Over the last few years, I've purchased several Evoluent mice. They've kindly sent me their latest model so I can write a Linux guide for it.

Look

It's a Daft Punk Helmet of a mouse. Chrome and matt black plastic and blinkenlights. My photos are crap, so here are the press shots:

This is a much needed upgrade over their previous models, where the sweat of human hands tended to discolour and degrade the surface. The new version should be a lot sturdier.

A wireless version is available - it's gold! Sadly, the wireless version isn't Bluetooth, so you'll need to use their proprietary USB dongle.

There's still no way to disable the glowing Evoluent logo on the back. Use of masking tape may be required.

Buttons

There are five buttons - two thumb, three fingers - and a scrollwheel.

There's been a change for the worse with the buttons. The mouse wheel is not clickable. This is either a minor inconvenience or a grave sin depending on how quickly you can retrain your muscle memory.

No idea why they've made that change, seems a bit odd.

Speed

There's a "jewel" button which controls the four levels of speed. On the slowest, moving your mouse the whole span of your arm's reach will move it along half the screen. On the quickest, the merest flick of your fingers will send it spanging onto the edge of the monitor.

MacOS

There's a set of Mac and Windows drivers - I don't use Windows (for religious reasons) but the Mac configuration is pretty handy. It allows you to change the function of all the buttons in a handy GUI. Here are all the button settings available.

Useful!

Linux

By default, this works as a multi-button mouse on Linux. If you want to change the button order, you can follow my guide to configuring Evoluent with Ubuntu.

Verdict

I've used cheap vertical mice and, frankly, they're not as good. They don't have the weight, sturdiness, configurability, or ergonomic comfort as the Evoluent line.

The Evoluent looks like a million dollars, and performs flawlessly. My only quibble is the lack of a clickable scrollwheel.

You can buy the Evoluent C from Amazon UK or buy the wireless version.

The Basics

The only way to configure this mouse is via the command-line. This may look a bit daunting, but I promise you it's simple. Just copy and paste the highlighted code.

Open up a Terminal. You'll usually find this in your main menu. Or, you can open it by pressing ctrl+alt+t.

Connect the mouse

1. Make sure your computer is switched on.
2. Plug the mouse's USB cable into your computer.

If you wiggle the mouse, you should see the cursor on your screen move.

Detecting the mouse

In the terminal, type

xinput

You should see a list of input devices - keyboards, mice, laptop buttons - this is what mine looks like

⎡ Virtual core pointer                      id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad                id=11   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Kingsis Peripherals Evoluent VerticalMouse 5  id=14   [slave  pointer  (2)]

Detect the buttons

This command will detect all the buttons on the mouse:

xinput query-state "Kingsis Peripherals Evoluent VerticalMouse 5"

This is what the output should look like:

2 classes :
ButtonClass
    button[1]=up
    button[2]=up
    button[3]=up
    button[4]=up
    button[5]=up
    button[6]=up
    button[7]=up
    button[8]=up
    button[9]=up
    button[10]=up

Each button has a number. Note - some of these are virtual buttons. They do not have a physical button.

Here's a picture of the physical buttons:

Here is how they are mapped onto to actions.

So, you can set physical button 9 (the bottom thumb) to scroll down. Or change the wheel up action to be right click. Any combination is possible - and you can choose what works best for you.

Change the buttons (temporary)

We can remap the buttons so they do something else. This is only temporary and will revert back to normal when you reboot. I'll show you a permanent way to re-order the buttons further down the page.

Suppose you want to swap button 1 and button 3 so that your left and right click are reversed. Here's the command you run:

xinput set-button-map "Kingsis Peripherals Evoluent VerticalMouse 5" 3 2 1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(Notice that the position of button 1 and 3?)

