Compared with Solaar and logiops
How OpenLogi, Solaar and logiops differ for Logitech mice and keyboards on Linux, what each does that the others do not, and which can run together.
Logitech Options+ has no Linux build, so Linux users choose between open-source tools instead. The two established ones are Solaar and logiops. Both are older and more complete than OpenLogi in several areas. This page is meant to help you pick, not to sell you on one.
At a glance
| OpenLogi | Solaar | logiops | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interface | Desktop app | Desktop app and tray icon | None — a config file |
| Runs as | Your user | Your user | root (a system daemon, logid) |
| Configuration | In the app | In the app, plus a rule engine | /etc/logid.cfg |
| Pair devices with a receiver | No | Yes | No |
| Button remapping | Yes, via HID++ diversion | Yes, through rules | Yes |
| DPI | Yes, written onboard | Yes | Yes |
| Battery level | Yes | Yes | Not shown |
| SmartShift, thumb wheel, hi-res scroll | Not yet | Yes | Yes |
| Gestures | Not yet | Through rules | Yes |
| Licence | GPL-3.0-or-later | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Distribution packages | None published yet | Fedora, Arch, Debian, Ubuntu PPA | Ubuntu, AUR |
"Not yet" means the HID++ feature is known but OpenLogi does not implement it today. The features it does implement are listed in Architecture.
Solaar
Solaar is the long-standing Linux device manager for Logitech hardware. It pairs and unpairs devices with Unifying, Bolt, Lightspeed and Nano receivers, shows battery levels, and exposes the settings each device reports. Custom button behaviour goes through its rule engine, which reacts to device notifications.
Pick Solaar if you need to pair a device with a receiver, or want settings OpenLogi does not have yet, such as SmartShift or the thumb wheel.
logiops
logiops is a daemon, logid, configured through a text file. It has no
interface of its own: you describe buttons, gestures, SmartShift, scrolling and
DPI per device in /etc/logid.cfg and restart the service. Its own README
says it may only run as root, and it only supports HID++ 2.0 devices.
Pick logiops if you want a headless, file-based setup — for example one you keep in your dotfiles — and are comfortable with a root daemon.
OpenLogi
OpenLogi is a desktop app aimed at the Options+ use case: open it, see your device, change a button or the DPI. The differences that follow from how it is built:
- No root at runtime. One udev rule at install time, then access follows your login session. See Permissions.
- Onboard first. DPI is written to the device's flash, so it keeps working with OpenLogi closed.
- Discovered, not listed. Controls appear because the device reports the matching HID++ feature, not because the model is on a list. See Supported devices.
- Wayland and X11 alike. Remapped buttons are emitted through
uinput, below the display server.
It is early software. Profiles, per-application switching, gestures and SmartShift are not implemented, and there are no prebuilt packages yet — see Installation.
Pick OpenLogi if you want a graphical, unprivileged way to remap buttons and set DPI, and the features above cover what you need.
Running them together
OpenLogi and Solaar can run at the same time. Every HID++ 2.0 request carries a software id that the device echoes back, and the two use different ids, so neither picks up the other's replies. A common split is Solaar for pairing and SmartShift, OpenLogi for buttons.
logiops and Solaar should not both configure the same device; Solaar's documentation warns that this leads to unexpected behaviour.
OpenLogi and logiops both take over buttons by diverting them in firmware. Let only one of them manage a given device's buttons, or each will undo the other's diversion.