The Logitech G13 is a 25-key "advanced gameboard" from Logitech's Gaming series, with the intention of replacing the left half of your keyboard whilst gaming. It uses rubber dome keyswitches for the main 22-keys, mouse-like buttons for the two buttons around the joystick, a joystick (which can be pressed in), four Mode buttons, four option buttons, a menu button, and a backlight toggle. ([Official Site](http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g13-advanced-gameboard)) There are a couple options for drivers, but only one that appears to work well today: * Running the official [Logitech Gaming Software](http://support.logitech.com/software/gaming-software) under [Wine](/index.php/Wine "Wine"). Despite working fine, the software [has a Garbage rating](https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=14748) on WineHQ, as it can't actually communicate with USB devices. (However, the reports available are quite old, and you may have better luck) * [g15daemon](https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=g15daemon), despite it's backend (libg15) claiming to support the G13, does not actually support the G13. * [linux-g13-driver](https://code.google.com/p/linux-g13-driver/), which can compile if you edit the Makefile (see [issue #16](https://code.google.com/p/linux-g13-driver/issues/detail?id=16)), and may work for you. * [g13](https://github.com/ecraven/g13) [g13-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/g13-git/) is a user-space driver, which seems to work the best out of these. ## Contents * [1 g13](#g13) * [1.1 Installation](#Installation) * [1.2 Running](#Running) * [1.3 Configuring](#Configuring) * [1.4 Commands](#Commands) * [1.5 Keys](#Keys) ## g13 ### Installation Install [g13-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/g13-git/) from the [Arch User Repository](/index.php/Arch_User_Repository "Arch User Repository"). This will install the g13d daemon, the pbm2lpbm bitmap converter and a [systemd](/index.php/Systemd "Systemd") service that runs g13d as user/group "g13". It will also set up rules for [udev](/index.php/Udev "Udev") to identify your G13 device, but the automatic starting and stopping of the service by connecting or unplugging is disabled by default. **Note:** To enable the [systemd](/index.php/Systemd "Systemd") service and have g13d start and stop automatically upon hotplug you will need to uncomment the two bottom lines in `/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/91-g13.rules` **Note:** You will also need to uncomment the uinput line in `/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/91-g13.rules`, which will set owner and permissions for `/dev/uinput` on boot, followed by a reboot. ### Running **Note:** The binary is named g13d, there is already a binary named g13 within [gnupg](https://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=gnupg). After following the steps above, when you reboot and launch g13d (either manually or automatically through [systemd](/index.php/Systemd "Systemd")), you should receive an image with a "linux inside" logo, "G13", and the GNU logo. Running manually prints errors on stderr but if you have enabled the service you can take a look at: `$ systemctl status g13` If you receive the error `/dev/uinput doesn't grant write permissions`, or if your bound keys do not generate any keypresses, running the command below should fix it temporarily, but will revert once you reboot. `# chmod a+rw /dev/uinput` **Note:** The permanent solution is to uncomment the appropriate line in `/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/91-g13.rules`, which will set owner and permissions for `/dev/uinput` on boot. ### Configuring **Note:** When g13d is run