Razer keyboard : Use keyboard as mouse under X

Question

OP entirely re-edited.

My Razer Cynosa chroma is one physical device (basically no more than a PC_105 keyboard) offering the particularity to offer 3 interfaces (1) one of them for simultaneously sending some scancode and another for sending some internally transcoded mouse report when whatever key is depressed.

I am looking for a way to use the latter as a mouse under X.

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All the 3 interfaces are correctly enumerated at boot time and bound to the appropriate hid-generic in-kernel built driver (2)

Then rebound to the razerkbd driver at modeprobe time (3)

Each one of these being later on associated to input events and registered by the X11 server (xorg-server-21.1.4) :

• In an usual way for such devices regarding the first interface of keyboard type (device id 9) and the third of mouse type (device id 11) (4)
• In some unusual to me and at least ambiguous way for the second of keyboard type (device id 10). (5) (Cf. the Configuring as mouse / Configuring as keyboard sequence)

All this leading to confusing reports

$ xinput --list --short
⎡ Virtual core pointer                          id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ MOSART Semi. 2.4G Wireless Mouse          id=8    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma                 id=10   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma                 id=11   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                         id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma                 id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]

(device id 10 reported only as slave pointer whereas initially registered of KEYBOARD type.)

Having noticed that cat /dev/input/event5 printouts mouslike communication when depressing any key and since event5 is linked to device id 10, xinput --test-xi2 10 only logs keyboard events type 13 (RawKeyPress) and 14 (RawKeyRelease)

Would evdev be somehow confused ?

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1 : lsusb -vs 008:002 report :

$ lsusb -vs 008:002 
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 1532:022a Razer USA, Ltd Cynosa Chroma
Device Descriptor:
…     
  Configuration Descriptor:
…
    bNumInterfaces          3
…
    Interface Descriptor:
…
      bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Device
      bInterfaceSubClass      1 Boot Interface Subclass
      bInterfaceProtocol      1 Keyboard
…
    Interface Descriptor:
…
      bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Device
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      1 Keyboard
…
    Interface Descriptor:
…
      bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Device
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      2 Mouse
…

---

2 : Bootlog enumeration of usb devices

[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.0/0003:1532:022A.0002/input/input4
[kernel] hid-generic 0003:1532:022A.0002: input: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-2/input0
[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma Keyboard as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.1/0003:1532:022A.0003/input/input5
[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma Consumer Control as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.1/0003:1532:022A.0003/input/input6
[kernel] hid-generic 0003:1532:022A.0003: input: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-2/input1
[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.2/0003:1532:022A.0004/input/input9
[kernel] hid-generic 0003:1532:022A.0004: input: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-2/input2

---

3 : Rebinding of Razer interfaces at modprobe time

[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.0/0003:1532:022A.0002/input/input10
[kernel] razerkbd 0003:1532:022A.0002: input: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-2/input0
[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.1/0003:1532:022A.0003/input/input11
[kernel] razerkbd 0003:1532:022A.0003: input: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-2/input1
[kernel] input: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.2/0003:1532:022A.0004/input/input12
[kernel] razerkbd 0003:1532:022A.0004: input: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-2/input2

---

4 : XCONFIG-ing of first keyboard interface and mouse interface

config/udev: Adding input device Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma (/dev/input/event4)
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Applying InputClass "evdev keyboard catchall"
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Applying InputClass "system-keyboard"
Using input driver 'evdev' for 'Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma'
systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event4 13:68 fd 39 paused 0
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: always reports core events
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Device: "/dev/input/event4"
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Vendor 0x1532 Product 0x22a
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found keys
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Configuring as keyboard
Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.0/0003:1532:022A.0002/input/input10/event4"
Adding extended input device "Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma" (type: KEYBOARD, id 9)
Option "xkb_rules" "evdev"

config/udev: Adding input device Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma (/dev/input/event6)
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
Using input driver 'evdev' for 'Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma'
systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event6 13:70 fd 41 paused 0
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: always reports core events
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Device: "/dev/input/event6"
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Vendor 0x1532 Product 0x22a
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found 9 mouse buttons
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found scroll wheel(s)
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found relative axes
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found x and y relative axes
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Configuring as mouse
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Adding scrollwheel support
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.2/0003:1532:022A.0004/input/input12/event6"
XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma" (type: MOUSE, id 11)
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: initialized for relative axes.
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) keeping acceleration scheme 1
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) acceleration profile 0
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4

