New mouse doesn't work like old mouse
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A few days ago my trusty mouse died in a spectacular fashion. It was a 5 year old wireless Logitech MX-70 with 8 buttons. First the cursor took on a life of its own, then the buttons went haywire, then it died, cursor dead center of the screen. I really liked it, and used almost all the buttons.
I assumed the way it operated in SU was normal, because I did nothing special with it or SU when I installed SU the very first time 2+ years ago, nor since. When I depressed the scroll wheel, SU would assume the orbit tool, till I released the wheel. Spinning the wheel zoomed, and moving left/right panned. With a finger on CTRL or SHIFT it would rotate or spin. This really made navigation super simple and fast.
I spent a day looking for a replacement, finally settling on a new USB KB/Mouse combo from Costco. The KB & Mouse combo cost less than a similar mouse alone elsewhere. The mouse is a USB Laser Logitech MX-600 which has most of the buttons the old one had. It does NOT behave like the old one in one very important area.
At first the scroll wheel would only zoom. Pressing the wheel did nothing. So I programmed the wheel to "O" (orbit tool) when pressed. However, it now only selects the orbit tool, where the old mouse engaged the orbit tool only while pressed. Plus I need to press the left mouse key to actually orbit, while the old mouse would orbit while just holding down the wheel and moving the mouse. As a result, a change of view is now a multi-step function, not seamless like the old mouse.
This also affects the move tool in a very similar fashion. I cannot drag an object past the edge of screen. It is now very difficult to move an object to a precise position as the pan/orbit functions are disassociated from the move tool.
Aside from having to relearn how to navigate in SU-6, I was wondering if there may be a better keystroke to reprogram the mouse wheel with, and better yet, is there any way I can make SU respond to the side-scroll wheel function? The side-scroll works in a narrow window, such as the layers window, but not in the drawing area.
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Hi Joel,
I also have a Logitech mouse. Depending on the software, this may be called differently but my scroll wheel button is set to "Generic button" and works as expected in SU.
My old one used to have more buttons but then I realised I did not use many of them. This one has one extra beside the "normal" ones - I have set it to Zoom extent now.
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Set middle mouse button you want to use as orbit to Middle-Click in the Logitech software.
On my mouse (Logitech Revolution) the software allows me to assign keysstrokes to the middle wheel left and right button as you are requesting.So for example I push to the right for Move and to the left for Rotate.
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I just want to mention that I received fairly prompt reply and solution from Logitech helpdesk to a similar concern on a different Logitech mouse after I described a Sketchup related issue.
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Sorry for the late reply guys and thanks.
I really don't want to redefine the L/R scroll as now I use it in other apps. I tried at first and the codes will work in SU but nowhere else.
Too bad Logitech can't develop a mouse with an app sensitive button redefinition. Logitech has a bad habit of messing with success and not providing upgrades with the ability to detect what you have now before replacing software (assuming you are upgrading an old Logitech mouse). This is my 4th Logitech mouse and I've had to relearn (and redefine) every one of them. My new MX-600 mouse has 11 re-definable buttons, which I have set as best I can to come near my old MX-70 with 10 buttons. The only major difference is the MX-70 did not have a side scroll wheel function.
Too bad SU does not provide for advanced mice button settings also. Then you can redefine any button input to perform a specific SU function, without having to redefine the mouse itself.
Anyway, specifically, Gai; my new Logitech "Setpoint" s/w does not have a "Generic Mouse" setting.
Likewise Dylan, there is no "middle-click" function. Currently my scroll wheel depress function is set to "O" to initiate the orbit tool, akin to what my old MX-70 did.
The critical difference here is the old MX-70 initiated and maintained the orbit tool while the wheel was depressed, and released the orbit tool back to the tool you were using when the wheel was released, with an implied "exit". The new MX-600 calls the orbit tool when the wheel is depressed, and you need to rt-click to select "exit" to release it. Pressing the wheel does not release the orbit tool. And in SU there is no shortcut key for the orbit tool "exit" function. It HAS to be clicked on.
I'm just not used to doing it that way after 2 1/2 years of ingrained autonomic function.And Mitcorb, I will try that route. Thanks for the suggestion.
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BTW although my Logitech driver is installed, I keep it disabled most of the times (right because it messes up a couple of things).
Like for instance, when I have watched any kind of flash content in Firefox, the "back" button simply stops working. Interestingly, if I make a post on a forum or such, it starts working again.
So I don't need that kind of pressure and generally keep it disabled and only turn it on when I can make any use of it (like the side scrolling when editing large/zoomed in images)
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I find that the Logitech drivers and my Mac don't play nicely at all. Fortunately, there is a little jewel called Steermouse that does all and more than I need in getting mice to work to their potential with OS X.
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@unknownuser said:
Set middle mouse button you want to use as orbit to Middle-Click in the Logitech software.
On my mouse (Logitech Revolution) the software allows me to assign keysstrokes to the middle wheel left and right button as you are requesting.So for example I push to the right for Move and to the left for Rotate.
Dylan; I wished I had read that first part more carefully back then.
I sent this problem to Logitech Support and they suggested to reinstall with an updated driver. To make a long story short, that didn't work.
Then I started playing with button settings, and Lo & Behold, assigning wheel down to "Middle Button" worked.
I am now a happy camper, in this instance at least.
Now if only SU allowed mouse button shortcuts, I can make use of the many extra buttons on my mouse without interfering with other apps use of those buttons.
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@jgb said:
Now if only SU allowed mouse button shortcuts, I can make use of the many extra buttons on my mouse without interfering with other apps use of those buttons.
Ditto that! heads off to Wishlist
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Kidding.... Posting it there now.
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