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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use Apps
I just recently replaced my Apple Pro Mouse with a nice cordless scroll-wheel one from Logitech, and busily set up all the buttons to close windows and option click for tabs just like everyone else does. However, with these settings on, games like Quake don't recognise the extra buttons properly, and the only solution seemed to be to kill the Logitech Control Centre software manually each time. However, when you do that, the System Preferences pane no longer functions (it seems to rely on the daemon to tell it what is connected via the RF USB box).

I couldn't find an easier way to do it, so here is a little AppleScript to toggle the software on or off:
tell application "System Events"
  if exists process "LCCDaemon" then
    do shell script "killall LCCDaemon"
  else
    open "/Library/Application Support/Logitech/LCCDaemon.app"
  end if
end tell
That is the first bit of AppleScript I ever wrote, so if there are neater ways to do it, then please post them!

[robg adds: There's a similar hint regarding the LCC and fast user switching, but I thought I'd post this one separately, in case anyone is searching for help with LCC and games.]
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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use | 6 comments | Create New Account
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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use
Authored by: dv8godd on Feb 16, '05 10:57:58AM

An even better idea is just to scrap Logitech Control Center, which is just plain terrible software, and use USB Overdrive instead.

When I was using a Logitech MX combo (keyboard + mouse), I became so frustrated with the lack of functionality, unusable keys, poor user interface, and terrible support from Logitech that I have since thrown the keyboard and mouse away... which was a shame because Logitech makes the best mice... (just don't ever buy a combo).

In using a duo... it was also impossible to use USB Overdrive, which is a far superior mouse driver, because the keyboard and mouse drivers are tied together... if I disabled LCC, my keyboard died too. My guess is that your solution above would kill keyboard support for combo owners.

In the end, I bought a microsoft wireless keyboard (which, oddly, is much better than I could have hoped... and FAR exceeds Logitech's keyboard combo) and a solo Logitech wireless mouse (running USB Overdrive).

Better to just go with drivers from a developer that cares... that don't require you to write applescripts just to play games in the first place.

Just say no to Logitech Control Center.



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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use
Authored by: greengeek on Feb 16, '05 12:19:11PM

I have the Cordless MX Duo as well.

I've tried both LCC and USB Overdrive, and my results seem a bit different from yours. With USB Overdrive, I had complete control of the mouse settings, but the keyboard functions as a basic keyboard, none of the Multimedia or Application launcher buttons work. You then also need uControl to swap the Command and Option keys back to their proper places. So far I am only using the Multimedia Keys on mine, so if I come up with a better solution, I can dump LCC for USB Overdrive. Until then, this hack might be a bit useful.



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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use
Authored by: dv8godd on Feb 16, '05 01:27:57PM

I think the results were probably the same... without the driver, I had "minimal" keyboard functionality... but losing the ability to use the extra keys was not an option for me. I ended up suffering through the lack of functionality and inability to use some apps effectively just to have the extra keys on the keyboard... the driver ended up being pretty much necessary to use the keyboard effectively... but even LCC's controls for the keyboard were weak... and the interface was painful. What I really needed in a keyboard driver was finally provided by Microsoft with their combo... it really is surprising that MS did such a good job on their Mac drivers.

In the end, USB Overdrive is just so much better that I couldn't stand to live without it... so I decided to look into other hardware solutions.

I really didn't want to get rid of my Logitech combo... I really liked the mouse and keyboard, from a physical standpoint... I'd just had enough.

I must say... Microsoft's latest combo keyboard just feels so much better. Their mouse isn't anywhere near as good... but the keyboard & it's drivers kill Logitech hands down in features and regular use. Not even a contest.

I do, however, use one of the new Logitech MX Lazer mice with USB Overdrive... I absolutely love Logitech mice... I have about 15 or so by now.

The sad fact is that Logitech's drivers do not do their hardware justice... and if you have a combo, you're pretty much either at their mercy or you're going to lose even more functionality. Logitech needs to rewrite LCC as something other than a joke.

When it comes right down to it... if you have a Logitech combo, you're not getting all that you could... you're stuck one way or the other with being limited by drivers. In that case... I suppose the trick above would potentially be useful when running games... but if you're going back and forth from app to app, less so.

If you have just the mouse... don't even bother with LCC... just use USB Overdrive.



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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use
Authored by: rockman2023 on Feb 17, '05 12:12:02AM

I don't have USB Overdrive, but this works for me! Nice!
I have the MX500 from Logitech. Works like a charm.



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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use
Authored by: greengeek on Feb 18, '05 06:05:09PM
I've been playing with this hint a bit, and ran into a strange glitch. While the script works as it is supposed to, on my MX Cordless Duo (Cordless Keyboard and MX700 Mouse Combo), it seems that using the script has some funny effects on the keyboard. The one that I noticed most often is that my space bar would not always trigger, and key repeats seemed to be broken. Restarting seemed to be the only way to clear this up.

The script from the other hint about restarting the LCCDaemon seems to work better for me. From what I can tell, the LCCDaemon restores some basic keyboard control to the standard drivers when it quits properly, but fails to do so when it is killed using the command line 'kill'. The script from the older hint works exactly the same otherwise, and is quite handy when triggered from Quicksilver. Much better for gaming than losing all of the special keyboard functions in order to use USB Overdrive.

Hope that helps out some others



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Toggle Logitech Control Centre daemon for game use
Authored by: rockman2023 on Feb 24, '05 01:40:33AM

Not to blame the script for this, but I've been getting some odd mouse behavior since I tried it. My mouse's tracking settings are currently cranked up to the highest setting. When I login from a shutdown or reboot, the tracking speed is quite fast. However, if I lower the setting then place it back to the highest, the tracking speed is ultimately slower.

I had the tracking speed on the the second to last notch before I tested the script, but now the tracking on that setting is extremely slow for me to use.

I have reason to believe that maybe in some system preference file, that the tracking speed is being set lower, probably by the LCC. I'd like to fix this as soon as I can.



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