Razer Linux Support Information

In the midst of our Razer Krait review, we had posed the question to Razer in regards to open-source drivers or mouse specifications. Whether or not Razer decides to open up their Windows display driver and software, or release any product specifications to allow for third party drivers and software to be built -- which would allow greater Linux support -- it will be interesting to see what occurs. To this point we have yet to hear an official response other than "internal discussion between departments". We can only hope that Razer will see Linux gamers as another viable market. As we had mentioned in the Razer Copperhead and Krait reviews, their gaming mice do work under Linux using the generic USB mouse drivers -- and they do truly perform great -- but they do lack the Razer-specific features that are available from the Windows drivers. The Razer hardware themselves have proved to be phenomenal time and time again from our various reviews of their product with using their products extensively.

While official access to their specifications or driver source would be ideal, there is the option of developing an independent GPL project to allow these vendor-specific options -- similar to Linux-Gamers work with lomoco (Logitech Mouse Control) and based off of lmctl. If no official support is granted, Phoronix may be starting and supporting such a Razer Linux project in the coming months. In fact, we have already began to purchase additional Razer mice for development purposes. We have already posted a tidbit of information on the Copperhead and Krait. If anyone would be interested in working on a Razer project for Linux, feel free to contact Phoronix. Otherwise if you are a Linux Razer user or simply would like seeing this official support, feel free to voice your thoughts with Razer.

Below are a few pieces of information in regards to the Razer Diamondback with Linux.

cat /proc/bus/input/devices

I: Bus=0003 Vendor=1532 Product=0002 Version=0100
N: Name="Razer Razer Diamondback Optical Mouse"
P: Phys=usb-0000:00:03.0-1/input0
S: Sysfs=/class/input/input1
H: Handlers=mouse0 event1
B: EV=7
B: KEY=7f0000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B: REL=103

lsusb -vv

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 1532:0002
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         0
  bMaxPacketSize0         8
  idVendor           0x1532
  idProduct          0x0002
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           1 Razer
  iProduct                2 Razer Diamondback Optical Mouse
  iSerial                 0
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           34
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0xa0
      Remote Wakeup
    MaxPower              100mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           1
      bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Devices
      bInterfaceSubClass      1 Boot Interface Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol      2 Mouse
      iInterface              0
        HID Device Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType        33
          bcdHID               1.10
          bCountryCode            0 Not supported
          bNumDescriptors         1
          bDescriptorType        34 Report
          wDescriptorLength      79
         Report Descriptors:
           ** UNAVAILABLE **
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0008  1x 8 bytes
        bInterval              10