as a systemd service it uses a fifo at `/run/g13d/g13-0` instead of the default `/tmp/g13-0` g13d is configured in one of two ways, either by writing commands to `/run/g13d/g13-0`, or preferably by specifying keybindings and commands in a configuration file which is read at launch. When running g13d manually you can specify a configuration file using the `--config` parameter, and when running as a service the file `/etc/g13/default.bind` will be used. **Note:** In most cases, specifying your default keybindings in `/etc/g13/default.bind` is the easiest option. However, please read above about editing `/usr/lib/udev/rules.d/91-g13.rules` and uncommenting both lines that start and stop the systemd service upon hotplug. You may need to create the `/etc/g13 directory` if it was not created during initial install. **Tip:** An example default.bind file can be found here [[1]](https://github.com/zekesonxx/g13-profiles/blob/master/default.bind). Manual commands can also be evoked one at a time by manually writing to `/run/g13d/g13-0`: For example, to set the display a purple colour: `$ echo "rgb 177 13 201" > /run/g13d/g13-0` g13 can also handle multiple commands at once: `$ echo -e "rgb 177 13 201 bind G4 KEY_W" > /run/g13d/g13-0` **Tip:** g13 can handle multiple commands at once, and will ignore lines starting with `#`. You can use this to make files full of commands and run `cat file > /run/g13d/g13-0` when you're ready to play. ### Commands * `rgb `, Set the backlight to an rgb colour, values are expressed in decimal from 0 to 255. For example, to set the display green: `rgb 0 255 0` * `bind `, Binds a G13 key. All keys are bound to `a` by default. For example, to setup WASD movement: ``` bind G4 KEY_W bind G10 KEY_A bind G11 KEY_S bind G12 KEY_D ``` See below for how to configure this. * `mod `, Sets the backlight status of M1, M2, M3, and MR. is a bitmask. To find the desired state compute the sum of 1 (M1), 2 (M2), 4 (M3) and 8 (MR). For example, to set M1, M3, and MR on, and turn M2 off (1+4+8=13): `mod 13` ### Keys `Keys to map to (should be self explanatory)` `KEY_0 KEY_1 KEY_2 KEY_3 KEY_4 KEY_5 KEY_6 KEY_7 KEY_8 KEY_9 KEY_A KEY_APOSTROPHE KEY_B KEY_BACKSLASH KEY_BACKSPACE KEY_C KEY_CAPSLOCK KEY_COMMA KEY_D KEY_DOT KEY_DOWN KEY_E KEY_ENTER KEY_EQUAL KEY_ESC KEY_F KEY_F1 KEY_F10 KEY_F2 KEY_F3 KEY_F4 KEY_F5 KEY_F6 KEY_F7 KEY_F8 KEY_F9 KEY_G KEY_GRAVE KEY_H KEY_I KEY_J KEY_K KEY_KP0 KEY_KP1 KEY_KP2 KEY_KP3 KEY_KP4 KEY_KP5 KEY_KP6 KEY_KP7 KEY_KP8 KEY_KP9 KEY_KPASTERISK KEY_KPDOT KEY_KPMINUS KEY_KPPLUS KEY_L KEY_LEFT KEY_LEFTALT KEY_LEFTBRACE KEY_LEFTCTRL KEY_LEFTSHIFT KEY_M KEY_MINUS KEY_N KEY_NUMLOCK KEY_O KEY_P KEY_Q KEY_R KEY_RIGHT KEY_RIGHTBRACE KEY_RIGHTSHIFT KEY_S KEY_SCROLLLOCK KEY_SEMICOLON KEY_SLASH KEY_SPACE KEY_T KEY_TAB KEY_U KEY_UP KEY_V KEY_W KEY_X KEY_Y KEY_Z` `Keys to map` `BD DOWN G1 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 G15 G16 G17 G18 G19 G2 G20 G21 G22 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 L1 L2 L3 L4 LEFT LIGHT LIGHT_STATE M1 M2 M3 MR TOP STICK_LEFT STICK_RIGHT STICK_UP STICK_DOWN` Since that can be less than explanatory, here's a diagram showing where the keys physically are on the device: ``` Keypad: ______________ | 160x43 LCD | | | ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ BD L1 L2 L3 L4 LIGHT_STATE M1 M2 M3 MR G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 G15 G16 G17 G18 G19 G10 G21 G22 Joystick: L STICK_UP E STICK_LEFT TOP STICK_RIGHT F STICK_DOWN T DOWN ``` **Tip:** As a jumping off point, you can use [default.bind](https://github.com/zekesonxx/g13-profiles/blob/master/default.bind), which has the same bindings as the default profile when using the official software, along with a purple backlight.