Logitech M570 on Fedora.

I just bought a new Logitech M570 wireless trackball for use with my Fedora workstation. I favor a trackball over a moving mouse, because it’s easier on the joints, not to mention more practical on a crowded desk. My previous trackball device was a wired Logitech, and it developed a few problems recently. I’ve had it eight years, so I decided I got my money’s worth and could spring for a new one.

The Logitech M570 uses the Logitech Unifying Receiver USB wireless dongle, common to many Logitech devices. You can pair up to 6 of them to the current unifying device dongle that ships with the M570. Most Fedora users will want this device to be set with correct permissions for people who login on the console. It’s also helpful to be able to query or display battery status.

So here are the steps I recommend to install the Logitech M570 on Fedora. Do these steps before you plug in the receiver or turn on the trackball device. I’m using GNOME 3.12 on Fedora 20, so your mileage may vary:

1. You may want to remove your existing pointing device first. Otherwise the new one may not work, at least until you do.
2. Install solaar (upstream link), a monitoring and control gizmo for your Logitech Unifying Receiver and connected devices. Thank you to Eric Smith for packaging and maintaining this tool for Fedora!
3. Plug in the receiver to an open USB slot. I recommend a rear slot since you likely won’t move this very often. (If you do, there’s a handy slot inside the trackball’s battery compartment where you can store the receiver without losing it!)
4. Turn on the Logitech M570, and it should Just Work.
5. You can launch solaar from the GNOME Shell, and a notification icon appears in the message tray. You can use this tool to see status and pair or unpair devices.
6. (optional) If you want solaar to start every time you login, open the Terminal and enter these commands:
   

   $ cd ~/.config/autostart

   $ ln -s /usr/share/applications/solaar.desktop .

Enjoy!