 |
HABU vs. Copperhead |
| August 25th, 2006 |
The word is out and yesterday I received a record, inbox choking 1223 emails from gamers around the world asking for more information about the joint-product introduction of the HABU mouse.
I wanted to use my blog as a fast method to clarify some early misconceptions.
First, the HABU mouse was designed from the ground up for low sensitivity, fast hand movement players. The ID is based on the original IE 3.0 with several design tweaks and (we think) improvements.
If you liked the original IE 3.0, you’ll like the Habu even better with pretty much the same shape with better tracking. The recent re-release of the IE 3.0 has caused some confusion out there so here it is – the re-released IE 3.0 is essentially the same mouse as it was in 1999 with the same sensor while the Habu has pretty much the same shape (with some Razer ergo tweaks and improvements) and our kick-ass updated laser sensor.
The HABU does NOT replace the Copperhead. While the laser sensor is basically the same, there have been several engineering tweaks designed to aid the performance for low sensitivity or glide play style settings. If you’re a flicker, you’re better off with the Copperhead.
You can’t be all mice to all people and we’re building different mice with different shapes to fit different play styles for all you gamers out there. The Habu and Copperhead are the cutting edge gaming mice out there – if you love the Copperhead and the playstyle associated with it, don’t get the Habu and vice versa.
Neither Microsoft or Razer planned to make this mouse … it was mandated by gamers who specifically wrote both companies and begged us to make it. This product is for you!
The design structure, along with the advanced technical specifications of the HABU is developed to gain the maximum movement, comfort, precision, speed and control possible.
If you are trying to decide which mouse is right for your game you might want to use the following as a guide
|
Features
|
Habu
 |
Copperhead
 |
| Palm grip |
X
|
|
| Fingertip grip |
X
|
|
| Flick Play Style |
X
|
|
| Glide Play Style |
X
|
|
| Right handed |
X
|
X
|
| Left handed |
X
|
|
| Light weight mouse |
X
|
|
| Heavier weight mouse |
X
|
|
| 32kb Onboard Memory | X |
X
|
For herpetologists everywhere the HABU is a pit viper snake is a poisonous snake found in Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, southeast China. For the past 8 years Razer has named all of their mouse products after predatory snakes, beginning with the Boomslang.
 |
August 27th, 2006 at 12:28 am
“If you liked the original IE 3.0, you’ll like the Habu even better with pretty much the same shape with better tracking.”
I’ve owned a MS 1.1 / Diamondback / Copperhead, and all I can say is if it tracks anything like the Copperhead you’re in for trouble. The Copperhead tracked like total crap on all my mousepads, including the Razer eXactMat.
“Neither Microsoft or Razer planned to make this mouse … it was mandated by gamers who specifically wrote both companies and begged us to make it. This product is for you!”
I’m pretty sure no one would specifically ask for the MS 3.0 great shape, but not it’s great tracking. The thing about the MS 3.0 was the reliability, and the precise, never skipping, tracking.
So are the problems from the Copperheads technology fixed? Also I don’t know why you wouldn’t include onboard memory with the new Habu, as it’s one of the only features that’s useful.
PS: DPI is useless, find other ways to improve your mouses.
August 27th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
i dont know about everyone else, but i wasnt asking for this, i was asking for the boomslang 2, not some microcrap or logicrap.
August 28th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
Just because it was made with Microsoft that doesn’t automatically make it crap. Did you even think about the potential quality of this mouse before you made your post?
Personally, I’m very excited about this. It could well rival the IE 3.0 that Microsoft are resurrecting. I’m not saying that the IE 3.0 might fail, seeing as I’ll be buying 10 of them (not because I need them, but out of principle), but they might have finally come up with something that’s actually better :O
OK, maybe 10 is exaggerating, but you get the idea.
August 29th, 2006 at 2:07 am
well its good to see that IE is making a come back, gamers all over the world will be rejoice with the prospect of new HABU. its about time where they ressurect one of the most wanted mouse cheers
August 29th, 2006 at 4:20 am
ya, actually ive thought alot about this issue. the market is saturated with mice of the exact same shape, i want a boomslang type shape, thats big enough to support my hand. (not just the fingertips)
August 29th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
I didn’t ask if you had thought about the issue of mice in general, I asked if you had given this particular mouse serious consideration before calling it crap just because it was made with Microsoft.
Anyway, when it comes to the issue of mice in general, you obviously haven’t done the necessary research of actually going to the store and seeing what’s there. If you had you’d know that there are mice of all shapes and sizes. This isn’t necessarily a good thing and I’ll tell you why.
The shape of the human hand hasn’t changed much in the past zillion years, so constantly changing the shape of mice to be different from something that is known to be comfortable isn’t exactly improving things. The way forward is to take what is already liked and to tweak it to perfection, which seems to be EXACTLY what Razer and Microsoft are trying to do here. Besides, from what I can tell this mouse is designed to support your whole hand, so maybe you’ll even prefer it over the Boomslang or what a Boomslang 2 might be after you try it.
Razer and Microsoft can’t go around making a different mouse for every single person out there, the best they can do is try to make mice that satisfy the desires of the majority of people, and right now that means making the Habu, and putting things like the Boomslang 2 on hold until a sufficient number of people would want to buy it.
Bottom line, just because they’re releasing a mouse that might not be perfect for you, try to realise that they’re trying to satisfy the desires of a huge number of people. Maybe they’ll eventually get round to the Boomslang 2 for people like you, or maybe they’re already making it behind the scenes, who knows?
September 1st, 2006 at 8:53 am
Robert,
Both mouses in the table above show 32kB of onboard memory. However, I believe the Habu doesn’t support profiles? Does it have upgradeable firmware?
Thanks.
September 1st, 2006 at 11:15 am
September 3rd, 2006 at 11:47 pm
Only thing i’m wondering now, will there be Mac OS drivers available for the Habu. The new resurrected IE 3.0 has OSX drivers, the old one worked fine under OSX and I would love a razer mouse with this new technology to work under OSX.
For the rest, I loved the IE 3.0, unfortunately I had a cable fracture in mine which i couldn’t fix (seems a common problem from what i’ve read). But knowing what I did and do to my diamondback (i take it almost everywhere i go with my laptop) it should be fine.
September 4th, 2006 at 4:05 am
What will the price range be as you can get a copperhead for $54-$59 I hate spending that much on a mouse but in Animation and graphics I need a good tracking mouse and I have not found one yet which is why I was about to buy copperhead then found out about the habu…
The habu has the style or shape I prefer and its heavier I don’t like a light mouse! the copperhead also has a long bottom instead of teardrop or bubbled where your palm grips. Originally It was between copperhead and the G7 though I like the wireless feature of the G7 and MX1k the Copperhead has a better shape IMO and more possibilities for control on screen… So now it seems to be between Copperhead and Habu which brings me back to How much lol. Also for future why not make a G7 style RF wireless Habu and Copperhead for those who want the wireless feature and freedom and I say G7 because of the fast swap battery packs which is a high point.
