G13 Linux Driver & GUI (Modernized Fork)

This is a modernized fork of the G13 driver for Linux. The original project is over 10 years old. This fork has been refactored to use modern C++ standards for the driver and modern Java standards (Java 17 with Maven) for the configuration GUI.

Features

• Modern C++ Driver: The core driver has been updated for better performance and compatibility.
• Java GUI: The configuration utility is built with Java 17 and Maven, ensuring it runs on modern systems.
• Flexible Configuration: Offers multiple ways to configure your G13: via the user-friendly GUI, manual file editing, or using the driver's fixed mapping with external tools.

Requirements

Base Requirements

You need to install the following packages via your package manager:

• make
• cmake
• gtk3 / gtk3-devel
• libusb-1.0-0 (on some distros named libusb-1.0-0-dev or libusb1-devel)
• libappindicator-gtk3 (or similar)
• Java 17 or higher
• python-psutil (for the monitor script)

Automated Dependency Installation

Alternatively, all needed dependencies can be installed via the install_deps.sh script located in the scripts folder.

cd src/scripts
chmod +x install_deps.sh
./install_deps.sh

Build & Installation

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the project directory.

2. Build the driver:

   make all

The installation process will clean up automatically after finishing.

Choose your Installation Method

Option A: System-Wide Installation (Standard)

This is the recommended method for standard usage. It installs binaries to /usr/bin and resources to /usr/share/.

sudo make install

Note: As per standard Linux security practices, the installation does not auto-start user services. You must enable the driver for your user manually once:

systemctl --user enable --now g13
systemctl --user start g13

Option B: User-Local Installation (Developer Mode)

This method installs everything to your home directory (~/.local/bin). It is intended for development, testing, or users without root access. Automatically creates and starts the Systemd service.

make install-user

Driver: Installed to ~/.local/bin/linux-g13-driver

Service: Automatically enabled and started immediately.

Note on Permissions: Both methods install a UDEV rule (/etc/udev/rules.d/99-g13.rules) to allow access to the G13 without sudo. You might need to unplug and replug your device once after installation if it's not detected immediately.

How to use the Driver and GUI

Run the driver

Controlling the Driver

The driver runs in the background via Systemd.

Check Status:

systemctl --user status g13

View Logs:

journalctl --user -u g13 -f

Restart Driver:

systemctl --user restart g13

Use the Config Tool

After starting the driver, you will see a new icon in your system tray/taskbar. This allows you to open the config menu or quit the driver.

Alternatively, run it from the terminal:

g13-gui

This will bring up the UI.

Profiles: The top 4 buttons under the LCD (M1, M2, M3, MR) switch between binding profiles.

Save: Changes are saved automatically to ~/.config/g13/bindings-*.properties.

Live Reload: The driver automatically detects file changes and reloads the config immediately.

The top 4 buttons under the LCD screen select the bindings (M1-M3, MR).

Important: If you configure the application while the driver is running, the driver will not pick up changes unless you select a different binding set or restart the driver.

Use the built-in Mapping Set (for external tools)

The driver now includes a fixed default mapping. This means the GUI is not strictly necessary if you prefer other tools. You can map the keys using software like Input Remapper.

(Note: The quick profile change via the four small buttons under the display only works when using the G13 GUI tool.)

Manually create your own Mapping Set

If you don't want to use the GUI App, you can edit the files manually in ~/.config/g13/.

• Usage Example: To map the G20 key to the letter T, find the event code for T (which is 20). Then, in your bindings-0.properties file, add or edit the line:

  G20=p,k.20

Using the Display (scripting)

You can write text to the display using a simple pipe command:

The driver creates a Named Pipe (FIFO) to receive text for the LCD.

Location: /run/user/$UID/g13-lcd (Check /tmp/g13-lcd as fallback if /run is unavailable).

# Find your pipe path (usually based on your user ID, e.g., 1000)
PIPE="/run/user/$(id -u)/g13-lcd"

# Send simple text
echo "Hello World!" > $PIPE

# Send multi-line text (CPU/RAM stats)
echo -e "CPU: 50%\nRAM: 4GB" > $PIPE

Currently, only one font size is implemented. There is an example script for system monitoring in the scripts folder. Feel free to try it out, modify it, or share your own scripts!

Uninstallation

To remove the driver and all installed files:

make uninstall

(Note: This removes the binaries, UDEV rules, and service files, but keeps your configuration in ~/.config/g13 to prevent data loss.)

Notes

• Tested on 64-bit Arch Linux.