It’s been a while since I wrote about uberOptions, the excellent utility that allows you to configure the extra mouse buttons on your Logitech mouse in just about any way you could want. Basically, uberOptions can unleash the potential of Logitech’s mice, expecially their higher-end models like the MX610, MX1000, G5/G7 and VX and MX Revolution that have many extra buttons.

While SetPoint itself has a lot of functionality, supporting multiple mice, uberOptions manages to up the ante by allowing any button to be assigned to any function or keystroke. Furthermore, you can assign these settings on a per-application basis (application specific settings), so that buttons can perform different functions depending on which window currently focused. This is especially useful in games, where sometimes, the extra mouse buttons aren’t detected by the game itself. This can be fixed by using uberOptions to assign/bind keystrokes to the mouse buttons just for that game - that way your mouse will still work normally outside of the game. This can make the extra buttons on your Logitech mouse very useful in games that have lots of different actions, normally assigned to keyboard commands only.

Changes, fixes and updates

The latest version of uberOptions is stated to support SetPoint versions 2.22-3.30. I tested it out with the latest version of SetPoint, (v. 4.00, released June 5th, 2007), and it also worked. So, it’s okay to update to v. 4.00 if it’s needed for your mouse/keyboard to be recognized. However, you may encounter a problem if the version of SetPoint you installed didn’t include some files for the mouse you use. Your mouse will work, but instead of an actual image of your mouse being displayed in SetPoint’s configuration dialog, a greyed-out generic mouse image will be displayed instead. In this case, uberOptions won’t work with your mouse.

The fix is nicely outlined at the uberOptions site. Basically, you have to download the image/config. files for your mouse, then install it - the uberOptions’ site has a list of mice so you can find the right update to download. Then, uberOptions will recognize your mouse and all will be well. I really can’t recommend uberOptions enough, especially if you’re a power user and love to have total control over your mouse.

Introduction

I originally wrote a short blurb about using uberOptions and SetPoint to get more out of your Logitech mouse, but decided to turn it into a longer guide with more information; uberOptions is a neat program that modifies some of SetPoint’s configuration files in order to allow all application-specific settings for many more Logitech mice than just a select few, and allows for almost any option or command to be assigned to any mouse button, and thus makes it possible to customize your mouse much more.

A lot of people might be wondering what all this fuss is about. Most people don’t have a mouse with more than three buttons (the standard left/right and wheel configuration), and most won’t care for or need one. But, for the rest of us, mostly tech-saavy people who enjoy and use their computer a lot, having a mouse with extra buttons can be a useful time saver, akin to learning keyboard shortcuts.

What’s wrong, then?

SetPoint does an alright job of allowing customization of your mouse. Most of the buttons can be bound to a range of options, but some buttons are limited to certain functions. Furthermore, most Logitech mice don’t “support” application-specific settings through SetPoint - so once you bind actions to certain buttons, they persist no matter what program or game you are using, thus limiting the mouse’s functionality since different programs or games might use different keystrokes or actions. However, this is an intentional software limitation, not a limitation of the mice themselves. For example, the G7, G5 and MX610 mice from Logitech will have application-specific settings available, but other mice, such as the MX1000 won’t have this option available.

To me, this sort of intentional limitation is mind-boggling - but perhaps it’s part of Logitech’s market strategy to set apart certain mice as having “features” that others do not. Or, perhaps they have just forgotten to update their SetPoint software, but I find this hard to believe.

Solution: uberOptions!

Thankfully, a nice fellow by the name of Richard Lowens has written a nifty program, called uberOptions, that changes the configuration files of SetPoint to enable all of the “disabled” options for almost all Logitech mice! Since all this required was modifying some XML files that stored the configuration information for each mouse (and thus determined which had application-specific settings and so forth), once the program has been installed, it doesn’t need to be run again. Thus, you won’t have another program that must always be running in the background, which should cut down on system resource usage, if you’re concerned about that sort of thing. It’s thus a fairly elegant solution.