IMO - Copperhead &/or Habu
Pros:
1- Shape, feel and look Habu then CH
2- Firmware/advance control
3- High dpi with multi settings and mem for advance movment and tracking which as a designer when going for a point or pixel to move or manip you want that accuacy which I have been looking for!
4- For Habu I like how it is a slider not a flicker !! this is very important with Designers as its not a game so you are sliding not flicking at precise points!
Cons:/aditions: (maybe possible additions/ versions?)
1- RF wifi to help with more freedom but keeping the accuracy
2- Dual bat packs for fast swap during work.
3- Weight adjustments for those who pref. heavier or lighter
4- Maybe a slide vs flick adjustment switch for those who need both such as Designers who would like to game too! or Designers who want to test their games =P
(and yes I suppose you could just have both Copperhead and Habu to fix that)
my 2 cents take what you want and leave my change ! - Mass-Pixelated ?belix?
September 4th, 2006 at 8:42 am
can you actualy answer Joseph Beck’s question?
can you tell us that by any speed that a hand can take, the mouse won’t skip on a Steelpad S&S or on a Steelpad 5L?
copperhead skips even on 5L, not to mention S&S or any other plastic pads.
September 4th, 2006 at 9:07 am
don’t get me wrong.
there are 3 things about copperhead that i didn’t like:
1. the bottom of the mouse was too thin so that i accidently turned it over the pad.
2. the buttons are a little too big so that i accidently press the while trying to put my hand on it on a preferable way.
3. it skips (actualy stops) on a verry large variety of surfaces.
if is true that you consider copperhead a high sensitivity user mouse, that makes it perfect, except for the big buttons - if i don’t move it to fast, it won’t skip, i won’t turn it over because the buttom is thinner.
i just want to make sure that habu is better, and that it really is a mouse fo small sensitivity users.
if laser technology is not to be used on mice, just give up and get back to optics, so you can really get 25g without skipping (or stopping).
the good part:
- copperheads shape makes possible the use for a large variety of hand sizes, because the shape accepts to hold the mouse on different places. (smaller hands keep it more from behind, larger hands keep it more in hand). this is a great thing.
- usb polling rate, thin cable, teflon feet, shape, lights, tracking precision, drivers, are all good parts of it…
but i’m a low sensitivity user, wich likes the shape of the intelli explorer 3.0 and the precision of mx518(also razer diamondback). now my dream is about to come true:
intelli explorer 3.0 shape, all good things from copperhead, and i’m sure that this is going to track at speeds like copperhead… my dream will be blown away.
September 4th, 2006 at 11:17 am
can you answer my question without my post?
or answer Joseph Beck ’s question please.
September 5th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Well, have you guys tested if skipping will be an issue with Habu, since this issue continues to plague the copperhead and every other lazer mouse out there (including these—>logitech G5, G7, MX 1000…etc) at low sensitivity.
September 7th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
Hi,
What about jittering? This is something which is driving me crazy on my copperhead.
When I first read about the HABU, I thought: oh my god, why are they doing again the same mistake and using the Copperhead laser sensor.
Then I read about the HABU in that interview of razerblueprints, where Razerguy said that the sensor is improved and works quite well.
I hope that it really tracks better, as I am using my Copperhead but don’t really liking it (as I already said jittering is driving me crazy). On plastic pads the mouse is skipping but not jittering. On cloth pads the mouse is not skipping anymore but therefore it is jittering.
Anyway I think that the best mouse sensor ever was in the diamondback/mx518. There was nothing to complain about. I still love the tracking of the diamondback but everything else is better on the copperhead thats why I use it mainly.
Also my copperhead is modded (with parts from the diamondback) thats why I am basically using it. You know… the scroll wheel of the copperhead is better, the sidebuttons are better, the body of the mouse is better (basically the lower part of the body as the upper part is identically to the one of the diamondback). Not to mention the internal memory of the copperhead which is really great. But why on earth does the copperhead not have the diamondback sensor?
The best mouse in my opinion would be a copperhead with diamondback sensor. Maybe one day I will move the internals of the diamondback into this shape of the copperhead. I already tried it, but it requires some tweaking as the pcb’s are not exactly the same. Basically I can put the diamondback-pcb into the copperhead, and it works but I can not use the side-buttons now, as it requires the pcb of the sidebuttons to be modified. This looks like a lot of work. Also I need a way to get the glowpipe and the razer-logo to glow again. Anyway I think that there will be no possibility to get the razer-logo to blink. OK, it would be possible but it would be a hard work.
If anyone wants to see my modded coppehead… here it is:
http://razerblueprints.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=96&topic=5231.0
A HABU with Diamondback sensor would be great. But maybe… just maybe, the tracking of the HABU will be better (I hope it).
September 7th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
One thing I’m concerned about is that the sensor on the copperhead detected motion even though the mouse was well above the pad. This meant that when I picked it up and moved it from the corner of my mousepad back to the middle, my crosshair made unintentional movements. I consider myself to be a low sensitivity user, so I have to pick my mouse up alot to put it in the middle of the pad, which is part of the reason why I went back to my IE 3.0, which stops detecting motion at a much lower height, thus making the movement to the middle of the pad much better. I was wondering if the Habu will stop detecting motion as soon as (or almost as soon as) it’s lifted of the pad.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Haha everything I’ve just said is from memory, I’ve just tested out my copperhead and I’m not so sure :p. But I could have sworn…
Anyway it’s probably not worth looking into right now, seeing as we can just wait and see and hope that I’m being paranoid, and that this isn’t a problem
September 8th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Only time ive had problems with jittery and over tracking when i pick up the copperhead is when i needed to dust lint or misc. stuff the mouse pick up on the mouse pad. Regular cleaning eliminated that for me. My only concern is the skipping at low sensitivity. My settings are as follows dpi-400(that is what iam used to and the reality is dpi does nothing for aiming or smoothness), polling rate-500, mouse sensitivity in razer software to the max 10, window sensitivity 6/11 bars and in game sens.(q4)-3. Now i must realy jerk the mouse to get it to skip and sometimes when i am nervous and get over exited in a game my eratic movement will cause the mouse to skip. Other then that its a great mouse. I just want no skipping like the ms 3.0, so even if i am startled or eratic with my movement i am not facing straight up or looking at the floor.
September 9th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
I got a logitech mx518 and I really liked it but now that there are two razers that have 200dpi i cant decide wich to get.
