I have been using Logitech peripherals for years. Logitech gear always just worked.
Now they demand internet accounts to use the features of the keyboard and mouse that I purchased. WTF?
Not only that, have to use wide-open-to-snooping Chrome to adjust the settings. You cannot adjust/use your mouse and keyboard if you just use Firefox.
This only makes sense if they are planning (or are already) tracking my every move online to sell to advertisers or spooks.
What are the good options?
Also, if anybody sees how these changes could be benign, please let me know.
EDIT:
By popular demand:
The keyboard I bought that started this journey: MX Keys S
The key feature that first demanded cloud access: Swithing between computers, now it is requires it to adjust the receivers. I have both a Bolt and a Unifying receiver.
Mouse (actually a trackball) that now is requesting that I use a Chrome Browser to adjust it: M570
Software:
The Logi SetPoint Settings I open from Windows now requires you to log into your Logitech account to make changes to your Unifying or 2.4 ghz usb receiver. This link takes you to a screen that says Logi Web Connect. It does not work unless you use the latest version of Chrome, Edge, & Opera, but reccomends Chrome for the best experience.
Logitech + used to require this to enable options, but I don’t see it on my Windows computer anymore. It is still on my Mac, but upon opening it to confirm for this message, it seems to be announcing that it is now able to incorporate AI into everything I type. (ugggh)
Find a mouse and keyboard you like and buy 5-10 of them. Put them in heavy duty ziploc bags with a few dessicant packets and store them in your freezer.
I’ve fallen into this trap too a year ago or so. try if the Logitech Onboard Memory Manager is useful for any of your devices, it’s a totally offline program. you can get it from the page below, but if it’s been taken down check the archive.org, I think I have made an archive of the exe too
https://support.logi.com/hc/de/articles/6449584392215-Onboard-Memory-Manager
Thanks!
For keyboards I’d highly recommend Filco, Daskey, and Ducky. The former 2 are more ‘no frills, all business’, the latter has some RGB offerings, but most of the keyboards those guys make are plate-mounted mechanical, plug and play, with really decent build quality. Also fairly common and easy to source (Microcenter usually has some of those brands in stock).
I don’t know shit about trackballs but my Dad forgot his when he came up to visit (Minnesota-Arizona snowbirds) so I bought him an ELECOM DEFT PRO from Amazon and he loved it so much he started using it over the one he forgot to bring. Might be worth a look - also a plug and play type device
My wife balked when I bought a Ducky keyboard to replace the solar UN-powered, Bluetooth DIS-connected, keys popping everywhere garbage I got from work. Once she typed on it, she never had another complaint.
“The company to which I’ve always given my money because I trusted them to make good products has started taking advantage of my trust and is producing shitty products. How do I avoid this?”
Stop buying their products the moment they stop making good ones.
I feel your frustration, but I think you already knew the answer. Any workaround or jailbreak or open source firmware update would just be avoiding the problem, not fixing it. Stop buying Logitech products.
I procure for my company I am not touching Logitech anymore.
I think the mice and keyboard requiring “Chrome” is actually due to WebHID. WebHID is only supported in Chromium browsers. Now here’s the fun part, this thread has VIA mentioned a couple times and even though VIA/QMK/ZMK are FOSS, the usevia.app website requires a, you guessed it, WebHID capable browser.
That said, don’t use Logitech keyboards. Sell it to a sucker on local and buy any of the above compatible keyboards instead. Drop CSTM, Luminkey, Keychron, Akko, QK NEO, CK Bakaneko, there’s probably couple more that are affordable and quality. Just don’t fall for GMMK, Ducky and other pseudo-gaming crap. Also visit !mechanicalkeyboards@lemmy.ml and ask questions.
Not sure about your trackball problem.
If it runs QMK I would port to vial over via any day of the week, cannot stand via. Granted I need to run the app when I want to adjust the key map (and only then), but it removes the need for WebHID or any similar problems. I have been able to replace my custom mapping and macros then compiling my own custom QMK firmware and uploading it to the keyboard workflow with live editing of the map and macros.
Just here to back you up on this. All solid advice.
Just don’t use the software lol. If it requires software to function, return it.
garbage advice lol
the software has useful features, like reconfiguring buttons on your mouse. however lately all of them got to be enshittified with a login requirement.
the real solution is to not buy their shit, or to keep buying used hardware for which decent software configurator is still available
My advice was to not buy/use it and your advice is also to not buy it lol
I’m going to assume you need to use Chrome to set up the dongle because Firefox still doesn’t support Bluetooth web APIs.
Logitech G devices with the Lightspeed dongle don’t require setup (they’re all uniquely paired from the factory) and will work without the G Hub software. The software itself, if you do want it, works offline without an account.
This is assuming you don’t want to move away from Logitech entirely of course.
I know this might not be the most convenient solution, but learning to resolder mouse switches means you can just replace the faulty components (and maybe the sliders too) and just keep using the hardware that works for you. As long as you don’t have a mouse with that awful rubber that de-vulcanizes after about 3 years, and don’t mind the visual wear from your hand on the shell over time, you’ll easily 10x the life of most products manufactured with planned obsolescence. Logitech almost always cheaps out on the switches for their gaming mice, unfortunately. After replacing the switches on my g pro wireless when they started double-clicking after 2 years (almost exactly), it’s been smooth sailing ever since.
ifixit almost always has comprehensive teardown and rebuild instructions for popular peripherals. Bonus points is that whenever you take apart something to do a repair, you can clean out all the hard to reach places that collect random dust and debris. Can be kind of gross but is also pretty satisfying. Additional bonus points for being more sustainable with your consumer habits and minimizing e-waste in landfills!
