Peripherals-only mode for supported mice

[UDPSendToFailed]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Currently g-helper refuses to run without installing the ASUS System Control Interface driver, which can only be installed on Asus laptops, it doesn't even work with my Asus ROG Strix Z790-E motherboard.

This makes it impossible to use g-helper only for controlling my Asus ROG Gladius III Wireless mouse without using the laptop-only features which I don't need.

Describe the solution you'd like

Some sort of a peripherals-only mode for those who don't need the laptop-related features, but own an Asus mouse which could be controlled using g-helper. Maybe a separate app for this if it would be too complicated to hide all the laptop-related options on systems that aren't Asus laptops.

Describe alternatives you've considered

As far as I know, there are no alternatives to control DPI, Polling Rate and other options on my mouse except the RGB which can be modified using OpenRGB. This app would be a nice replacement for those who have to install Armoury Crate only to control their mice.

[Kikimahe]

hi,

Unfortunately for you Ghelper only works on ASUS laptops. It doesn't work on desktop.

Another utility will need to be developed for devices management. There was already a question about this #1512

[seerge]

@UDPSendToFailed hello :) I was planning to unlock app for non-asus laptops, but I didn't come up with a good and clear UX solution yet for that situation.

Current logic is very simple – almost all functionality depends on Asus endpoints in BIOS (system control interface) - so you get a warning, asking you to install it. It helps people with fresh windows install on asus laptops, do get that driver as well.

If I will remove warning, it may create situations where app won't work due to absent control interface :|

[UDPSendToFailed]

Hi!

I'm not entirely sure if this would be a reliable way, but my idea is adding some sort of a system detection to the installer.

For example, reading values from msinfo32 or other similar source to make sure that the system is an Asus laptop. If the System Manufacturer, BaseBoard Manufacturer, Platform Role, etc values match so it's an Asus laptop, the installer would continue as usual to the detection of the ASUS System Control Interface driver.

If those values don't match with the values of Asus laptops, then a warning message would appear describing that g-helper will be installed in peripherals-only mode and the laptop-related features will be disabled since the system is not an Asus laptop.

Either this if it would be a reliable enough detection method, or a simple checkbox selection page in the installer where the user can select which components they want to install (everything including laptop stuff or peripherals-only). So basically my idea is a modular system which could be later expanded with adding more features and support for more devices.

I have no idea how complicated would it be to install the mouse control thing separately, but if it's possible, and developers would be interested in it, then g-helper could eventually become a universal Armoury Crate replacement, not only for laptops but for mice, keyboards, and other Asus products too. Since there are tons of people complaining about Armoury Crate's slowness and stability issues, I think there would be a nice user base for an open-source alternative.

[Constrat]

@UDPSendToFailed Wait, what installer?
G-Helper does not have any installers (🙏🏻). It's just an executable and a dll.
If you're talking about Asus System Control Interface, then there's nothing that can be done. That's ASUS' proprietary software.

[UDPSendToFailed]

@Constrat yea you are right, I have confused the Asus System Control Interface installer with g-helper as I have just tried to run it once. 😄 It might be still possible to add some sort of a system detection without an installer.

[seerge]

@UDPSendToFailed

Try this build, I have removed ACPI requirement, and app should launch.

Keep in mind, that UI will still show 3 modes, and some settings (as it's actually too much things to clean up otherwise). But most of them simply won't have any effect on you.

GHelper.zip

[seerge]

P.S. I think @IceStormNG will be happy as well ;)

[UDPSendToFailed]

Thanks a lot for the update, everything seems to be working fine. I have tried modifying settings that aren't supported on my device, they aren't changing anything (as expected), and not causing crashes or other issues either.

There is one thing that I have noticed, if I plug in the USB cable to charge the mouse, it switches to wired mode and shows up twice in g-helper, one wireless and one wired instance of my mouse, instead of changing the status of the existing one.

It seems to be working fine though, so it's not a big issue. Also I have attached a log where I tried some of the options.
log.txt

[IceStormNG]

There is one thing that I have noticed, if I plug in the USB cable to charge the mouse, it switches to wired mode and shows up twice in g-helper, one wireless and one wired instance of my mouse, instead of changing the status of the existing one.

It seems to be working fine though, so it's not a big issue.

This is normal as your mouse is connected twice to your computer now. The "wireless mouse" really just detects the dongle, which is still connected to your PC (says not connected because the mouse does not report to the dongle anymore).

The Wireless mouse will also show up if you have the dongle connected and the mouse turned off. It will only go away if you unplug the dongle from your PC.

[seerge]

@UDPSendToFailed @IceStormNG oke, I will include this change in next release and closing this as completed then :)