I am a gamer and i use extremely high sensitivity. Can anyone recommend which to buy copperhead or habu.( oh and what is glide playstile.)
September 11th, 2006 at 1:09 am
a low sensitivity gamer, after 1 hour of gaming is warmed up, and his movements are really fast. i get to skip the copperhead in notime.
that’s the only real problem. - also the shape of the copperhead is certanly not for low sensitivity users. (it is not stable on the pad, i get it turned over its top)
September 11th, 2006 at 2:24 am
I was big Razer fan since first release of Diamondback, when i switched from MX300. I found perfect mouse for me. But then ..broken cable. Next time, same problem. I wanted to buy Copperhead, some mates played on them, but after 3 months ..again. Now i have dilemma which mouse to buy, because i am afraid of broken cable. Pls do something with the cable structure in Habu. This is black spot on otherwise good mice.
September 19th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
September 20th, 2006 at 12:49 am
but what about skipping? negative acceleration will be eliminated by the use of 16 bit data path? is the laser senzor working correctly?
September 21st, 2006 at 5:35 am
1. please don’t make the buttons on habu as big as on copperhead, because i won’t be able to put my fingers on it in a comfortable way.
2. please don’t make the button1-button2 angl that big as on intelli 3, it seems like must be lifted a little bit higher. the only annoying thing about intelli 3 (by shape i mean) is that it’s not a little bit taller on the righ side.
3. a little bit larger (from left to right)would be perfect.
4. make it easy to lift. intelli 3 is easy to lift on the left side, but th shape of the right side doesn’t allow this. on copperhead is easy to lift, but this makes the use of the thumb buttons verry tilty. (side rails could have been enaugh to make easy lifting, but with the curved bottom, CH becomes unstable and hard to use thumb buttons).
5. the sensor on CH is almost a little to high. (you have to lift alot to make it don’t track)
it might be a little too late for this, but i;m sure a part of what i said is already done.
are there any other pictures with MS Habu?
what about interchangeable buttons? (can you tell us a little bit more?)
September 21st, 2006 at 4:23 pm
September 22nd, 2006 at 7:34 am
thak you for answering.. but what about the senzor. …
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:31 am
Great!!! i would like more picture of the habu especialy the underside of it. However, i have not heard anything about skipping with fast movement is this something that will be fixed the up coming Habu? Can you please comment on that issue or at lease compare it with the copperhead–> will it skip less then the copperhead?
Thank you
Philip
September 25th, 2006 at 9:30 am
So MS Habu is coming out in October has the exact release date been published yet? Will it be early October or Late October?
Thank you
Philip
September 25th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
September 25th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for the response.
Philip
September 27th, 2006 at 11:05 am
Hello again
Just wondering is Razer or Microsoft going to have a booth at the Digital Life tournament in NY city? if yes will they display the MS Habu there?
Thank you
Philip
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:53 pm
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:24 am
Hi Razerguy
Thanks for the info.
Philip
October 4th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Will the Habu have different color options like the Copperheads, or just the blue shown in the picture?
October 8th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
The Copperhead has a bad tracking (skips), so will the Habu. I’ll bet you!
Thanks god there’ll the new Explorer 3.0.
Still I hope I’m wrong!
October 9th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
October 12th, 2006 at 12:22 am
finallyyyyyyy an answer !!
i knew it will be tracking well
October 15th, 2006 at 7:46 am
I sincerely hope you are testing the mouse rigorously on ALL surfaces, such as icemat, steelpad, etc. The copperhead had large problem in the tracking area, would be very disapointed to find that yet another $80 purcase was completely useless.
Regardless, on paper this looks awesome. Microsoft quality and high dpi. I have but one other request, try to keep the drivers slimmed down
October 17th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
Well, nice to hear. I will wait for a reputable gaming site to review the habu before i get it. I loved the copperhead except for the poor tracking and skipping at low sensitivity. If there is no reports of tracking problems I will be getting a microsoft habu’s and if my personel testing shows no skipping at windowxp sensitivity of 5(5 bars) and q4 sensitivity of 3.5, mouse dpi of 2000, and mouse sensitivity(from razer software) of 2.5 then ladies and gent i will walk/drive/take the subway to the same store i got it and purchase another one. Razer…dont make me walk/drive/take the subway to the same store and walking out with no mice. Ok no more drama.
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:47 am
There isn’t much of October left. When will these start appearing on shelves and from online retailers? I’m also surprised more reviewers haven’t gotten their hands on these prior to the release date, whatever that turns out to be.
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:38 am
I could not find the info anywhere : what are the size and weight of the Habu?
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:36 pm
I’ve pre-ordered mine (yay!) but there isn’t any news of a release date, can’t wait for it though, my IE 3.0 is 4 years old now, i need the updated tech especially as i just upgraded my PC from 7 years (gasp)
any sign of a proper date?
October 24th, 2006 at 3:09 am
At the moment i’m using the MIE 2.0a, also have a MIE 3.0, mx1000 and
exchange with my friend for g7. Anyways everybody has their own preferences for mice
G7. Also got the MX revolution for a week …..
and many are also fans of a certain company, but i’ll tell my opinion.
I’m a low sens gamer and played since 1993(in 1993-1996 the mouse wasn’t a big issue) and used all sorts of mouses. I prefer a heavier mouse, with a descent control on the right side of mouse….. revolution and mx1000 lack the right side stoppage control because u but your big finger too deep and that weakens your control over your little fingers….
also on G7 i don’t like left side…. MIE 2.0a has great ergonomics, also MIE 3.0 with minor glitches ….( IE 3.0 ergo with razer lazer should be great). MX1000 and MX revolutions are certainly the best casual user mice out there…..g7 ergo has a little bit of improvement to make.
Conclusion:
For a low sensitivity gamer , it’s the best choice so far , long hail for microsoft razer habu.For high sens players out there copperhead and diamondback should do the trick.
October 26th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
October 29th, 2006 at 4:04 am
hi
my only question is how much weight the new habu mouse?
October 30th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Hello,
The Habu seems to be a better version of the Intelli 3.0.
But I only have one question: Why does the Intelli 3.0 have an optical sensor capable of 9000 fps, and a Habu “only” has a sensor capable of 7080 fps?
The specs of the Habu are overall better, so I dont understand this.
Sorry for my bad english, I hope you can help me Razerguy
October 30th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Someone please define the:
“was designed from the ground up for low sensitivity, fast hand movement players”
I don’t have a clue how low is this low… and how fast is the fast?
October 30th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
When we talk about low sensitivity we’re referring to somewhere between .05 to 3.0 on a scale of 10.
The weight is as I mentioned before 135 grams.
