Vengeance K90 & Linux

[tolga9009]

I'm getting my hands on a Corsair K95 these days. If Corsair isn't creating native drivers, we'll do it on our own! I'll keep you updated!

[nurow]

I am also looking for Linux support for the K90. :( Is there any update on that?

[Ant59]

I too have registered simply to state my interest in Linux compatibility. I run elementary Luna on my main PC (using Xen VGA Passthrough for Windows gaming) and I'm looking to buy a Corsair K95. Will you please release a full set of drivers and utility software for Linux. There's 4 page of interest here :)

[subraizada3]

If there is enough demand for a Linux version, we can look into it.

 

+1 demand.

 

I realize that your company has limited resources, just like every other company out there.

However, if you just release some more specifications the Linux community will create a driver in no time.

 

A large amount of Linux users are sysadmins, programmers, engineers, etc. We understand the value of good hardware. Though there aren't as many Linux users as there are Windows users, a larger percentage of us buy good hardware like the K90/95. We also need the G-Keys more than the gamers - terminals and programming are mostly just typing the same stuff a bunch of times.

 

By doing something as simple, easy, and fast as releasing specifications on the keyboards, you will get a free Linux driver, lots of popularity, and a bunch of sales/profit/money.

[Asermar]

+1 for linux support.

I've just buy the k90 for coding.

 

I've been able to use the keyboard using a Virtualbox Win7 virtual machine. The corsair software recognise the keyboard and you are able to record macros.

 

The hardware play mode is necesary for play the macros from the keyboard, not from the software, with this hardware play mode I can use the macros in linux.

 

You need to attach the usb keyboard to the virtual machine (Configuration / USB / ADD USB Filter) for be able to activate the hardware play mode.

 

NOTE that when the keyboard is attached to the virtual machine and this is running, the keyboard don't works at all in linux (I've a logitech keyboard attached at the same time to the computer)

 

NOTE: when I installed the software there was an firmware update pending. I updated the firmware in a windows netbook. I don't know if you can update firmware from the virtual machine.

 

I hope this information can help some one using the keyboard.

 

Sorry for the mistakes, I'm not native english speaker.

[subraizada3]

In VirtualBox, or any other VM software that I know of, a USB device can only be connected to either the host system or the guest VM. It cannot be shared by both. The same goes for USB mice or any other USb device.

 

I updated firmware via VirtualBox a few days ago (Win7 64 bit), my keyboard still works. You just need to connect the K90 to the VM.

 

Yes, the hardware playback mode definetely helps, but the goal is to be able to configure the keyboard without the need to buy (or pirate, or borrow) Windows.

[k90_guy]

+ 1 on the linux support. This keyboard (k-90) is really the only thing holding me to Windows anymore. I know there are 5-6 million Java programmers in the world. Java is just one language. This is by far the BEST programming keyboard ever created. Really, in every detail it's so perfect it's hard for me to think of an improvement . Sure the software could always be better, but the keyboard itself? It lacks nothing and does everything to perfection.

 

If Corsair wanted to push this keyboard in the vertical market called "programmers" they'd HAVE to sell at least a million units, not less and possibly many times that. I don't know what good numbers of shipped units for peripherals is or keyboards specifically. Just guessing, most people in the developed world have at least two so I am going to guess the market is perhaps 4 billion. Who is THIS keyboard aimed at and what are its numbers? People with 150 bucks to drop on something they can pay 25 for, that's who. So that market is already much smaller than the total market. Gamers mostly I would guess. So call that market 20-50 million?

 

I am certain that there at least 20-30 million programmers in the world world. They make higher -than-gamers wages, on average. They make their living through their keyboard. You could certainly put this keyboard into into at least every 10th programmer's hands and I would think actually it could be the the standard keyboard for programmers.

 

The market is there. People are programming for Linux and on Linux- the IDEs all run on Linux - Intellij and Eclipse in Java. The whole flipping internet backend runs on Linux. People program on Linux. Only MS IDE of course doesn't run on Linux but and how relevant is M$ going to be going forward when the whole world is writing apps for Android and Mac OS ? That's where the developer energy is.

 

Plus a million for either writing an open source driver for , say, Ubuntu and letting community carry it forward. Even just helping the community to write their own would be huge and pt you well into the Linux friendly camp.

 

Gotta give a little to get some, right?

[maxmat]

Hi all,

 

I'm also a Linux user, I'm working in Linux world for years and yes, I'm still gaming too much according to most of non-gamer population : )

 

To play, I use a Logitech G700 with programmable buttons. This weekend I received a Razer OrbWeaver keypad.

 

The mice is well engineered: there is a chip in the mouse to store buttons configuration. So I boot some Windows, configured my mouse, reboot under Linux (any of them) and my mouse works perfectly. Logitech does things well sometimes : )

 

The keypad is not well engineered: if there is some chip on the keypad, it's not to store any configuration. I boot some Windows, configure the keypad, reboot on Linux, and the config is lost. I reboot on Windows and after the Razer software is loaded, this software loads the configuration into the keypad... at each reboot yes... This is normal, for Razer Corporation, there are two kind of operating systems: MAC OS and PC. PC meaning Windows rather than x86 or x86_64 platform, on which any system can run.

