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OpenRazer 2.9.0 is out, adding plenty of new Razer device support on Linux

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Enjoy your fancy Razer hardware on Linux? You should probably check out OpenRazer, which is a nice big collection of drivers for Linux. A project that's been going for a long time now, with no sign of it stopping and it just keeps on improving.

Another example of the open source community bridging the official support gap for users. Just recently OpenRazer 2.9.0 was released, adding in support for plenty of additional devices including these:

  • Razer Atheris
  • Razer Basilisk X HyperSpeed
  • Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2020)
  • Razer Blade 15 Base (Early 2020)
  • Razer Blade Stealth (Early 2020)
  • Razer Cynosa Lite
  • Razer Cynosa V2
  • Razer DeathAdder 2000
  • Razer Kraken Kitty Edition
  • Razer Kraken Ultimate
  • Razer Viper Mini

Pictured - the Polychromatic UI you can use with OpenRazer.

There's also several overall improvements that came with this latest release of OpenRazer including read support for idle_time and low_battery_threshold, it's now possible to configure the battery notification frequency, razercore & razermousemat drivers were combined into the razeraccessory driver, Razer Viper & Viper Ultimate devices have been cleaned up and support more effects now, screensaver monitor now supports Xfce and the fake driver support has been improved. Additionally a few bug fixes also made it in.

I've personally been using it for some time, along with the Polychromatic UI pictured above which works without any issues with my own DeathAdder Chroma.

You can find out more about it on GitHub and their website.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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14 comments
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whizse Nov 9, 2020
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Better be careful! OpenRazer causes open sores!

(Apologies, horrible joke! I'll see myself out...)
Naib Nov 9, 2020
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WoopWoop!

really good to see this continue. Last week my BlackWidow v3 pro arrived (lovely kb allowing me to easily switch between win and linux). Its a bit to new for support but hopefully soon.

I have a soft-spot for Razer since for a very long time they were the only ones to do high-end ambidextrous mice and so far the only ones todo high-end left-handed ergonomic mice.

I also picked up their plushy :)

Stupendous Man Nov 9, 2020
Nice, I recently replaced my old mouse with the Razer Viper Mini. I tried changing the LED to a fixed light in a Windows VM but the config doesn't get saved to the mouse, but is only active while the Razer software is running. Perhaps now I can get rid of the rainbow light show!
Avehicle7887 Nov 9, 2020
Back in my Windows days, my biggest gripe with razer was in their software which requires online access, which I never believed it should be a requirement for basic peripherals such as mouse and keyboard. Maybe in time thanks to these wonderful projects, I'll buy a razer product should the need arises.
CatKiller Nov 9, 2020
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Quoting: Avehicle7887Back in my Windows days, my biggest gripe with razer was in their software which requires online access, which I never believed it should be a requirement for basic peripherals such as mouse and keyboard. Maybe in time thanks to these wonderful projects, I'll buy a razer product should the need arises.

I wouldn't. Things like requiring software (with Internet access, no less!) to be running all the time, and needing to be reverse-engineered to function on Linux, are not the things that mean they should get your money. Give these devs some money, sure, but Razer don't deserve it. Maybe if they start officially supporting Linux, and contribute to projects like OpenRazer, then it's worth signalling that you're happy with their approach by funding them.
foobrew Nov 9, 2020
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Quoting: HoriHmmm... waiting for support for the Razer Basilisk Ultimate wireless mouse.
But it's a great mouse anyway. I don't need to change the settings too often and they are kept in the mouse's memory. I've configured it once on Windows in the beginning and never felt the need to do it again until earlier today.

If it would be able to send notifications when the battery is low, then yeah, that would be really useful :)

I have a Viper Ultimate and I'm in the same boat. The problem is that the driver supports the basic functionality of the mouse itself but not the charging base which is where, I think, all the info about battery level comes from. I looked at the code a few months back and it's clear they just hacked that part together with some cutting and pasting to make it not break but didn't actually implement any of the features which the driver claims to support. In other words, you could call the methods to get or set features but none of the code is actually implemented so..it just does nothing (but doesn't break the driver).

I'll try it again with this new update and maybe open a feature request if it still doesn't work. Knowing battery info and controlling the lights on the charger base would be very useful.
slaapliedje Nov 10, 2020
Quoting: GuestI switched from Razer to Roccat because of the need for re-applying settings on power up (due to the lack of embedded memory). But after my experience with Roccat; my latest (Kone Pure Owl-Eye) already mis-double-clicking on left and middle button clicks after a year, and the thumb paddle issues with the previous one (a Tyon, scrolling up by itself, thankfully disableable), I think I'm done. I started looking at my options, and apparently some of the new Razer mice (like the Basilisk V2, Deathadder V2, or the Viper) have now an onboard memory that can be used to save profiles. Additionally, it seems that newer versions of Synapse can be used without an account (guest mode). So I might go back to Razer. I which "gamer" mice did not all come with the stupid lighting stuff, sometime at the expanse of other functionality (like programmable buttons, e.g. the Roccat Pure SEL).

I've been using Roccat for a few years now, bought a second Tyon for work and now have a Leadr as well. I quite like their keyboards and mice, and specifically bought them because they have third party support for Linux. Sadly the one guy working on the drivers stopped, but there are still some contributors to it.
14 Nov 14, 2020
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I have the Roccat Nyth which I can configure how I like in Linux. And I love that I can save the profile to the mouse itself and then use it with my laptop and desktop. The quality feels just a smidgen beneath Logitech, however there is no other mouse that I can configure just how I like it (side buttons and mouse width)!

I also have an ambidextrous Roccat mouse I use at work (left hand at work and right hand at home). That one is OK for at work but I wouldn't use it as my home mouse. It is the Kiro.

I would buy Roccat again for the Linux usability but I'd be tempted if a competitor supported Linux better.
Xpander Dec 1, 2020
Quoting: 14I have the Roccat Nyth which I can configure how I like in Linux. And I love that I can save the profile to the mouse itself and then use it with my laptop and desktop. The quality feels just a smidgen beneath Logitech, however there is no other mouse that I can configure just how I like it (side buttons and mouse width)!

I also have an ambidextrous Roccat mouse I use at work (left hand at work and right hand at home). That one is OK for at work but I wouldn't use it as my home mouse. It is the Kiro.

I would buy Roccat again for the Linux usability but I'd be tempted if a competitor supported Linux better.

Sorry for super late reply. I myself used Roccat so far also.. KoneXTDs, Kova's etc.. still have Roccat Keyboard.
Roccat tools was the best, loads of config options. But the sad thing is that its not in development anymore. Almost non of the newer roccat hardware is supported. Ofc its opensource and maybe its not too hard to add new device your own, but it kinda sucks.


I went ahead and bought Razer Basilisk v2 this time around. i love the mouse. the hypershift (roccat easyshift) button is so comfortable on my thumb also. The problem was that my mouse isnt even supported by openrazer. There was a Pullrequest that was broken for it, i managed to patch it and made it work. I can change the LEDs, DPI, Polling rate and stuff, but its missing all the Keybind options. Turns out the keybindings arent implemented into openrazer yet...theres some work done for keyboards on a pullrequest but mouse support is completely missing. That really sucks :(

So i guess we have to wait until it improves a bit more.
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