October 31st, 2006 at 3:43 am
This mouse looks just perfect, just what I am after. My only problem is that I can not find one clear picture which shows the positioning of the buttons on the side. I have a Razer Copperhead and a MS Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 atm. The problem with the Razer is that if you freak out in the heat of battle you end up pressing buttons 4 & 5 because there is no space for your thumb to lay underneath. The problem with the MS 3.0 is that after using the Razer it becomes obvious that it is slower and less accurate. Please can we have a decent picture of the side?
October 31st, 2006 at 2:09 pm
maybe a stupid question, but i heard 2000 dpi, is to much for just a 19 inch tft or just for gaming
November 1st, 2006 at 4:42 pm
On that note, what dpi is required for optimal performance at a resolution of 1024×768 vs 1152×864 vs 1280×1024?
And I am dying to read a review on the Habu! 2 November, hurry up and come already!
November 2nd, 2006 at 8:06 am
Razerguy yes, but what do you mean by low sens?
For example a huge mousepad (like 50cm x 50cm) for one 360 turn in an fps game? Or faster than that?
November 2nd, 2006 at 8:10 am
And if the laser sensor has been tweaked, why is that it’s not good for faster sensitivity? I mean, tweaking means adding things to the original, doesn’t it?
I’m not sure if I am a low sens or high sens player. Probably somewhere in the middle.
I personally don’t like the shape of the Copperhead; on the other hand I really like the look / shape of the Habu, I think it would fit me. This is why I’ thinking about getting a Habu, but I would feel busted if it would make errors at some faster moves…
November 2nd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
When we talk about low sensitivity its related to in-game sensitivity at settings below 3.0. h4xor’s example of of an in-game move certainly qualifies as a low sensitivity example.
When we say that the sensor was tweaked to provide better tracking at low sensitivity we are not saying that the Habu will not perform for mid or high sens users. Razer has never made a mouse that didn’t support all types and style of play. Where we have fallen short is with players who swipe very fast hand movement at very low sens settings. The Habu is a set in the direction of satisfying those players needs.
Shape is separate issue … we talk a lot in our offices about “the right mouse for the right hand”. This is not just and empty slogan. We are committed to providing shapes and technology for all types of grips, size of hands, playing styles and game genres.
More on this in some of my future blogs.
November 2nd, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Nov 2, and no Habu in any of the stores .. I give up i think im just going to get the razer one.
November 2nd, 2006 at 2:38 pm
November 2nd, 2006 at 2:57 pm
wow thats bad how hard is to give us a date .. when this thing is going to come out.
November 2nd, 2006 at 6:57 pm
ok thx razerguy. ;]
November 3rd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Ah I could not wait any longer so I went down to Bestbuy I got my self a Copperhead .. Love it.
November 3rd, 2006 at 11:56 pm
November 4th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Copperhead is awesome.
November 5th, 2006 at 9:22 am
oh no
I’ve been waiting for this mouse so long and now every day looks like a year… So any news about the launch date for europe? :/
November 5th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
as I searched about testing around the internet there is only one way you can get us to forgive you. put diamondback sensor in habu…
one more dream destroyed….
November 6th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I’m a low sens gamer myself (cs sens: 2.6, windows sens: 6/11 (180 degrees = 19cm)), and I’m using a qpad. I’ve been using mx510 and 518 for two years and the optical sensor on those mice +the diamondback are the best a gamer can get imo. Theese laser mice really have not impressed me. It may work on high sens players (high dpi), but low sens players require much more speed. And I’ve heard these laser mice skip at speeds like that (I move my mx518 up to 25-30cm a sekond with very presice movement). I love the shape (optical position and buttons) of ms 3.0, but the optical sensor has got alot of negative accel, so I cant move around as fast as I want to. The shape of logitechs mx series are really not that great.
November 6th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
with that sensitivity believe me that it won’t skip not even copperhead, only in about 1 time per day when you have to do a verry fast movement.
i am making it skip about every time i make a too fast movement, when someone appears somewhere i wasn’t expecting, and that’s more then 45 degrees to the left or to the right.
and i’m having a sensitivity about 39 cm for 180 degrees.
a little more then the length of a steelpad 5L. go and buy yourself habu or copperhead.
i’m sad …
November 7th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Got my Habu (UK) and have a major problem
The razer config problem won’t pickup the mouse even after using loads of ports, not putting it in before setup and dozens of restarts.
XP installs it’s own HCI drivers to make it work, is this a problem?
I cant even install te firmware from your site and razer thinks the habu isn’t connected…
November 8th, 2006 at 6:32 am
ehm… so noone knows any release dates for europe? :-\
November 8th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
okay. if anyone reads here. I went where I should have gone right away, tho the real hardcore pcgamer community site esr: http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1243679&page=1
November 9th, 2006 at 7:57 am
bought habu, sadly it only has 125hz as polling rate and it doesnt run any higher, not even if selected from its software
microsoft and razer referred me to eacother ;o I should have got the g3 as i was suggested
November 9th, 2006 at 11:24 am
Still no sign of these being available anywhere on the “official US launch date”.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
i’ve been putting off buying a new mouse till this thing came out but today is the 9th and i went to best buy…didn’t see anything are these ever going to come out ? …btw i checked ms website like you said razerguy and it says you can buy them at pcmall….but when you go there they don’t have them out yet….lots of questions pz
November 9th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
I remember getting a bad impression of laser technology when I first tried the Copperhead which was bundled with issues at the time. But when I got the new firmware I found these issues disappeared and the tracking was brilliant, but eventually I decided to go back to the IE 3.0 for comfort
So when these issues with the Habu have been sorted with a firmware upgrade, hopefully we’ll see the negative comments about the Habu and doubts about laser technology for mice in general turning into praise.
November 9th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Apparently there are issues at the factory again. The ship date has been pushed back to 11/13.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:28 am
Well the 9th has come and gone and still no Habu
I’m still gonna wait for one, but it does seems pretty bad from a customer stand point that we can’t get a solid release date anywhere… especially when early press releases said October. Oh well.
November 10th, 2006 at 4:13 am
Razerguy give us an answer please. We would like you to respond to these problems mentioned here: http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1243679
Thanks.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
I’m just glad to see Microsoft is finally supporting PC gaming again to some degree. Since they came out with the xbox, they discontinued all PC gaming suport and because of that I’ve been boycotting anything to do with the Xbox. I hate the fact that there is still no Sidewinder software for my Sidewinder Force feedback joystick or any MS Pc gaming device. Hell they even droped the “GameVoice” add on and converted it to xboxlive. When it comes to mice, Microsoft had the technology when they released the IE3.0 mouse how many years ago??? and it tracks just as good today as it did back then, and back then it couldn’t even be touched. Only the Boomslang came close (I’ve had both the 1000 & 2000 DPI models). Now with the prospect Of the technology that MS has inside the IE mouse being combined with Razers technology, That going to lead to one VERY NICE Mouse!!
