Logitech Trackballs and Linux

Broken buttons

Like other Logitech mice the microswitches die eventually. It uses a MATSUSHITA AHM19001 9TH, unlike other mice that use an Omron D2FC-F-7N. The Omron can replace the left mouse button only, the holes through the microswitch are much smaller on the Omron, so wouldn't fit on the right mouse button mounting lugs.

Salvaging switches from a Marble Mouse USB also works.

The replacement is easy, unscrew 4 (one is behind the sticker) screws, desolder old button, solder new one in.

Connecting to your PC

It's native mode is PS/2, if you have a PS/2 port then it's easy. If not then there are several options.

Active PS2->USB Adaptor:

Active adaptors mostly just work, although I've not found one that understands the fourth button. Some interpret it as movement, most ignore it.

PS2->Serial->USB:

You need 2 converters, a Logitech 501102-1002 PS2-Serial adapter, and a USB-Serial controller (I'm using an FTDI-based one).Once connected together, you then need to use inputattach to get linux to use the serial port as a mouse:

inputattach -mman4 /dev/ttyUSB0

If this works, you can make it automatic via. systemd:

cat <<EOF > /etc/systemd/system/inputattach-mman4@.service
[Unit]
Description=inputattach for mouseman serial input devices
# Based on: https://sourceforge.net/p/linuxwacom/xf86-input-wacom/ci/master/tree/conf/wacom-inputattach%40.service.in
# See also: /etc/udev/rules.d/logitech-marble-fx.rules

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/bin/inputattach -mman4 /dev/%I
Restart=on-success
EOF

cat <<EOF > /etc/udev/rules.d/logitech-marble-fx.rules
ACTION=="add", \
  SUBSYSTEM=="usb-serial", \
  ATTRS{manufacturer}=="FTDI", \
  ATTRS{product}=="US232R", \
  ATTRS{serial}=="FTEJOT2T", \
  TAG+="systemd", ENV{SYSTEMD_WANTS}+="inputattach-mman4@%k.service"
EOF

Note that the udev rule is based around my USB-serial device, this will need modifying for whatever you're using.Finally you can turn on wheel emulation in xorg.conf:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier         "Logitech Marble FX (serial)"
        MatchProduct       "Logitech M+ Mouse"
        MatchDevicePath    "/dev/input/event*"
        Option             "EmulateWheel"          "true"
        Option             "EmulateWheelButton"    "2"
        Option             "Emulate3Buttons"       "false"
        Option             "XAxisMapping"          "6 7"
        Option             "YAxisMapping"          "4 5"
EndSection

Gutting a Trackman Marble:

In theory you could rip the innards out of a Trackman Marble USB mouse. The sensor fits the mounting perfectly, but you would have to re-use the button boards from the old mouse to keep the button layout---so it's very much a one-way procedure. Once connected you would have to increase sensitivity dramatically to make it usable, to the point that it might be somewhat inaccurate.

Broken buttons

Again, the buttons eventually start sticking and need replacing. Although a low battery can cause similar symptoms.

The left button is an OMRON D2FC-7 JAPAN, other buttons are labelled IC DM1.

Unscrew the three screws on the bottom, and the upper shell lifts off (with all the button mechanisms staying attached).

I replaced them with OMRON D2F-01F, stiffer buttons may have been better, but I'm not sure I'll tell the difference.

Smartscroll Mode

Apparently it can do something called "smart scroll". No idea what this is supposed to mean, apart from when it's on the wee buttons will report a scroll-button press as well as their own. Great. Both lmctl and lomoco will let you turn it off, however lomoco is in an unfathomable state atm, whilst lmctl still works for what we want. Compile / install .deb, then you can use a udev rule like:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{manufacturer}=="Logitech", ATTR{bDeviceClass}=="00", ATTR{bDeviceSubClass}=="00" \
  , RUN+="/usr/bin/lmctl -b $env{BUSNUM} -d $env{DEVNUM} -8 --no-sms"

Xorg configuration

So long as you use the evdev driver, all the buttons should work just fine. You can reorder the buttons using xinput, for example:

xinput --set-button-map "Logitech USB Receiver" \
    1 9 3 4 5 11 12 8 2 10 6 7

This will... + Make the "up" side button (7) the middle button + Make the small up/down buttons (9 & 10) the horizontal scroll buttons + Jumble the remaining buttons to the top

Assigning functions to remaining buttons

You can use xbindkeys and xvkbd to map all the extra buttons now at your disposal to key events. E.g. my .xbindkeysrc says:

# Double-up button: Home
"/usr/bin/xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[Home]'"
   m:0x0 + b:6
# Double-dn button: Home
"/usr/bin/xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\[End]'"
   m:0x0 + b:7
# Back button: Alt-Left (i.e. back in most browsers)
"/usr/bin/xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\A\[Left]'"
   m:0x0 + b:8
# Lock button: Ctrl-T (i.e. new tab)
"/usr/bin/xvkbd -xsendevent -text '\Ct'"
   m:0x0 + b:10

Ideally I'd also want to rotate the pointer movement 225 degrees and use the "down" side button for pretend scroll-wheeling, but alas the evdev driver doesn't let you do that.