Has anyone noticed that Windows has really crappy default HID drivers?
Posted: 16 Nov 2023, 01:30
I use 3 different operating systems: MacOS, Windows 10 and Arch Linux.
I primarily use trackballs and occasionally use mice. I recently bought 2 Sanwa Gravi trackballs. They're a modern replacement for the venerable Microsoft Trackball Explorer.
https://www.amazon.com/SANWA-GMAWBTTB138/dp/B09Q8D6XL9
https://www.amazon.com/SANWA-GMATB137/dp/B09Q8GB2S3
I bought a wired and wireless one. On the wireless one, which I took into the office, I was experiencing a lot of stiction, which was driving me nuts. Stiction presents itself when you move the ball on the trackball, but the cursor reacts a few milliseconds later on the screen. This makes it very difficult to do precise movement.
I did not have the same problem with the wired trackball at home. I shelved the trackball and used a mouse for a few weeks. Then I got the bright idea to swap them out. I took the wired one to the office, and left the wireless one at home. The stiction problem re-appeared with the wired trackball. The wireless one at home gave me no stiction issues.
Looking at the setup, at work I had Windows 10, and at home I had a Mac. So, I took the trackball home, and fired up the one Windows PC I have at home. Thinking it might be an issue with some monitoring software they installed at work, I tried both trackballs on the home PC, only to have the same stiction issues I had on my work computer.
So, the next test was Linux. I used both trackballs on a Linux laptop and no stiction issues.
So, what I thought was stiction may just be crappy Windows generic HID drivers with certain models of input devices.
Normally I'd blame the hardware, saying they used crappy parts or there is a firmware issue. But the problem only presents it's on Windows, I have to think it's either the HID driver or just Windows in general.
I primarily use trackballs and occasionally use mice. I recently bought 2 Sanwa Gravi trackballs. They're a modern replacement for the venerable Microsoft Trackball Explorer.
https://www.amazon.com/SANWA-GMAWBTTB138/dp/B09Q8D6XL9
https://www.amazon.com/SANWA-GMATB137/dp/B09Q8GB2S3
I bought a wired and wireless one. On the wireless one, which I took into the office, I was experiencing a lot of stiction, which was driving me nuts. Stiction presents itself when you move the ball on the trackball, but the cursor reacts a few milliseconds later on the screen. This makes it very difficult to do precise movement.
I did not have the same problem with the wired trackball at home. I shelved the trackball and used a mouse for a few weeks. Then I got the bright idea to swap them out. I took the wired one to the office, and left the wireless one at home. The stiction problem re-appeared with the wired trackball. The wireless one at home gave me no stiction issues.
Looking at the setup, at work I had Windows 10, and at home I had a Mac. So, I took the trackball home, and fired up the one Windows PC I have at home. Thinking it might be an issue with some monitoring software they installed at work, I tried both trackballs on the home PC, only to have the same stiction issues I had on my work computer.
So, the next test was Linux. I used both trackballs on a Linux laptop and no stiction issues.
So, what I thought was stiction may just be crappy Windows generic HID drivers with certain models of input devices.
Normally I'd blame the hardware, saying they used crappy parts or there is a firmware issue. But the problem only presents it's on Windows, I have to think it's either the HID driver or just Windows in general.