I too Would also lilke to see Razer release a Retro Boomslang style mouse that is a lasr mouse also. I would buy it in a flash as Thats my all time favorite!!! with the gripable side buttons…..my pinky finger has gotten lazy these days…lol
Mouse call! (mice you have owned and loved)
Boomslang 1000
Boomslang 2000
IE 3.0
Razer Diamondback (Plasma & Green versions)
Razer Coperhead
Logitech G7
(and many more note worth mentioning)
November 10th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Please go to Microsoft’s page http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/gaming/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=092&active_tab=comparePrices and check for retailers near you. We at Razer do not have any information regarding delivery by county or delays in manufacturing, if any.
Regarding some reports on tracking on cloth surfaces, we have seen them and read your emails. We are currently reevaluating and replicating these reported issues and running all necessary testing in the hopes that we will have a posted answer/recommendation or firmware fix by the middle of next week. ETA November 16 or before if possible.
November 10th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
Magnetic Says:
The razer config problem won’t pickup the mouse even after using loads of ports…
Same here
Any progess on your side?
November 11th, 2006 at 5:27 am
Ok, somehow I managed to finally get XP to use the proper drivers (which are now v2.0 and the firmware is also 2.0, btw). Unfortunately I can’t say why they didn’t take the first (first half-dozen) time and I can’t even figure out why it worked on the last try except that I ended up udating the mouse’s fw from (1.0 to 2.0) on a 2000-based PC and then updated the drivers on the XP rig to 2.0
———————
Moving on, I love the shape of the Habu - it certainly is quite close to the IM 3.0, only “ever-so-slightly” different. More appareant is the increased weight, may 10% heavier (I have no scientific or kitchen scale, so that’s just my “feeling”).
More concerning is the fact that the buttons are a bit stiffer than “my” 3.0 (I say “my” 3.0 ’cause it’s from 11/2001 and it’s seen a lot of action since then
Particularly the middle/wheel button which is even stiffer than the one from my new MS Laser 6000 (which I picked up for €23 otherwise I wouldn’t have picked it up at all…). I use the middle button a lot in my non-standard FPS keys&mouse configuration and I don’t know if my index finger will survive more than a few hours of fraggin’
Time will tell (just picked up the mouse yesterday so that I have no war stories to tell thus far) if the buttons will ease up a bit!
While I’m thrilled with the DPI range buttons, I’m still very much lost with the other settings (my first Razer…) and I hope I will manage to figure out everything sooner than later
Last but not least, the interchangable side-buttons is not at all a bad idea - I’m sort of on the edge (mid-large hands) and haven’t decided which is best for me, but I can certainly say that the option will be very helpful for many!
November 11th, 2006 at 6:04 am
P.S. One minor gripe - these so-called “glowpipes” are no where near uniformly lit. I don’t know if this is standard, but I can’t say that I like it all to much (maybe someone can confirm if this is the standard or if I have a “imperfect” unit…).
A nice feature (thx, Razer!) is that you can turn off the glowpipe as well as the scroll wheel - individually! Of course the mouse goes well with my Thermaltake Armor case which comes stock with 120mm blue-LED fans and matching Harcano-13 fan controller
November 12th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
-skipping-
I thought it was just me. I guess it happens to everyone witht he co-pperhead. I purchased the mantis speen mat and when i turn i have to move my arm 3 times to turn 90 degrees.
It skipps like hell. Razer guy admits it by betting his wow gold that the microsoft one wont.
I want my money back.
November 13th, 2006 at 9:55 am
13th of novemver and still no habu… will it ever reach the stores? at least before christmas?
November 14th, 2006 at 3:03 am
Razerguy,
Please understand that I write this as a consumer first, and a gamer second. I love your product ideas as a gamer, but as a consumer am conflicted with the product delays and communication issues at hand.
While Razer may not feel they have any responsibility to the mfg and distribution arm, the question is, “why do you not know anything about mfg or general release dates?”. I know that when my company enters into a parternship with another company, we contractually guarantee each others certain levels of information access, hard deliverables, and most importantly, recourse paths. These ‘forwhateverreason’ delays cause a great deal of frustration to your loyal and potential consumer base and your hands off approach to these Razer Product issues makes Razer look dissinterested in the customer, or at minimum, totally disconnected from a product that you claim as one of your own. What happens when I purchase my mouse and possibly run in to additional isses? What assurances do I have that your level of support will be anything greater that what we are currently being subjected to?
This document was not spell checked, sorry for any errors that impact the focus of the document.
Thanks,
riboflavin
November 15th, 2006 at 1:34 am
please understand that the release date is the date for the sites that are on microsoft site. and any delay would require razer guy to give microsoft a headache calling day by day and asking where the mouses are at the moment.
the most important thing at the moment is to let razerguy do what he promissed, and that is testing mouse for skipping at high speeds. without this, no matter when is the release date.
November 15th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
The release date has, once again, been pushed back. Latest estimates from MS are 11/20/06.
November 16th, 2006 at 2:58 am
As Jeremiah Johnson/riboflavin said:
It is important and would be appreciated for someone at Razer to try to keep the consumers informed as best as possible. If not Razerguy himself, then someone, anyone!
It goes without saying that M$ are doing an appalling job of communicating manufacturing difficulties and resultant delays to the consumer, which is shocking in this day and age! By not even letting us know that there are problems, they leave us to sit in the dark and twiddle our thumbs. It’s a total lack of respect… we could be doing better things with our time than checking this blog everyday and checking the M$ link to see if there is any official M$ news…
M$, you suck! Keep up the great job on your public relations.
November 16th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
I get “No mouse detected” in the Razer Habu config vindow after innstalling the software, and i cant uppgrade the firmware eigther!
Have tried too install the software before i connect the mouse also…
November 17th, 2006 at 11:01 am
You have to deinstall the driver you are using befor installing the Habu one,
it worked for me…
After deinstalling the old mouse, you have to use only the keyboard to select and launch the Habu driver executable.
November 17th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
Does the Habu support application specific profiles like other Microsoft mice?
November 18th, 2006 at 3:19 am
Ok I have just bought a Habu, I am experiencing the same issue as Gunnar, I get “No mouse detected” when launching the configurator! Using driver version 2.0, firmware says n/a. The Habu mouse is working however, I just cannot update the firmware as the firmware update program reports that it has failed.
Yes this is with pressing the button below and going into flash mode.
