How to get a Mad Catz R.A.T 3/5/7 to work on Arch Linux

MoonSwan · 2014-06-22 21:09:32

This post isn't about me asking for help. Instead it is a post about how to get a Mad Catz R.A.T. 3/5/7 mouse working. I'm posting this for future Archers who have bought one of these mice. They're a good mouse product but unfortunately there is a weird bug in the mouse's firmware that makes it "lose focus" on a desktop or "locks" your cursor into the middle of your screen seemingly at random. Your mouse might also fail to click on things in a window or on a desktop. It took me the better part of a day and a half to find the answers to fix this behaviour. I couldn't find anything on this forum so I'm posting this for future Archers. I am not the originator of the solution so I will post the relevant information from others' posts from two different web sources. If you're interested in the technical aspects of why this behaviour is present in this type of mouse please scroll down.*

The problem as summarised by the guy at Delightfully Linux:

if you plug in the mouse without modifying xorg.conf, the buttons become unresponsive and the Ubuntu desktop will appear to have locked up even though the cursor still moves. This is the same issue with the black R.A.T. 7, and it has the same solution.

He gives you one way to fix this:

Put the code below into /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "InputClass"
 Identifier "Mouse Remap"
 MatchProduct "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Albino"  #change this if you need to by using input-list to generate the correct product code
 MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
 Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0"
EndSection

That button remapping full of zeroes will not let you use the side scroll button or the red button.

However, another person posted a comment to Delightfully's blog who claimed that his code (below) will enable all of the R.A.T.'s buttons. I have tried it and it enabled my side scroll wheel for a few minutes. It did not last and I have no permanent fix at this time. If someone else does have a fix for the other two "buttons" on the mouse please post it!

The code which supposeldy enables all of the mouse's buttons is here:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/910-rat.conf and this file place in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d

# Cyborg Mouse R.A.T. 7 in Ubuntu 10.10 (Extra Buttons)
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "R.A.T."
MatchProduct "R.A.T.7|R.A.T.9"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Option "Buttons" "17"
Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 0 0 8 9 7 6 12 0 0 0 16 17"
Option "AutoReleaseButtons" "13 14 15"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Save and reboot

I can verify that both sets of code do work on a R.A.T. 7 Contagion and that others affirm it works for a R.A.T 3 or 5.

One final method of fixing this without bothering with files in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d is to use a .Xmodmap in your home directory with this in it:

 Put this file in your home directory file in the user directory:
This post isn't about trying to get any of the series' of R.A.T. mice from Mad Catz working.  I'm posting this for future Archers who have bought one of these mice.  They're a good mouse product but unfortunately there is aweird bug in the mouse's firmware that makes it "lose focus" on a desktop or "locks" your cursor into the middle of your screen seemingly at random.  Your mouse might also fail to click on things in a window or on a desktop.  It took me the better part of a day and a half to find the answers to fix this behaviour.  I couldn't find anything on this forum so I'm posting this for future Archers.  I am not the originator of the solution so I will post the relevant information from others' on two different web pages.

The problem as summarised by the guy at [url=https://delightlylinux.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/making-the-cyborg-rat-7-albino-work-with-ubuntu/]Delightfully Linux[/url]:

[quote]if you plug in the mouse without modifying xorg.conf, the buttons become unresponsive and the Ubuntu desktop will appear to have locked up even though the cursor still moves. This is the same issue with the black R.A.T. 7, and it has the same solution.[/quote]

He gives you one way to fix this is to add this section to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

[code]Section "InputClass"
 Identifier "Mouse Remap"
 MatchProduct "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Albino"  #change this if you need to by using input-list to generate the correct product code
 MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
 Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0"
EndSection[/code]

That button remapping full of zeroes [i]will not let you use the side scroll button or the red button[/i].  

However, another person posted a comment to Delightfully's blog, which he claims will enable all of the R.A.T.'s buttons.  I have tried it and it enabled my side scroll wheel for a few minutes.  It did not last and I have no permanent fix at this time.
If someone else does have a fix for the other two "buttons" on the mouse please post it!

The other code, that is supposed to work for all buttons is here:

[code]Put the code below into /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/910-rat.conf 

# Cyborg Mouse R.A.T. 7 in Ubuntu 10.10 (Extra Buttons)
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "R.A.T."
MatchProduct "R.A.T.7|R.A.T.9"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Option "Buttons" "17"
Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 0 0 8 9 7 6 12 0 0 0 16 17"
Option "AutoReleaseButtons" "13 14 15"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Save and reboot[/code]

I can verify that both sets of code do work on a R.A.T. 7 Contagion and that others affirm it works for a R.A.T 3 or 5.

One final method of fixing this without bothering with files in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d is to use a .Xmodmap in your home directory with this in it:

[code] xinput --set-button-map "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Mouse" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 0 0 16 17 18 19 20 21[/code]

One final note:  It seems that this mouse (on my rig at least) is incapable of scrolling in text boxes (such as the one I'm using to post this).  I don't know why this behaviour is present but it was not like this, prior to using the previously written code that is, and I don't know if it is also fix-able.  If you find out how to repair this function please post it in this thread.

I hope this helps whoever comes across it.  :)

xinput --set-button-map "Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.7 Mouse" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 0 0 16 17 18 19 20 21

* If you're curious as to why this behaviour occurs look on this Ubuntu bug tracker forum. If you want to read the whole thread it's here. *

I hope this helps whoever comes across it.

[edit]fixed some typos

Last edited by MoonSwan (2014-06-22 21:22:36)

karol · 2014-06-22 21:16:38

This should go in the wiki.

MoonSwan · 2014-06-22 21:20:37

There actually is a wiki entry that points to Delightfully's posts on his blog. Honestly, I've never edited a wiki and I wasn't sure if I'd be stepping on someone else's wiki-toes (so to speak). If there is interest in that, though, I'll learn to edit a wiki and add it.

Last edited by MoonSwan (2014-06-22 21:21:10)

jasonwryan · 2014-06-22 21:25:14

PLease add this to the wiki where it can be actively maintained. When you are done, report the thread so a mod can delete this.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-06-22 21:09:32

How to get a Mad Catz R.A.T 3/5/7 to work on Arch Linux

#2 2014-06-22 21:16:38

Re: How to get a Mad Catz R.A.T 3/5/7 to work on Arch Linux

#3 2014-06-22 21:20:37

Re: How to get a Mad Catz R.A.T 3/5/7 to work on Arch Linux

#4 2014-06-22 21:25:14

Re: How to get a Mad Catz R.A.T 3/5/7 to work on Arch Linux

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