If you want to make the bottom-thumb button be left click, and leave all the other buttons the same, you run:

$ xinput set-button-map "Kingsis Peripherals Evoluent VerticalMouse 5" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 10

If you want reverse the direction of the scroll wheel - sometimes called "natural" scrolling:

xinput set-button-map "Kingsis Peripherals Evoluent VerticalMouse 5" 1 2 3 5 4 6 7 8 9 10

Experiment with an order that feels right for you.

Permanently change the buttons

You need to find the USB Identifier of the mouse. In the terminal run:

lsusb

You'll see all of your USB devices. Find the one that refers to your mouse. For me, it is 1a7c:0195.

We now need to add this information into a configuration guide.

sudo nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-evoluent.conf

This will ask you for your password. Once you've entered it, you'll be using the "nano" text editor.

Copy and paste the following text into the terminal:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier      "Evoluent"
        MatchUSBID      "1a7c:0195"
        Option "ButtonMapping" "0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 10"
EndSection

You may need to change the "MatchUSBID" if yours is different to mine. You will need to change the "ButtonMapping" to the order you prefer.

Once you're done, press ctrl+x to exit nano. It will ask you if you want to save the file. Type y, then press ⏎. You will need to press ⏎ again to confirm the filename.

You may need to reboot your computer for the new settings to take effect.

Done!

That's it, you've now configured your mouse. If you need any more help, please leave a comment in the box below and I'll try to help.

You can buy the Evoluent C from Amazon UK or buy the wireless version.

Four years ago, I got the latest Evoluent Vertical Mouse. It's a great device, but it's starting to show its age a bit.

So, time for a new model. I'm doing a lot of travelling, so a wireless mouse is a must. Sadly, the Evoluent Wireless Mouse is £75. As good as their mice are, I wanted something cheaper - so I wouldn't feel terrible if I lost it or got damaged.

At around £25, the ZeleSouris looks like just the job. It's vertical, wireless, and has thumb buttons.

The ZeleSouris is incredibly light with well placed buttons for larger hands. I found the middle click button to be slightly stiff, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

As a vertical mouse, it does its job admirably - and at a very reasonable price.

It has an integrated wrist rest - which is detachable. Personally, I find it comfortable. I also like the plastic ridging on the side - makes it a lot easier to grip than the smooth Evoluent.

Talking of the Evoluent, the ZeleSouris is roughly the same size:

The mouse works flawlessly - I plugged the dongle in to a Linux machine and it just worked. I assume it will also work on Mac and Windows.

The only downside is that the dongle doesn't use BlueTooth. Instead, you get

Although the dongle doesn't jut out too far from a laptop, it seems daft not to use BlueTooth - especially given that every computer and phone now has it built in. It also means you don't get to monitor the battery life - and it introduces some (theoretical) eavesdropping concerns.

The dongle has a little carrying hole in the bottom of the mouse - it's not spring loaded, but it's tight enough that it won't accidentally drop out.

Let's take a look at the bottom of the mouse:

The battery compartment takes 2 AAA batteries - which are included).

There's a an on/off switch. Not too fiddly - but I think it could have been placed on the top of the mouse rather than the seldom-used DPI button.

The DPI button on the top should change the speed at which the mouse moves. On the Evoluent, it's really noticeable. On the ZeleSouris, it doesn't seem to make much difference. There's no status LED to tell you which setting it is on.

As a minor point of interest, the mouse is actually a re-badged Delux DLM-618 if you're looking for alternate reviews.

Linux Button Remapping

A quick lsusb gives the device ID of 279e:024e.

By default, the button mapping is:

1   Left Click (Index Finger)
2   Middle Click (Middle Finger)
3   Right Click (Ring Finger)
...
8   Bottom Thumb
9   Top Thumb

Running xinput list shows that the wireless adapter registers as both a keyboard and a mouse. Very odd!