November 18th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
Had too use the drivers for CopperHead, then i could install a firmware (it seemed like there was no firmware innstalled) Then i could install Habu`s firmware, and everything worked fine
November 18th, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Hi.
*remembers the gliding of a IE 3.0 on a icemat*
Everyone keeps saying that the copperhead skips….and yes it did on a PLASTIC PAD! I found the DKT EVERGLIDE pad feels really nice with copperhead…. Still the copperhead is not perfect though it just doesnt glide
November 19th, 2006 at 7:40 am
Jeremiah Johnson, you’re on crack. Razerguy has never appeared to be is disinterested (which, you spelled incorrectly). Razer’s partnership appears to be limited and as Cerba Dan pointed out, the major issue at hand is identifying any bugs and possibly having them fixed via software. Microsoft is handling distribution and if it can’t manage to control its release date(s), how is Razerguy supposed to update us?
November 19th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Holy shit, whats this! i unplugged the mouse, and when i conected it`s the same problem ;-( “No mouse detected”
November 19th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Ok figured out why it was not being detected…I used the latest drivers from the site (2.0), used the one from the supplied cd (1.0) and it works…..
November 20th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Read all the way through first. This is incredibly stupid for a mouse install, but you MUST get all of it working. This takes about 12 reboots.
Do NOT install the provided CDROM software. Do NOT plug your mouse in.
Use your current mouse to download the updates from Razer.
Get the updates all set up (extracted to a folder, etc.)
Uninstall your current mouse from hardware devices.
Reboot.
Install Razer software. During installation, you should be required to accept non-M$ drivers. If you’re lucky, you won’t blue-screen.
Reboot.
Choose a USB port that you want the Razer mouse to always be plugged into; according to Razer docs, it will lose the driver if you plug it back and forth from other ports. Then, plug in the Razer mouse. It may *say* Habu found, but it probably isn’t. Open the hardware screen, and find your mouse in the list. If the drivers are there, then skip down below to #14. Otherwise, uninstall it.
Scan for changes; it will re-install. It still probably won’t have the right driver.
Choose the “Update Driver”. Don’t allow it to search; select the driver. It will want you to put in the CD; don’t. Instead, go to
C:\Program Files\Razer\Habu\Driver and choose habu.sys.
You will know things are correct when you are forced to allow an unsigned driver to install. If you’re lucky, it won’t blue screen.
Reboot.
Now install the Firmware update found in the extracted folder. It will install a “Freescale” driver which you can just let it search for itself and find. It should complete OK. You will be prompted at the end to unplug and replug your mouse - make sure you use the same USB Port.
Reboot.
Now in the Habu configuration software it should be 2.0 software and 2.0 firmware. If it’s not, then good luck.
Reminder that changing the Polling Rate requires a reboot; DPI switching does not. I have mine set on 1000 (scans once per millisecond).
November 20th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
So how long before Razer puts out software for the Habu that detects its own mouse and updates drivers/firmware properly without having to spend as much time and more reboots than it takes to put a system together? I tried the above suggestions but still no good, Configurator still says driver 2.0 firmware n/a and wont recognize the mouse. Of note however is the last time I tried it the hard way (that is, using the keyboard to navigate everything~~pain~~)the standard firmware failure to update error was instead replaced with a long pause prior to getting it, almost as if something was trying to work perhaps.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:08 am
I agree that the driver install was a difficult process & considering it’s a Microsoft product being installed on a Microsoft OS… .
Now that I’ve had a chance to play around with the mouse, I’m please to say that it will indeed be a good replacement for my aging IM3.0! Double-clicking (in Win environment) is still a bit “stiff” but I can feel some progress as it continues to go through the initial break-in process.
I’ve had absolutely no problems in terms of skipping etc. however I’ve only used it on a flexible plastic-vinyl-covered mat which has a fine-grainy texture. Other than the glow-pipe issue, I sometimes end up “sliding up” onto the left-side buttons by accident, something that never happened with the IM3.0 so if you plan on actually assigning actions to those, be aware that their somewhat lower placement may become an issue… . This only applies to gaming because during normal (Windows) usage, there is no unintentional sliding etc (as no one’s shooting at you
November 21st, 2006 at 9:40 am
Well, I guess the image in this review answers my glow-pipe question:
http://www.metku.net/index.html?path=reviews/habu/index_eng5
You will see that the section at the bottom is not uniformly lit - it’s not a show-stopper, but would have been nicer had they managed to get it to “glow” all the way around :p
November 21st, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Hi Razer
Just wondering if they are any other reviews out there for the MS Habu? The Metku review is nice but does not talk about one specific thing. How the Habu react with very low sensitivity and fast movement. In short, is skipping notice witth these settings. Some guy at the esreality forum (not formal review) said the Habu skips, well i am still waitting for a reputable review. Well, any out there yet?
Philip
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:54 pm
1) Open Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager
2) Under “Human Interface Devices” if the mouse is not installed properly you will probably see two entries saying “USB Human Interface Device”…
3) If you right-click on one of these and look at Properties it should say next to location “Location 0 (Habu Mouse)” (the 0 might be a different number)
4) While still in Properties click on the Driver tab, then “Update Driver”
5) Check “No, not this time” on first screen asking about using Windows Update, then click “Next”
6) Check “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)”, then Next
7) Check “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install”, then Next
You should see two available compatible devices - “USB Human Interface Device” and “Habu Mouse” (If “Habu Mouse” does not appear click on “Have Disk” and navigate to C:\Program Files\Razer\Habu\Driver and select habu.inf)
9) Select “Habu Mouse” and the drivers should then update properly
10) Reboot, and Razer Habu config and the firmware updater should now work
follow these instructions at your own risk, i did, and during driver instal it crashed my system (twice) and cause the mouse to not work at all, couldnt log into windows until i dug an old mouse out and plugged it in.
razer had better get on the ball and make the driver/firmware install work like it is supposed to as opposed to having the community try and hack their way around it, and i mean yesterday. i got this habu to replace my copperhead, which had become a pain to double click with, which evidently i have an rma on, but they refuse to cross-ship, so in order to have my copperhead replaced, ill have to do without both of them !?!?!?!?!?!? never has a mouse been such a problem. ever.
November 23rd, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Microsoft and Razer seem to have really blundered with this product.
When I read the instructions (with pictures) it said plug in the mouse, then install the software.
On attempting to follow this - there was a sticky label over the USB plug saying ‘Install the software first’ - ie do it the opposite way described (with pictures) in the manual.
I sat there for a bit and thought to myself ‘One of these supplied instructions is wrong’.
I then noticed a piece of paper that had been inserted telling me it was very important to install the latest Habu software and firmware at step 2 in the manual.
So, this piece of paper is now supporting the manual. Insert the mouse first then on step 2 (install the software), instead of installing the software from the CD, you actually install the software from Razer’s website as per the little paper insert.