 

Of course today I'm going to send back that Razer device thought buy noob engineer. And I'll most certainly get another keyboard to replace my gaming device.

This new device won't be Corsair for now because according to what I read there, Corsair's keyboard are working as badly as Razer keypads which is disappointing...

 

Best regards,

 

mathias

[tolga9009]

Sorry, that I didn't come back to you. I've decided not to buy the K90 - not due to the lack of Linux support, but due to its Firmware bugs.

 

So, from what I read in this thread, it's possible to use thr Corsair K90 in Hardware Playback mode, once it's configured without any flaws? If yes, then Corsair won't anything, cause it's not worth it. Everyone has access to Windows somewhere; you can even get the free 30-day Trial version (Enterprise) of it.

 

There is someone, who wrote the complete drivers for Roccat hardware on Linux, including the tool to configure your hardware. You may learn from his drivers and write your own. But first of all, you need to reverse enigneer the USB interaction, when the driver is running. Is someone able to do that? You guys don't need to hope and wait for Corsair, if you do it on your own.

[Alureon]

If there is enough demand for a Linux version, we can look into it.

 

Putting in my vote for Linux support!

[Roranicus]

I've also registered to put in my vote for Linux support. I've had nothing but great experiences with Corsair products under windows and would love to keep supporting you guys now that I'm moving towards running linux exclusively. With steamOS coming, the need for gaming hardware on linux systems will definitely grow and now would be the perfect time to get ahead of the competition and be the first to offer gaming hardware with working linux drivers.

[richiridu]

Just ordered the k95 and just signed up to +1 for linux!

[Il Corsaro Nero]

+1 for Linux, for my italian K70 red.

 

The last distro: Kubuntu 13.10 64 bit, with sudo kbd_mode -u in bash at every boot works great, but the Caps Lock LED indicator not. The key is functional: if I press the key, the letters toggle between upper or lower case. The indicator LED light remains off.

Just for remember, the LED works perfectly in Windows, in mother board BIOS and in GRUB menu.

And the K70 firmware, now, is the last: 1.09.

 

Best Regards.

[subraizada3]

I'm using a relatively up-to-date version of Arch Linux 64 bit on my desktop with the K90.

 

The caps/scroll/num lock keys don't work while in X, but they all work perfectly when I'm in a TTY.

 

I have NOT applied any 'fixes' mentioned in this thread or anywhere else, I am just using the drivers installed as dependencies of the X server (evdev, I think).

 

EDIT: I'm using the Arch kernel, version 3.12.7-2

libevdev and xf86-input-evdev are installed.

[tolga9009]

Hi there,

 

I'm studying Computer Science in Germany. To gain experience, I've developed a fully working keyboard driver (Linux kernel module) for the Microsoft Sidewinder X4, to support extra keys + special functions and am currently working on the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 driver. After finishing the Sidewinder X6 support, I would have time to work on the Corsair keyboards, if Corsair is able to provide me a keyboard sample. At the moment, I'm quite busy with exams, but around Mid-March, I would have more than enough time to work on the drivers.

 

What I could make work:

- Out of the box working Macro + Special buttons; fixing Linux-specific bugs

- Profile handling and minor stuff

 

What you shouldn't expect:

- Corsair UI tool ported over to Linux (really, everything we need to create and assign macros to buttons is already done in Linux; we just need to support the hardware)

- A way to program "hardware playback mode" macros. This will need a GUI, to make it comfortable. Maybe in the future sometime, but I'm currently not experienced enough to program a complex GUI.

 

Eventhough this might not be the solution you're looking for, this will make the Corsair keyboard's special buttons, macros and other, major functions work under Linux. I have experiences in C programming and USB reverse engineering. All I need is just a keyboard sample to reverse engineer the USB packets, debug the driver, maintain the module and fix, whenever something's broken (like due to new functions in future Linux kernel versions).

 

Is there any Corsair representative (preferable german, just to make things easier), I could get in contact with? Just shoot me a PN.

 

Greetings,

Tolga

[tolga9009]

Ok, no one has gotten back to me, so there is no interest (from Corsair's perspective), I guess. Unfortunately, there is no other way for me, to get my hands on a Corsair keyboard and therefore, I can't work on any drivers. You guys probably have to wait for some Linux-Dev with a Kxx keyboard :(.

[subraizada3]

tolga9009:

I've never done Linux drivers before, but a simple keyboard driver can't be that hard.

If you could point me to a tutorial, that would help, a few minutes of Google didn't return much.

I would also be willing to send you keycodes and stuff I get from xev and things like that if that would help you.

