macOS Big Sur and Monterey - Pre-release Driver Available

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on macOS.

Moderator: Moderators

Locked
ericd1949
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:44 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ericd1949 »

<t>Hi and thanks for the macOS Update.<br/>
I've got a Compact wired Space Mouse connected, via a Avocent KVM to a Mac Mini M1 Big Sur 11.5.1, and a Windows 10 box. I use the Mac mostly.<br/>
<br/>
The Mac Drivers work fine for me for Prusa Slicer & Fusion 360.<br/>
The axes movement functions also work fine for me in Blender, but the two buttons show no function in Blender, either as the defaults or when programmed for other keys.<br/>
<br/>
The blue ring LED shows some interesting behaviour. When the Mac has been shutdown and restarted they remain off. Nothing I've tried will get them on; running one of the above Apps, going to sleep and then awakening, disabling and enabling the LED in properties, nothing will get them on.<br/>
However, switching to the Windows 10 box and turning that PC on, will light up the LED after a minute, or so.<br/>
Then, switching back to the Mac, the LED remains on, and will behave itself properly during a sleep (turn off) and then turn on again when awakened.<br/>
<br/>
Hope this is helpful.</t>
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

ericd1949 wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 4:08 am the two buttons show no function in Blender,
And if you try assigning a "keystroke" action to one of the buttons?
The blue ring LED shows some interesting behaviour. When the Mac has been shutdown and restarted they remain off. Nothing I've tried will get them on;
That's a bug introduced in the latest driver. It's already resolved and the fix will be included in the next beta.
ericd1949
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:44 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ericd1949 »

I tried assigning <shift> and <control> to the two buttons and also the character "n" none of which worked.
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

ericd1949 wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 2:48 pm I tried assigning <shift> and <control> to the two buttons and also the character "n" none of which worked.
Can you tell us how did you try to make these assignments? Some application expect a "keystroke" (or "shortcut") whereas others will work with "macros" (sequences of key presses and releases).
ericd1949
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:44 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ericd1949 »

I used the 3Dconnexion Home App > Properties > Blender > Buttons. And for instance set Button Left to keystroke m & Button Right to keystroke n
This prompts Blender to show layers or an error box for m and show/hide properties for n which works via keyboard but not with the buttons
Blender version 2.93.1

This assignment method works fine in Prusa Slicer and Fusion 360 for me.
tiieto
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:30 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by tiieto »

Hi There...

I just update my Mac to BigSur and made a fresh install of the BETA19 for MacOSX Big Sur..
I also installed Fusion360
I use the SpaceMouse Enterprise. (Firmware 4.42)

Following Issues i can report:
- the Button Rotation Lock works, but the little Blue LED don't light up
- The "blue signed" buttons eg. F+BK, T+B, V1+Camera symbol, V2+Camera symbol, V3+Camera symbol, Rotate, etc... don't work.. (Only the Blue labeled functions)
- if i press V1 there is no more Zoom possible, only rotate in any direction. Press again all fine, zoom possible again.
- if i press V2 or V3 nothing happens.
- The Blue Ring LED at the knob (do i call it right? the big thing in the Middle who allows to pan, tilt, rotate, and so on?) don't work, don't matter if i have it enabled or disabled in the Settings..
- There are still no Icons for each CAD Operation (e.G. line, extrude, fillet, trim,........) just Text.. (like the Drivers before.. But i think this have to be addressed..)

Therese issues came up in the first 30 min i use my spaceMouse Enterprise with Big Sur, Fusion 360 & the Beta19 of 3DxWare 10.7.0 (3356) (plugins installed)

Kind Regards
ericd1949
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:44 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ericd1949 »

Sorry if this is a repeat, my reply seems to have got lost

This is Blender 2.93.1
I assigned the key presses with the 3Dconnexion app > Properties > Blender > Buttons
then
Button L Keystroke m
Button R Keystroke n

These key strokes work from the keyboard, to do stuff but do not from Space Mouse button presses
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

ericd1949 wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:42 am I used the 3Dconnexion Home App > Properties > Blender > Buttons. And for instance set Button Left to keystroke m & Button Right to keystroke n
This prompts Blender to show layers or an error box for m and show/hide properties for n which works via keyboard but not with the buttons
Blender version 2.93.1
Thank you, ericd1949. We're going to check that scenario.
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

tiieto wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:51 am - the Button Rotation Lock works, but the little Blue LED don't light up
This may be related to a known issue introduced in the latest beta. We're tracking that problem with reference MAC-308 (check box to disable LED does not work).
- The "blue signed" buttons eg. F+BK, T+B, V1+Camera symbol, V2+Camera symbol, V3+Camera symbol, Rotate, etc... don't work.. (Only the Blue labeled functions)
These buttons are not assigned to standard view commands (top, left, right, etc) as on Windows. You can work around that by editing the driver configuration for Fusion: go to System Preferences > 3Dconnexion > "Buttons" tab and edit the assignments as you'd.
- if i press V1 there is no more Zoom possible, only rotate in any direction. Press again all fine, zoom possible again.
- if i press V2 or V3 nothing happens.
This indicates the "V1" is assigned to a "rotation" on/off action. Again, check the driver configuration for Fusion and make the necessary adjustments.
- The Blue Ring LED at the knob (do i call it right? the big thing in the Middle who allows to pan, tilt, rotate, and so on?) don't work, don't matter if i have it enabled or disabled in the Settings..
As mentioned above, this is MAC-308. The fix will be included in the next beta release.
- There are still no Icons for each CAD Operation (e.G. line, extrude, fillet, trim,........) just Text.. (like the Drivers before.. But i think this have to be addressed..)
That's a feature of the Windows driver. It is not currently available on macOS, although we expect to add support on the Mac at some time.
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