⎡ Virtual core pointer                      id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ 2.4G wireless USB Device 2.4G wireless USB Device id=13   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                     id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ 2.4G wireless USB Device 2.4G wireless USB Device id=14   [slave  keyboard (3)]

I like to have the bottom thumb be the left-click. The lazy way of customising this is

xinput set-button-map 13 0 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 0 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

That turns off the Index Finger and Top Thumb, and assigns Left-Click to the Bottom Thumb.

sudo nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/91-zelesouris.conf

Use the following as a template

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier      "ZeleSouris"
        MatchUSBID      "279e:024e"
        Option "ButtonMapping" "0 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 0 10 11 12 13 14 15 16"
EndSection

Reboot and your button mapping will take effect.

The Evoluent Vertical Mouse 4 costs close to £100. Let's get that out of the way. This is a pretty expensive mouse. Considering they give away basic USB mice with cornflakes, why would anyone spend the cost of a Kindle on a pointing device?

Let me explain...

"The two things you've got to spend your money on in life are your bed and your shoes; if you're not in one, you're in the other." Ancient proverb

I have been prone to RSI in my hands and wrists. Seeing as I make my living using my hands to make computers do magical things, I think it's wise to spend money to protect my hands.

"The two peripherals you've got to spend your money on in life are your keyboard and your mouse; if your hands aren't on one, they're on the other." Terence Eden

I may detail my love of my keyboard - the Microsoft 4000 - in another post. For now, let's talk mice! Or, skip straight to the Linux install instructions.

Three Generations of Mice

I'm in love with the Evoluent Vertical Mouse. I got my first (the generation 2) in 2007. A few years later I got a 3rd generation so I could use one at home and one at work. Enter the 4th generation - the VM4R. There's a VM4L for those sinister south-paws, and a VM4S for those with smaller hands.

Here's all three of my mice playing together. The VM4R is similar in size and shape to the previous versions. It has a wider base and a larger lip to stop your finger from dragging along the desk.

Unboxing

No tech review is complete without an unboxing. Here's mine.

Impressively, Evoluent use "environmentally-responsible" packaging. Essentially a cardboard box and some bubble wrap. I was nervous that this wouldn't be enough to protect it in transit - but the mouse is pretty tough. The box contains some brief instructions and a mini-cd containing Windows drivers.

The Good

There's just so much to love about this mouse! I'll contain myself to a few points.

Vertical = Less Pain

Pain and comfort are subjective. But since using the Vertical Mouse range, my wrists have been free of pain. There are a vast number of reviews on the Evoluent website, including this one:

"The vertical mouse received very good feedback from the product testing. Our product testing team of physical therapists, ergonomists, MD's and administrators found the mouse to be comfortable, easily adaptable and promoted a neutral wrist/forearm postures." Greg Ryan, University Health Services, University of California at Berkeley

I can't say that this will fix your health problems - and you should certainly see a doctor immediately if you're experiencing RSI - but this device has bought back the joy of computing for me.

Thumb Buttons

My index finger is near worn out from 3 decades of clicking crappy mice. I'm now able to map the buttons so that my thumb can click. A lifesaver for me. As a bonus - anyone who sits at my desk finds themselves unable to fiddle with anything because they can't work out how to click!

The VM4R now comes with two thumb buttons. I'm not sure what use I'll put the other one to yet!

The Need For Speed

The VM4R comes with a dedicated button for switching the speed of the mouse pointer. A simple click sets the speed which can easily be seen via the LEDs. This is a vast improvement on the 3rd gen model where the button was underneath the device. The advantage is that you can use a high-speed mouse so you don't have to move your wrist or arm very far as you go from one end of the screen to the other. It also means you can rapidly change to a lower sensitivity when you're working on something which needs very fine grained control - like pushing pixels in Photoshop. I imagine this mouse is great for gamers who require a fast reacting device.

The Bad

There's very little that I would change with this mouse. I note three minor quibbles.

Scroll Wheel Clicking

Scrolling with the wheel makes a really loud clicking sound. With the 2nd generation mouse there was no clicking. The third generation lightly clicks as you scroll. The clicking on the VM4R is loud and, to my fingers, slightly stiff. Personally, I prefer a free-spinning wheel. But it's not the end of the world.