[tolga9009]

Unfortunately, there is no tutorial. You have to look into http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/drivers/hid/ and learn from other hid drivers. The roccat drivers helped me alot!

 

The problem is, I'd at least need a USB capture log, which isn't trivial - atleast a good one. For a complex device like Corsair Kxx keyboards, I don't think, that providing keycodes is enough. It could be possible, but most of the time, you're not coding, but troubleshooting and debugging. And for the debugging process, a testing device is essential. The hid-roccat drivers helped me alot understanding the drivers, but also hid-lenovo-tpkbd and hid-sony, which implement alot of useful features, which can be reused. Also, take a look at http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/include/linux/hid.h - there is almost everything you need.

 

I've started learning C in October and was able to finish the drivers in January - it definitely takes dedication and time, it's not very difficult though. Good luck ;)!

 

Edit: Of course, there are other ways to make the keyboard work. You don't need to write a kernel module - you may also choose to make this work in user land via libusb. Take a look at "x4daemon" or Wattos' Sidewinder X6 driver (github), they've written keyboard drivers in user land. But to be honest, the proper way to do this is as a kernel module. If there is someone in Germany, who could donate me a semi-broken Corsair Kxx (I don't mind about anything, as long as the keyboard is recognized, when plugged in and important keys are working), I still can do this.

[santi]

1+ ubuntu

Sorry for the language but did not speak English, someone tried to use wine with the original software? someone could try installing ubuntu original software with Wine and test whether all keys including function g?, I am very interested in buying a vengance k90, but if the g keys do not work would not be as good buy. I downloaded the software k90 Corsair web site and it looks like it installs fine on the emulator Wine, but without the keyboard can not prove it. Thank you.

[tolga9009]

I'm finished with Sidewinder X4 / X6 support now and submitted the patch, here's the github repo: https://github.com/tolga9009/hid-sidewinder/blob/master/drivers/hid/hid-microsoft.c

 

Maybe there is something useful for the implementation of Corsair keyboards. They should be similar. Here is also a "worklog", you will definitely find useful stuff there, which can be applied to the Corsair keyboards, aswell. Learn from our mistakes and save time: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1543370

 

Good Luck!

[metcard]

I'm using kubuntu (kde) 14.04 and I have downloaded a widget called Lock Key State (QML), this widget highlights either caps or num on the widget when they are activated.

Nothing special really, however, the widget allows you to activate either caps lock or num lock by clicking on the on screen widget, again nothing special, what happens though is that when you activate caps or num via the widget, the caps and num lock notification light on the keyboard lights up.

So surely it can't be much effort to get the lock key indicators to work properly.

It's so odd, I have tried a dozen keyboards, new and old and every single one of them have had no issues with the lock key indicators except this one (K90).

[crazybear]

Has anyone tried building the makefile here https://github.com/jupiter126/Linux_Custom_Control_Device for a K90 or K95? It sure would be great to have this keyboard work on Linux! Before I try this, I'd like to know if anyone found it worked - or is it just a work-in-progress? I've had both K90 and K95 keyboards and they are great, but both have suffered from some keys mysteriously repeating endlessly [until stopped] when hit just once. In Linux, also the third

[desiatoo]

+1 for Linux!

 

1) Is it possible to connect the keyboard to a multi boot system, program the lighting scheme, macro and G-keys under Windows and than boot into Linux using the schemes that were programmed in Windows?

 

2) this thread is two years old now, and it doesn't look as if Corsair is developing Linux drivers for these keyboards. Are there other mechanical keyboards known that work with Linux?

[metcard]

+1 for Linux!

 

1) Is it possible to connect the keyboard to a multi boot system, program the lighting scheme, macro and G-keys under Windows and than boot into Linux using the schemes that were programmed in Windows?

 

2) this thread is two years old now, and it doesn't look as if Corsair is developing Linux drivers for these keyboards. Are there other mechanical keyboards known that work with Linux?

 

#1. No. The majority of Gkeys output the same keycode on linux.

I have programmed the macros in windows and they do not work on Linux.

Using XEV in terminal, to capture the key output, most keys show as 248 No symbol - you could probably program those keys to do something, but then 90% of the gkeys will do the same thing.

Other Gkeys seem to share the same code as other keys on the keyboard. eg;

G17 = 172 XF86AudioPlay

G18 = 174 XF86AudioStop

G9 = Delete

The rest = 248 no symbol.

I did buy a cougar keyboard recently with Gkeys, and realised Corsair aren't that bad, the cougar keyboard locked up if I pressed one of the Gkeys, windows lock key, M keys or FN key, and the media keys didn't work.

I might pick up the K70 RGB in the future. I can live without the lock keys activating since everything else on the keyboard works.

It would be nice if Corsair put in some effort into Linux though.

 

This keyboard doesn't have any complex lighting schemes. It's either LOW, MED, HIGH or off. The lighting toggle button on the keyboard works fine with linux.

[SirCmpwn]

Registered to express support for Linux. It disgusts me that companies still don't put in the effort.