Today a different topic, since I am an IT guy and developer more or less dealing with hardware, I thought I would write a short guide on how to use the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse on a Linux computer. This post is a guide on how to use this wireless Bluetooth mouse on Linux without a USB dongle.
Logitech MX Master 3S
Normally I use a Windows laptop as my main computer, where the Bluetooth pairing of the Logitech mouse works quite easily, you go to the Windows settings, want to pair with a Bluetooth device and if you hold down the pairing button on the bottom of the mouse for 3 seconds, the LED starts flashing quickly, signaling the pairing mode. You can now pair the mouse on the computer and use it directly. So far, so Windows.
Unfortunately, this is a bit more difficult with Linux in this case, because I couldn't find any useful tips on how to get the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse to work with Linux, neither via Google nor in forums or Reddit.
What have I tried?
Solaar - Linux device manager for Logitech devices
Solaar is supposed to make it possible to connect Logitech Bluetooth devices to Linux, the installation was quick and I was able to run the application, but unfortunately, (even after a reboot) the mouse in pairing mode could not be found by Solaar.
Piper
Another tool designed to connect Logitech Bluetooth devices to Linux is called PiperI have also seen this at Read on RedditThe installation was quick and painless, but again, no device could be found and the mouse was in pairing mode.
What helped?
Artificial intelligence!
I was really ready to give up, but then I had an idea, if the internet doesn't know and neither do I, maybe ChatGPT can think about it and work out a solution?
No sooner said than done!
However, I would like to make it clear that this solution worked for me on an HP laptop from 2024 with Zorin OS 17.3 installed, but it should also be possible on other devices.
Here is the instruction I got from the AI:
Step 1 - Check Bluetooth module status, activate Bluetooth if necessary
Make sure that the Bluetooth module is active on your Linux system. You can check this with the following command in the terminal:
sudo systemctl status bluetooth
If Bluetooth is not activated, you can start it with the following command:
sudo systemctl start bluetooth
Step 2 - Perform Bluetooth scan
Use the terminal to scan Bluetooth devices. Make sure that the mouse is in pairing mode (important, on the MX S3 there is a button below the mouse that allows you to change the device so that you can control up to 3 devices with the Bluetooth mouse, click through until the mouse is found in the scan), and use the following command:
bluetoothctl scan on
Note: Don't be surprised that it says "Device DEVICE-ID Connected: yes" - this is because my Linux computer already knows the mouse, so just for reference how it will look.
Step 3 - Device ID
The mouse should be displayed in the terminal after the scan. This device ID is now required so that pairing can be carried out.
Step 4 - Pair, Connect, Trust
Pairing via bluetoothctl complete the scan: If the mouse was found in the scan, you can try to pair it directly via the terminal:
bluetoothctl pair [MAC address of the mouse]
bluetoothctl connect [MAC address of the mouse]
bluetoothctl trust [MAC address of the mouse]
And now, according to the AI, the mouse should theoretically be usable, but this is not (yet) the case. So it only takes one more step, to do this we switch to the Bluetooth settings in the respective Linux distribution and should now find the pairing-ready mouse and with one click, it is now connected and can be used.
That was it! You don't need a USB dongle, you can use the mouse directly, of course, you can't use or set additional button assignments with it (maybe you can, but that wasn't my aim as I don't need that), but the basic functions of the mouse (which should just work so that you can work) are fulfilled.
I'm surprised I couldn't find this guide somewhere (or I just overlooked it), so I wrote this guide here on my blog to help others use Logitech devices on Linux in the future.
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