---

5 : Ambiguous XCONFIG-ing of second keyboard interface

config/udev: Adding input device Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma (/dev/input/event5)
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Applying InputClass "evdev keyboard catchall"
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Applying InputClass "system-keyboard"
Using input driver 'evdev' for 'Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma'
systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event5 13:69 fd 40 paused 0
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: always reports core events
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Device: "/dev/input/event5"
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Vendor 0x1532 Product 0x22a
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found 1 mouse buttons
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found scroll wheel(s)
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found relative axes
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Forcing relative x/y axes to exist.
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found absolute axes
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Forcing absolute x/y axes to exist.
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Found keys
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Configuring as mouse
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Configuring as keyboard
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: Adding scrollwheel support
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: YAxisMapping: buttons 4 and 5
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: EmulateWheelButton: 4, EmulateWheelInertia: 10, EmulateWheelTimeout: 200
Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb8/8-2/8-2:1.1/0003:1532:022A.0003/input/input11/event5"
XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma" (type: KEYBOARD, id 10)
Option "xkb_rules" "evdev"
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: initialized for relative axes.
evdev: Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: ignoring absolute axes.
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) keeping acceleration scheme 1
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) acceleration profile 0
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
Razer Razer Cynosa Chroma: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4

Answer 1

A bit of background: X started out with a single mouse and a single keyboard. The XINPUT extension (which is now in the second major versions) made this a lot more flexible. It kept the original single mouse and single keyboard as "core pointer" and "core keyboard", but allowed additional "masters" like the core pair, and turned all devices into slaves which can be attached to masters. X applications can also query XINPUT events directly, but very few applications actually do that; most applications just react to "core" events.

By default (at least on my system), all evdev devices are attached to the "core" master, either as keyboard or mouse. Apparently this didn't work on your system. You can see the current mapping with xinput --list, and regardless of the mapping, you can check with xinput --test-xi2 <device id> if some device actually produces output.

For completeness, if you need to debug events on a lower level (before X processes them), then evtest can help to see what goes on at the kernel input layer.

So if you can see mouse events with xinput --test-xi2 <razor id>, and for some reason your "Razer keyboard mouse" is not usable because it's not attached to the core pointer, then you can deattach it if necesary with xinput --float <razor id> and attach it to the core pointer with `xinput --reattach <core pointer id'.

If something else is going on (I don't know what, so far you didn't provide any additional information), e.g. if you are getting keyboard events on the "Razer keyboard mouse", then it'll get more complicated.

And even if your udev and/or xorg.conf is messed up, it should be possible to get everything into a working state with command line tools (unless there is something more fundamentally wrong, like no mouse events). Once you have accomplished this, you can look at the configuration files to make it permanent.

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Ok, with the new information: You have three input layer devices (not two as I tought based on the original question), and three corresponding X devices, one keyboard, one mouse, one kind of hybrid.

So the first step is to figure out what those devices do, on the kernel input layer. So run evtest on all three. While you are at it, make sure to use the symlinks in /dev/input/by-* to refer to all three, pick the ones that are most convenient to you (by-id is probably sufficient). Please edit your question with a bit of relevant output for all three, together with which keys you pressed, and if that key produces the expected effect.

Repeat this with xinput --test-xi2 ... for all three devices, see if the events get correctly translated to X.

If you have two devices producing X pointer events (e.g. if both the hybrid and the mouse one produce them), float the hybrid device. Then it should work, use xev to test if necessary.

If none of the devices produce X pointer events, then we need to look at more details to figure out what is going on.