So, it is 2 vs 1 to inserting the mouse and then installing the software.
I download the update from Razer’s site and find it is a folder with 2 sub folders (one called ‘Firmware’, the other called ‘Software’) but no accompanying ‘readme file’. I sit there again think ‘Mmm, what do I do here? - do I install the Firmware or the Software first?’ Both folders have their own exe. files.
Now, there is a problem here - updating firmware wrongly can damage a product. This is even mentioned on Razer’s site (for a similar product): http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&…article
I contacted Razer’s support centre and pointed out that their software download has no instructions for use. I pointed out that a user could be confused as to whether to install the software first or the firmware first.
Razer do not currently know - they have asked me to contact Microsoft. I cannot raise a email enquiry with Microsoft as the product is not in their recognised list - I cannot simply just choose another product as Microsoft’s site spots this when I enter the products ID number. The product is not in Microsofts product list: http://support.microsoft.com/select/default.aspx?target=assistance&ln=en-gb&c1=502&
November 28th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Open Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager
Under “Human Interface Devices” if the mouse is not installed properly you will probably see two entries saying “USB Human Interface Device”…
If you right-click on one of these and look at Properties it should say next to location “Location 0 (Habu Mouse)” (the 0 might be a different number)
While still in Properties click on the Driver tab, then “Update Driver”
Check “No, not this time” on first screen asking about using Windows Update, then click “Next”
Check “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)”, then Next
Check “Don’t search, I will choose the driver to install”, then Next
“”You should see two available compatible devices - “USB Human Interface Device” and “Habu Mouse”
(If “Habu Mouse” does not appear click on “Have Disk” and navigate to
C:\Program Files\Razer\Habu\Driver and select habu.inf)”"
Should work As written!!!
BUT WHAT THE HELL…. naver had to work so much for driver’s mouse!!!
KEEP WORKING ABOUT THIS … if you want to sell…
I THINK
THANK YOU FOR INFO… without them…. = MAD
November 28th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
You reference “Flick” and “Glide,” play styles; what is the difference?
November 29th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
i have the habu and the polling rate doesnt seem to change? even after rebooting the pc it stays 125hz.. (also i had some troubles with the mouse not being detected nothing to hard to fix)
November 29th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Hi again!
Mark you have to install first the Software and then the firmware (at least that way it worked for me).
Now back to the topic:
I played with the Habu some days now (TrueCombat) and what I can say, is that it really improves my aiming. I don’t know if it is because of the shape or the higher weight (compared to the Copperhead) but I feel that my Aiming is more precise now.
What is really annoying is the 125Hz bug. I know that Razer is trying to make the driver/firmware v3.0 a perfect and complete one. But v2.0 was released already a month ago… that’s quite a long time if you take a look every day, every few hours at the razer support page to see v3 of the firmware.
As I said I think that Razer tries to release a final firmware but people are waiting… and they get no response. I bought the Copperhead at the beginning and of course the bugs were annoying… but somehow it was a pleasure to see nearly every day a new firmware making your Copperhead better step for step. Of course this was an era in history where the first mouse in the world got a firmware update nearly every day ;)… but somehow… you know, it made the users don’t feel so alone. There was a lot of discussion when a new firmware was released and also it gave the users a feedback from Razer, so everybody knew that they were working hard.
Now the Habu again is buggy but the only thing we know is, that Razer said they are working on a bugfix. That’s ok… but we got no feedback until now. We don’t even know if it takes just hours or days for the release or another month. Maybe the firmware/driver is already ready but Razer is testing it from ground up. But we do not know this… and this is a bit dissapointing, because we have to wait - but we never now how long. Sometimes it makes me happy if I think that Razer will release a firmware soon. Then I take again a look on their support site and see no updated firmware. Then I think: What if it takes another month or even longer? You can think of how this makes me feel…
My wish would be that Razer releases beta-firmwares again, which maybe still have some issues. I think that Razer already have fixed it so that it works with 1000Hz but maybe some other things are not tested properly and so on. So it would be nice if we could have a firmware fixing some issues (the most important would be the polling rate for me, as the mouse works great besides that, after playing around with installing the driver properly).
Also Razer would get a feedback from users about the (beta) firmware. But if Razer tests it and releases a “final” firmware there still could be some bugs because there are a lot of users… and this would be _really_ dissapointing. In fact today there are more than 3000 downloads for the German and English driver, so there are quite a lot of people who already bought the driver.
Best wishes for future products!
Katharsis
November 29th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
I meant: bought the mouse not the driver
November 29th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Copperhead FTW i’ve hadnled both at e3
December 1st, 2006 at 8:02 pm
I am going to second Katharsis on the polling rate bug
Fix soon ? Please?
December 4th, 2006 at 10:42 am
One word ‘DEATHADDER”. Way to go Razer.
December 4th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Hello,
I’ve recently purchased Habu, and want to mention that the few hours spent upgrading the firmware/driver stuff were extremely frustrating.
Having finally updated both to version 2.0, I am still having tracking problems. Here’s my set up: I play UT2004, set DPI to 2000, polling rate to 1000, and the xy-sens to 1.5 and 2 respectively (since the y-axis sens was somehow too low by default). My in game mouse sens is about 2.1, allowing for a 360 degree turn in about 7 inches of horizontal slide. It works fairly well most of the time, but often enough, in the middle of game play the mouse simply stalls out, unable to track and leaving me a lame duck out there. I’m using the Everglide Titan pad, and I must also add that I never had any such trouble with my G5 mouse. Is there a solution to this? Should I increase my mouse driver sens? I haven’t tested the polling rate, but I hear it’s really 125 tops. Is that true, and when will that be fixed?
December 5th, 2006 at 4:57 am
Yes polling rate only works at 125Hz. You can test it with some different programs (like mouse rate checker).
I use my Habu on the Razer Mantis Speed (which should be the same as your Everglide Titan I think) and get absolutely no skipping, as you describe it. On this pad I also get no negative accel, so basically it’s tracking really good on the Mantis Speed.
Maybe you should clean the sensor with a qtip from time to time as the laser sensor is so sensitive that it tracks dust. 2000dpi means 2000 dots per inch. If you want to calculate one of this dots: 1/2000. This results to 0.0005 inch. That means that it is able to detect such small stuff… as dust.
Anyway if it is still tracking worse after cleaning, bring it back to the shop you bought it at.
December 6th, 2006 at 11:08 am
Same here…I purchased and it doesn’t poll 1000hz instead it’s locked at 125. I must note…the mouse did install fine using the installation CD that’s included and DID poll 1000hz for me but… I updated to 2.0 driver/firmware because i was having an ingame issue with the scrollwheel click (FEAR). Aside from this everything seemed fine for me using 1.0
December 6th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
December 7th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
OK thank you Robert.
