From: Chris Malley (cmalley++at++rtset.com)
Date: 03/25/2000 10:51:50
Simon Mills wrote:
>
> Hi Performers,
>
> We've recently obtained a Logitech SpaceMouse (a.k.a. Magellen) 6DOF
> input device. I would like to use it with our Performer applications and
> I would think others have already done this before. Are there any freely
> available drivers for use with Performer out there? Has anybody
> experience of interfacing this device?
>
> The only drivers I've found so far all seem to be specific to
> applications or using X which I'd rather avoid (seems overly complex for
> what I want to do).
>
> Regards, Simon
I posted a description of the options on this mailing list a few
months ago -- see attached. There are basically two options:
(1) Use the Logicad SDK, http://www.logicad3d.com
(2) Use SGI's eoe.sw.optinput package, included with IRIX 6.5
Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.
-Chris
-- RT-SET Broadcast Graphics Division Voice : 303-465-1556 x119 100 Technology Drive, Suite 100 FAX : 303-465-2012 Broomfield, CO 80021 USA Web : http://www.rtset.com
Message-ID: <3874BD85.891E521F++at++rtset.com> Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000 09:06:29 -0700 From: Chris Malley <cmalley++at++rtset.com> Organization: RT-SET X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.07C-SGI [en] (X11; I; IRIX 6.5 IP32) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: info-performer++at++sgi.com, Thomas Ruge <Thomas.Ruge++at++gmx.de> Subject: Re: spacemouse and linux References: <200001061000.CAA27661++at++holodeck.engr.sgi.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Thomas Ruge wrote: > Has somebody tried to connect the spacemouse with linux ? > I would like to use the spacemouse together with perfly. > Also hints from people with spacemouse experience on IRIX would greatly > appreciated.
I have not tried the Magellan/SPACEMOUSE on Linux yet. But according to LogiCad's web site (http://www.logicad3d.com), there is an xdriver (v4.07) for Linux. See: http://www.logicad3d.com/cgi-bin/html?dir=linux/&arch=LINUX&col=black
I'd also recommend that you grab LogiCad's SDK -- it has a very nice set of API calls for dealing with the SPACEMOUSE that hide some of the nastiness of X. And you get source for the API, so you can see what's going on. You also get the Motion Control Center (MCC), a nice GUI for configuring the SPACEMOUSE. The UNIX SDK is here: http://www.logicad3d.com/cgi-bin/html?dir=xdevelop&col=black. The programmer's guide is online there, too. There's also a user's guide that describes the MCC.
As for my experience with the SPACEMOUSE on IRIX... On IRIX, there are two approaches to interfacing with the SPACEMOUSE. The first is to use LogiCad's SDK and xdriver. The second is to use the driver support contained in eoe.sw.optinput (on the IRIX 6.5 CDs), which provides kernel support for several optional input devices, including the SPACEMOUSE. (I believe that SGI's motive for eoe.sw.optinput is to provide a common API for dealing with multiple input devices.) I prefer the first approach, but some other prominent applications (most notably Alias products) use eoe.sw.optinput. And there are some problems with having applications that use different approaches sharing the same SPACEMOUSE connected to the same serial port -- the APIs are different and the drivers are different. So if you write your code using the LogiCad SDK, it's not going to work with the SGI driver (and visa versa). The problems are not insurmountable, but it took me several hours on the phone with LogiCad tech support to work out a workaround (which involves using XIE). My suggestions would be: If you absolutely must live on the same machine with an app that's using the eoe.sw.optinput driver, or if you need to support several different input devices, then stick with the SGI driver. Otherwise use the LogiCad SDK.
-Chris
-- RT-SET Broadcast Graphics Division Voice : 303-465-1556 x119 100 Technology Drive, Suite 100 FAX : 303-465-2012 Broomfield, CO 80021 Web : http://www.rtset.com
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