If you’ve got a mechanical keyboard, you can do the same but it’s generally a lot more tedious since most have the switches soldered on, and LEDs double the amount of joints you have to deal with. I recently did just the WASD and a few other high-traffic keys on my board after one one of them failed, and it was a several hour process
I still have a small fleet of M570 trackballs in service, I keep having to swap out the switches but what else is my soldering iron doing, amirite? My keyboard is from Cooler Master, a Masterkeys Pro M White LEDs, and they never made bloatware for it. The lights are configurable from the keyboard itself. That’s the kind of thing I look for.
Most of these systems have FOSS Linux equivalents. Sooooo
Then share them and actually help answer the question.
Op is not using Linux, and they’re the first search results even so.
You think you’re helping, but you’re just making people hate linux users even more
ok, I’m sorry that you are upset that in a closed system like Microsoft you often don’t have a choice with organizations ramming their enshitification into your user experience. but some stupid hate against people who have been working to give you an alternative is just not ok.
It’s worth noting that not only did I not have to create this meme, I didn’t have to Google that hard to find it.
Every thing you type makes me hate linux all that much more
You don’t hate linux, you hate the community. Linux is just a piece of software
Maybe if you hate things because people recommend them instead of what they are good or bad for then you are ignorant
Did you ever think that you hate Linux because that’s what you have decided you are going to do, and not because you should and not because people are making you?
The blind egotism and arrogance of Linux users really is quite twatish. You guys are just insufferable. Being right doesnt make you less insufferable.
Sent from Linux
You are now resorting to personal attacks (which is against the rules) yet you are blaming Linux users for… using Linux? Suggesting it as a free alternative that people can try out at any time?
I don’t get it.
I’m not the angry autist that started the argument. He is indeed an angry autist. Doesnt change that he has at least one valid point. He is a dick though.
That said, I agree with the initial sentiment he expressed, and including myself in it. The fact is there is a perception that Linux is complicated, and we aren’t helping ourselves, since we dont explain shit.
Linux does not solve OPs problem. Telling them to use Linux does not help them at all because its so far from how to actually get what they want and introduces so many new problems that its laughable.
The fact that using Linux allows them to find workarounds to the specific problems is not a solution in and of itself, and holy shit are there still usability problems with Linux if you start doing anything slightly complicated, which it seems like OP is.
Linux people be like:
- Draw a circle.
- Draw the rest of the owl
Buy open hardware with open source firmware.
I’m typing this from a Corne-ish Zen and you can see my firmware (ZMK) with my keymap at https://github.com/Utopiah/zmk-config-zen-2/blob/main/config/corneish_zen.keymap#L27
Nobody can touch this but me. No update can break it. Yet, it’s more feature rich than most keyboards.
There are equivalents for most peripherals. It’s not cheap, usually even MORE expensive than already pricey ones like Logitech (I have an MX Vertical, still) but IMHO it’s worth it. It’s good right now, pragmatically speaking, but also morally speaking.
I advise against swimming upstream, namely NOT buying hardware that have such enshitification practices because if they don’t do it today, they might tomorrow when there is more pressure from shareholders. Also by buying alternatives you are economically supporting people whom you believe are providing better solutions for yourself and others.
PS: a gateway to such projects is https://crowdsupply.com which is a kind of KickStarter. I bought a dozen things there, all delivered and working.
Happy Cakeday! 🍰🎂
I’d hope that a $300 keyboard that was designed to be customized would.
What I meant to say is that a lot of commercial keyboards are sold with some “customizable” they are. And it’s partly true, you have tool allowing to make some shortcut on popular OSes. It might be sufficient for some people … but it is NOT the same as putting your own firmware in it.
I’m not advocating for a $300 keyboard over a $30 one, “just” for genuine customization. Some that doesn’t have arbitrary limitations from the manufacturer and doesn’t have support for only some OSes which in turns (well Windows and MacOS not to name them) also promote a consumer only with limited control options, as OP is saying about enshitification.
Can you please provide the link to your keyboard?
Happy to, it is a Corne-ish Zen (6 columns (3x6) / Rose Gold) that I bought as a group buy from https://splitkb.com , ordered in May 2022 and received in January 2023. I’ve been using it daily, at home and on the move, since.
It’s not cheap but if you work hours a day on a computer, if you have pain in the hands or wrist as I did, finding the “right” keyboard for you, both ergonomically speaking and software wise, is worth every penny IMHO.
They don’t have it anymore it seems but they have a lot of quality alternatives I’m sure.
It looks like https://lowprokb.ca/products/corne-ish-zen?variant=42051226796196
What you want is to go along with the business line of logitechs products and scrap the rest. There is an offline version of Logi Options+ “for air gapped machines” available. https://prosupport.logi.com/hc/en-hk/articles/10991109278871-Logitech-Options-Offline-Installer You may use it in a virtual machine aswell.
When did you buy the M570? I bought mine 6 years ago and it doesn’t require software, if yours is recent then that’s a new thing
It just changed. It always had the app to program the buttons, but now if you need to change the receiver, it goes to the cloud.
I recently bought a nice MX series Logitech KB and a mouse that will pair with 3 devices, also Logitech. After seeing how terrible the software is, failing so hard as to temporarily disable the keyboard, repeatedly, I returned both.
My best advice is to either try to use them entirely without the software and all its customizations or sell your hardware, buying something better.
I’m sorry friend.
I can’t remember how to do it offhand, but you should be able to save the settings to the hardware itself, then disable Logitech from opening. I changed settings not too long ago (2ish months) and this worked.
There is a way to save a configuration to your mouse and then you can just disable/uninstall the bloatware
Good to know. That seems pretty straightforward.
It’s very simple, and works very well. When I got a new PC it took 7 months for me to realize I didn’t have the software, and as usual was because I wanted to change a mouse button.