ericd1949 wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 2:42 am I used the 3Dconnexion Home App > Properties > Blender > Buttons. And for instance set Button Left to keystroke m & Button Right to keystroke n
This prompts Blender to show layers or an error box for m and show/hide properties for n which works via keyboard but not with the buttons
Blender version 2.93.1
We have reviewed this issue. The software appears to be working as designed.

Blender is capturing the button events. In other words, the application is overriding the driver settings to ensure button notifications are sent to it instead of handled by the driver.

We believe the Blender developers prefer to centralise the handling of input devices in the application. Users can go to the application's "Edit" menu > "Preferences" to configure the input actions (keymap).
ericd1949
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:44 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ericd1949 »

O.k. I'll give that a try. thanks for your time and attention.
tiieto
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:30 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by tiieto »

ngomes wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 2:22 am
tiieto wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:51 am - the Button Rotation Lock works, but the little Blue LED don't light up
This may be related to a known issue introduced in the latest beta. We're tracking that problem with reference MAC-308 (check box to disable LED does not work).
- The "blue signed" buttons eg. F+BK, T+B, V1+Camera symbol, V2+Camera symbol, V3+Camera symbol, Rotate, etc... don't work.. (Only the Blue labeled functions)
These buttons are not assigned to standard view commands (top, left, right, etc) as on Windows. You can work around that by editing the driver configuration for Fusion: go to System Preferences > 3Dconnexion > "Buttons" tab and edit the assignments as you'd.
- if i press V1 there is no more Zoom possible, only rotate in any direction. Press again all fine, zoom possible again.
- if i press V2 or V3 nothing happens.
This indicates the "V1" is assigned to a "rotation" on/off action. Again, check the driver configuration for Fusion and make the necessary adjustments.
- The Blue Ring LED at the knob (do i call it right? the big thing in the Middle who allows to pan, tilt, rotate, and so on?) don't work, don't matter if i have it enabled or disabled in the Settings..
As mentioned above, this is MAC-308. The fix will be included in the next beta release.
- There are still no Icons for each CAD Operation (e.G. line, extrude, fillet, trim,........) just Text.. (like the Drivers before.. But i think this have to be addressed..)
That's a feature of the Windows driver. It is not currently available on macOS, although we expect to add support on the Mac at some time.
My Driver Configration is all by default... Nothing Changed...

BTW: when i unplug the SpaceMouse Enterprise and plug it back, the Blue RING LED at the knob works fine, until i press the Rotation Lock button...
After press this button, the Ring LED turns off and never come back (until i unplug the mouse and plug it back in..)
ericd1949
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2021 7:44 am

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ericd1949 »

I've switched to my Windows 10 box to try and understand this.
Win10 patched pretty well up to date. Blender 2.93.2, 3DXware Drivers 10.7.4.3350

The SpaceMouse buttons on this Windows 10 configuration work fine. The left button I left as the default, so that in Blender it comes up with the RM Tools Radial menu, from which I can then select "Properties" and then program the right button with <space> and that right button then acts the same as a <space> key from the keyboard. And this is what the Blender docs say, i.e. you can summon up a button configurator by pressing the "menu button" on the LDOF device itself.

Back to the Mac Mini M1 and I updated Blender to 2.93.2, just in case there were relevant changes. But no such luck. I programmed the buttons using the 3Dconnexion Home App to be the same as above. There is still no reaction to them in Blender.

Summary the Windows 10 combination of latest Blender and latest 3DXware - Space Mouse buttons work fine, not so in the Mac Mini M1 combination.
Is Blender dealing with the Space Mouse Button inputs differently in Windows10 vs MacOS? Bit weird if it is.
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

ericd1949 wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 9:04 am Is Blender dealing with the Space Mouse Button inputs differently in Windows10 vs MacOS?
Yes.

On Windows, Blender uses a system interface and the driver can redirect button events, thus allowing the user, for example, to assign a shortcut ("keystroke" action).

On the Mac, the application is using the driver API but it is force-capturing all button events, blocking the driver from doing anything fancy with the buttons like emulating keyboard events. We believe this to be the intended behaviour required by the Blender developers and perhaps by the wider community.
ngomes
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
Contact:

Re: macOS Big Sur - Beta Driver Available

Post by ngomes »

tiieto wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 6:54 am BTW: when i unplug the SpaceMouse Enterprise and plug it back, the Blue RING LED at the knob works fine, until i press the Rotation Lock button...
After press this button, the Ring LED turns off and never come back (until i unplug the mouse and plug it back in..)
Are you reporting a separate issue in addition to all the others?

What exactly do you mean by "never come back"? Does the device stop working as expected or are you referring only to the LEDs staying in the off state?

If the device is disabled, try connecting it to another USB port but ensure it is a port on the machine. USB hubs are notoriously flaky.
Locked