Suitability of Chrome

Fingers sweat. It's not pretty, but there it is. Human skin leaks all kinds of gunk - some of which is corrosive. I found the surface of my 2nd generation mouse was gently worn away over time. The 3rd gen mouse is made from a different material which doesn't seem to suffer from this problem.

The chrome on the VM4R looks lovely - but I wonder how long it will remain pristine. It's already picking up fingerprints.

LED

There's no way to turn off the glowing Evoluent LED. I doubt it's much of a power drain, but it's the sort of thing that might get a bit annoying in the dark.

...and The Beautiful

It looks like a spaceship!

This is a gorgeous mouse. The lights, the chrome, the shape, all conspire to make it an eye-catcher. Expect to get lots of questions about it if you're in a busy office.

Buy It Now

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending the Evoluent line of pointing devices. You can buy the Evoluent VM4R from Amazon (affiliate link) or directly from Evoluent (although international shipping is expensive). The upgrades in VM4R are impressive - but if you don't often need to change pointer speed, or use thumb buttons, buy the VM3.

Linux Geekyness

The basic mouse functions work automagically in Linux (tested on Ubuntu 9.10 and higher). The buttons are responsive, the wheel scrolls, changing the pointer speed works, etc. A point to note is that the the wheel click does not paste - to get that, you'll need to remap the buttons.

Remapping the buttons is slightly trickier, however. Not least because of Ubuntu's seemingly random changes to how it handles pointing devices. If you're happy with the buttons just as they are, you'll be fine. If you need to remap the buttons due to mobility issues, read on....

A quick "xinput list" gives us the device name.

"Evoluent VerticalMouse 4" id=8    [XExtensionPointer]
    Type is MOUSE
    Num_buttons is 14
    Num_axes is 2
    Mode is Relative
    Motion_buffer is 256

Despite reporting 14 buttons, there are only 6 physical buttons available. Running

xinput query-state "Evoluent VerticalMouse 4"

tells us which buttons are being pressed down. Here are the results (the brackets signify the action, if any, that happens when you click the button).

1. Index Finger (Left click)
2. Ring Finger (Middle click)
3. Little Finger (Right click)
4. Scroll Up
5. Scroll Down
6. -
7. -
8. Top Thumb
9. Wheel Click
10. Bottom Thumb
11. -
12. -
13. -
14. -

Remapping The Buttons

There are two ways of remapping buttons. The lazy way and the correct way.

The "Lazy Way" - xinput

We can use xinput to set which buttons do what. The command is pretty simple

xinput set-button-map "Evoluent VerticalMouse 4" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
                                      Button 1---| | |
                                        Button 2---| |
                                          Button 3---|

So the first number is what you want Button 1 to do. So, if you want your index finger to be the wheel-click, and all other buttons to stay the same, the command is

xinput set-button-map "Evoluent VerticalMouse 4" 9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I like to have my thumb be the clicker, the wheel click paste, my ring finger right click, the index finger and little finger do nothing. So I use

xinput set-button-map "Evoluent VerticalMouse 4" 0 3 0 4 5 6 7 0 2 1 2

You can get that command to ruin at start-up. Different versions of Linux will do it differently - I've detailed some of the ways you can do this in Ubuntu in the forums.

The "Correct Way" - Xorg.conf.d

Ubuntu has an annoying habit of switching around how you configure the mouse - and no easy way to configure it graphically! This method should work on Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04.

Running lsusb tells us that the USB ID is

1a7c:0191

Create a new conf file

sudo nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-evoluent.conf

Use the following as a template

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier      "Evoluent"
        MatchUSBID      "1a7c:0191"
        Option "ButtonMapping" "0 3 0 4 5 6 7 0 2 1 2"
EndSection

Substitute your own USB ID and preferred button mapping.

Hey presto! Your buttons are mapped.