Before beginning, you’ll need to head over to the uberOptions site and download the program - it’s a relatively small download at only 6.3 MB and so shouldn’t take too long. You should also check out the list of mice supported to see if yours is on the list. Most of the Logitech mice with extra buttons are supported, including the popular MX1000 and MX518 mice. The MX610, G7 and G5 mice are also supported, but as mentioned before, they already support application-specific settings, so all you’ll get out of uberOptions is more options for the buttons.

Note that the older MX700 (original Logitech cordless rechargeable) and MX500 mice are not supported, not because uberOptions doesn’t support them, but rather, SetPoint doesn’t support these mice. Someone might be able to write a configuration file for these to enable support in SetPoint, but I’m not sure if that’s possible or whether it’ll happen - for now, you’re stuck using the older MouseWare for these and older Logitech mice. See further down in this guide for more information.

During installation, uberOptions will backup the original configuration files so that if you decide to uninstall, everything can go back to normal. Once that’s done, you can open up SetPoint and begin setting things up. Here’s what it’ll look like. (Using my MX1000 for reference)

You can see that uberOptions is installed, because it appends a “ü” character after the mouse’s name. The options for each mouse button also look slightly different. As you can see, I’ve left almost everything to the default, except for changing mouse buttons 3, 4, and 5 (the middle, back and forward buttons respectively) to “generic” buttons for “All Programs”. As far as I know, Windows XP supports the first five buttons natively, so this is why I’ve set them to generic buttons. This allows them to work just fine in the desktop and in web browsers. The “Back” and “Forward” functionality is especially useful when moving through directories or browsing webpages - I don’t know how I lived without it before!

As you can see, uberOptions enables almost any functionality to be assigned to any button. The sheer number of functions available is astonishing, and almost confusing. While it my seem daunting at first, it allows for full customization of the mouse’s buttons, which you should be able to do, since it’s your mouse anyways. In fact, you’ll probably not want to change most of the default button assignments for “All Programs”, as things can get a little messy. You’ll probably only want to change the button assignments for application-specific profiles, which I’ve been ranting about since the start as being the most useful ability.

That little drop-down box opens up a world of options, customizability and improvements for your Logitech mouse. Basically, you can assign profiles or configurations of buttons to specific programs or games. You can add any EXE file to the list, and when SetPoint detects that executable as having focus (I.E, the application is in the foreground, or you’re playing the specified game), it will use the button assignments you’ve specified for that application or game! This basically allows for infinite configuration possbilities. In the example screenshot, I’ve added Guild Wars to the list, where for that profile, I’ve assigned a bunch of keystrokes to the extra buttons for more functionality for the mouse in that game.

Keystrokes are perhaps the best way to utilize the extra mouse buttons, since most games use keystrokes as input commands of some sort, and using the keyboard for hard-to-remember keystrokes can be hectic in the middle of a game. Note that this may not be necessary for the first five buttons, since if they’re set as regular/generic buttons, they will be detected as such in a game. The other extra buttons (beyond the fifth) cannot be detected in games as “extra buttons” (for example, the application-switch button and tilt-wheel buttons on the MX1000), and can only be used if they’re assigned keystrokes. RPGs are notorious for having a lot of keystrokes and input commands, so using the extra buttons on the MX1000 only makes sense. RTS games can also benefit similarly.

With a properly configured SetPoint and uberOptions, and some adjustment time, your mouse can actually be programmed to do a lot in applications and games!

Drawbacks and other solutions

There are some behaviour quirks. For example, when I set a button to “generic” for “All Programs” and then selected it again in the options, the ability to set a per-application setting for that button disappeared. If the mouse button were set to something else, the application-specific settings (the “Manage Programs…” button) re-appeared. I’m not sure this is a problem with uberOptions, as it could be a problem with the quirky behaviour of SetPoint. I noticed this when I reviewed the MX610, while using it with a non-uberOption’d version of SetPoint. This doesn’t totally prevent you from configuring application-specific settings, as you just have to be careful how you go about things. If anything, it’s a minor annoyance. Maybe it’ll be fixed in a later version of uberOptions or SetPoint.

