Cyborg RAT 7 in Arch Linux

Earlier, I had written a guide to getting the Logitech MX Revolution working in Linux. Some time ago the friction-free scroll mode broke down on me, so I decided to switch to a new mouse: the RAT 7 (this happened quite some time ago; I just got lazy in writing this). I won’t argue my purchase decision — you either like it or you don’t — but if you have one and want to get it working, then read on.

Details of how to use xbindkeys and xmacro are detailed in the above-linked guide, and I will not repeat it here.



The cursor doesn’t respond!
From a very informative bug report on xorg-xserver-input-mouse, the problem was tracked down to the mode selection button next to the left-click button. Apparently, it sends a release event for button 13, followed by a click event for button 14, each time you press it. In this manner, it cycles through buttons 13, 14 and 15 with repeated presses. X server jams during the start-up process when the mouse does this, and the only fix I know of now is to disable those 3 buttons. This can be done with xinput (detailed in the bug report, but session-specific), or in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Edit the InputDevice section to look something like this:

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Mouse Remap"
MatchProduct "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Mouse"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 0 0 16 17 18 19 20 21"
EndSection

ZAxisMapping sets the scroll directions for the scroll wheel, and is not needed to un-jam the mouse. the important line here is Option "ButtonMapping", which disables buttons 13–15 (in bold). Reboot X server (or your system), and that’s all there is to it.

The MatchProduct string is obtained using xinput --list, and should match exactly.



Custom key mappings
For those who want custom button mappings as well, this is the .xbindkeysrc I use for the RAT 7:

###########################
# xbindkeys configuration # For Cyborg RAT 7 Mouse
###########################
#


#Ctrl-PgDn: Thumbwheel right
#using xte (old version): #"xte 'keydown Control_L' 'key Page_Down' 'keyup Control_L'"
"echo 'KeyStrPress Control_L KeyStrPress Page_Down KeyStrRelease Page_Down KeyStrRelease Control_L' | xmacroplay :0"
    m:0x0 + b:10

#Ctrl-PgUp: Thumbwheel left
#using xte (old version): "xte 'keydown Control_L' 'key Page_Up' 'keyup Control_L'"
"echo 'KeyStrPress Control_L KeyStrPress Page_Up KeyStrRelease Page_Up KeyStrRelease Control_L' | xmacroplay :0"
    m:0x0 + b:11

#Ctrl-F4: Red "Snipe" button
#using xte (old version): "xte 'keydown Control_L' 'key F4' 'keyup Control_L'"
"echo 'KeyStrPress Control_L KeyStrPress F4 KeyStrRelease F4 KeyStrRelease Control_L' | xmacroplay :0"
    m:0x0 + b:12

#Alt-Left: Rear thumb button
"echo 'KeyStrPress Alt_L KeyStrPress Left KeyStrRelease Left KeyStrRelease Alt_L' | xmacroplay :0"
    m:0x0 + b:8

#Alt-Right: Front thumb button
"echo 'KeyStrPress Alt_L KeyStrPress Right KeyStrRelease Right KeyStrRelease Alt_L' | xmacroplay :0"
    m:0x0 + b:9

#
# End of xbindkeys configuration

Addendum (22/08/11): Here’s an alternate .xbindkeyrc using xdotool in place of xmacro:

###########################
# xbindkeys configuration # For Cyborg RAT 7 Mouse
###########################
#
# Version: 0.1.3
#
#Ctrl-PgDn: Thumbwheel right
"xdotool key ctrl+Next"
m:0x0 + b:10
Control+Mod2 + Next

#Ctrl-PgUp: Thumbwheel left
"xdotool key ctrl+Prior"
m:0x0 + b:11
Control+Mod2 + Prior

#Ctrl-F4: Red "Snipe" button
"xdotool key ctrl+F4"
m:0x0 + b:12
Control+Mod2 + F4

#Alt-Left: Rear thumb button
"xdotool key alt+Left"
m:0x0 + b:8
Alt+Mod2 + Left

#Alt-Right: Front thumb button
"xdotool key alt+Right"
m:0x0 + b:9
Alt+Mod2 + Right

#
# End of xbindkeys configuration