiWiebe »

dicknuckle wrote: post #125
bongodongobob wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Agree. It's rare to find a failed Logitech 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.

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#246

Post by augusto-moura »

andix wrote: post #107
KennyBlanken wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#247

Post by ninkendo »

0points wrote: post #192
loufe wrote: post #3

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 rea…

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.

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#248

Post by porkloin »

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

Re: Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices

#249

Post by sirsinsalot »

hnuser123456 wrote: post #6
loufe wrote: post #3

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 rea…

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.

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.

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