An alternative to uberOptions is the LogiGamer Mouse profile utility, which works with MX500, MX700, MX310, MX510, MX900 and MX1000 mice. Like uberOptions, it allows application-specific settings for the mice, so it basically offers the same functionality and features. However, it’s a separate program that, as far as I can tell, must be running in the background for your settings to take effect. It also requires SetPoint to be installed, and also requires the .NET 1.1 Framework to be installed, so if you don’t like that idea, uberOptions is probably a better choice. However, if you’re using a mouse that doesn’t support SetPoint, then this program might be your only option for application-specific settings.

Last thoughts

I hope this guide helped in some small way. For most people, spending extra time configuring a mouse and its extra buttons for specific use in certain applications and games is a foreign concept that doesn’t deserve any attention - I can understand that. However, for us gearheads who get some reward from making something work better than it should, customization is something we can’t be without.

References

1. [uberOptions] Enable all options on all buttons in SetPoint (Forum thread)
2. uberOptions homepage
3. MX1000 mouse button issues (Forum thread)
4. Problem with uberOptions and MB 4 & 5 (Forum thread)
5. UberOptions…wow….just wow (Forum thread)
6. LogiGamer Mouse profile utility homepage
7. Enabling all options on your Logitech mouse

Marketing Limitation

Note that I used quotes when describing the software limitation - it’s not something that Logitech forgot to leave out, but rather this feature, (I believe), was intentionally left out on most mice and only given to certain mice in order to increase their status - a classic case of market segmentation. I noticed this when I reviewed the Logitech MX 610 Lefty; when using this mouse with SetPoint, Logitech’s driver/control panel for their mice, the option to set profiles or button configurations on a per-application basis is available, as seen in this picture: (The option is available via “Manage Programs”).

However, seeing as how I couldn’t use a left-handed mouse I decided that the MX610 was not for me, despite this nice functionality. The option is also available with Logitech’s gaming mice, such as the G7 and G5. However, it is not available when using the MX1000 - which greatly puzzled and annoyed me. This ability is a function of the software, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t be available for all mice - except for market segmentation, of course.

Introducing uberOptions

While there are 3rd-party apps that will allow you to configure application-specific settings for your Logitech mouse, I was looking for a fix to SetPoint that would do this, since I knew it was possible. My search for this quickly led me to this forum topic, where one enterprising user (R. Lowens), apparently just as annoyed as I was, (but more skilled and motivated), had written a program to rectify all of this. I eagerly downloaded it and gave it a try - and it worked like a charm. Using the MX1000, I now get all the abilities afforded to some other select Logitech mice.

Apparently, all that was needed to get this functionality was the modification of a few XML files - which SetPoint uses to store configuration information on each different type of mouse it supports. Poking into these files, this clever guy was able to write modified versions of them that would allow almost all of Logitech’s mice to have the same “advanced” features that the MX610 got when used within SetPoint.

The program also allows for many more options for Logitech keyboards supported by SetPoint - see the site and forum thread for further details. I don’t use a SetPoint-configured keyboard, so I can’t comment on the additional functionality here. An additional note - the new plethora of options offered by this modification can be a bit daunting, but the program backs up your current settings before installing.

Time to game

The ability to set per-application settings for a mouse, especially the MX1000, is a huge boon to gamers. The MX1000 has many additional buttons, but some of them can’t be used in games unless you configure a keystroke to them - thus causing loss of functionality outside of that particular game. Having the modified SetPoint apply specific settings (that you configure) depending on which program or game is in the foreground solves this problem. For me, that means gaming in Guild Wars is a lot easier - no need to use the keyboard to bring up different status windows, it’s all the finger tips of my mousing hand.

I highly recommend uberOptions for anyone with a Logitech mouse, especially if you already use SetPoint.