Now after a month of use AND the release of firmware v2.01 I can say: The Habu IS awesome. Maybe the sensor of the Deathadder will be better, but the shape, the feeling and everything is great now on the Habu (expect the thicker cable, which is kind of stiff… but of course should be more resistable than the Copperhead one).
!
You know: It was a good mouse also with 125Hz. But you could also feel that the mouse is not reacting that fast (when you are used to CH and DB…). After upgrading the driver/firmware to 2.01 games felt a lot smoother and the mouse was not lagging anymore (of course 8ms are noticeable). In this month with just 125Hz polling rate I died a lot in games even if I was able to see the enemy before he shot me. Now after aiming at the enemy I often got shot in a split second AFTER I was clicking left mouse button… but of course: These 8ms made the enemy faster, so my shots were not recognized in time by the game.
So I don’t want to say now that the polling rate transformed me from a “noob” into a “pg”, you know… but it saved my life in many situations, while I was playing a lot today since the new firmware got out.
A lot of skill is needed in games, but sometimes you also need a bit of luck. If two opponents see each other at the same time, they need a good aim. If these players have both almost the same aiming skill you can expect that they are pointing at the enemy at the same time. Now they just need to shoot… and of course both will try to shoot as fast as they can. And if again they shoot at the same time it depends on their hardware ;). And 8ms make a big difference here (of course there are a lot more influences here).
Situations like these happen quite a lot. For mastering them… I think you know whom to tribute
Thanks.
December 8th, 2006 at 11:22 am
December 8th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
follwed instructions for the 2.01 driver/firmware and lo and behold………..wait for it………Still failure to update, and config still fails to recognize the mouse. Oh boy, how much longer to wait for 2.02 to do the same thing all over again?
December 11th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
December 12th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
When do you release firmware updates which do not need Microsoft operating systems?
For example, Intel provides (for their motherboards) .iso images which can be booted without any particular OS.
Will the specs be open at some time in future so I can get 2000 DPI and 1000 Hz without buying Microsoft operating systems (after coding support for Habu for my operating system)?
Is the Habu sampling rate 125 Hz if you don’t configure anything or install the Microsoft OS drivers shipped on CD?
From looking at /proc/interrupts, only around 100 (128?) interrupts per seconds are generated when moving the mouse.
December 13th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
In fact the firmware does not depend on the used OS. It is just a file which gets flashed on the mouse itself. But of course therefore a driver is needed. So you can take a Windows system, install the Habu driver and upgrade the firmware to version 2.01. Then the habu works with 1000Hz (and no driver is needed anymore). This means you can use it on a Linux system with the full functionality with profiles and programmed buttons, but of course without the driver you cannot configure them.
But therefore you can take the opensource (inofficial) razertool which exists for Linux right now. With the razertool you can configure your mouse but as far as I know you can also flash the firmware.
http://razertool.sourceforge.net/
Zinx, the developer of razertool also released the source code of his Copperhead/Habu firmware. Right now it basically works but it lacks some features (like profiles), so I would use the firmware from Razer right now (it works as it should now, at least for me).
Next (if you use Linux) you have to set the polling rate of the usb-mouse. The default is 8ms which means 125Hz, but it is easy to set it to the value you like. 2ms would be 500Hz and 1ms is 1000Hz.
Just take a look at a thread I have posted in the razerblueprints forum:
http://razerblueprints.net/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=96&topic=5554.0
December 14th, 2006 at 10:27 am
I know firmware does not depend on OS.
B
After firmware update I was able to use razertool to change DPI and HZ of my Habu.
Thanks.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Accidentally, I pressed tab and comment was submitted.
I was going to say:
But believe me, I hadn’t found razertool, and I did search for such a tool.
Razertool needed some hacking because it did not support Habu out-of-the-box, but that took only a minute.
December 14th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
what hacks did you have to do to enable habu compatibility?
December 15th, 2006 at 10:18 am
Looks like razertool is not able to change polling rate,
whatever I do, it’s 500 Hz.
Should the same code work for Copperhead and Habu?
I know razertool is not supported by Razer, but if people get 1000 Hz in Windows,
I can probably blame razertool and/or Linux.
$ cat /sys/class/input/event1/device/ep_81/interval
1ms
$
December 15th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
If you set the polling rate in the razertool or the original razer driver, then the driver/razertool transmits it to the firmware inside of the mouse. There it is getting saved (in your profile) and then the mouse knows “aha… I have been set to a polling rate of 1000Hz, so I need to send data to the computer every 1 ms”. Now if your Operating System accepts only 125Hz polling rate then it wants data from the mouse only every 8ms. It just refuses the other data or just does not take it.
But if you use the instructions for Linux which I told you above you can tell the OS what the Polling Rate is, and when it should take data from the mouse.
December 15th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
>what hacks did you have to do to enable habu compatibility?
do “cat /proc/bus/usb/devices ” and find Habu from there.
I have
…
P: Vendor=1532 ProdID=0009 Rev=21.00
…
Then edit src/razertool.h and change 0×0101 to 0×0009.
Type “make” and hacked programs are ready.
Note that after firmware update ProdID seems to change.
December 15th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
hi,
I’ve just purchased habu and managed to update it to v2.01! wasn’t easy though…..
I wanted to follow the instructions on razersupport but I had some problems in the middle of the process, so I had to improvise.
I hope this helps everybody to avoid problems. here’s all the steps I’ve taken:
1. plugged the mouse
identified firmware as v2.01, changed polling to 1000Hz and all….
2. installed the box CD software
3. downloaded the v2.01 update
4. tried to install the firmware but it didn’t work. I kept getting the message: “the habu synapse firmware update has failed!”
5. unistalled the box CD software
6. reboot
7. installed the v2.01 software
8. reboot
9. mouse was dead (no lights) and software didn’t recognized it.
10. unplugged/replugged (rebooted?) the mouse and then software recognized it, but firmware was still 1.0
11. tried to update to v2.01 firmware and it worked!
12. but then software didn’t recognized it again :\
13. unistalled the software
14. reboot
15. installed software
16. reboot
17. software still didn’t recognized the mouse :\
18. unplugged/replugged (rebooted?) the mouse
19. software v2.01 finally recognized it!!
it was hard… but it feels really nice! fits nicely in the hand, tracking is great…
love it!
lesson (re)learned: if you have problems and it says microsoft… reboot it!
December 16th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Yeah, I have Linux (Fedora) and I didn’t have to reboot when I upgraded firmware to v2.01 =)
December 20th, 2006 at 1:32 am
Ok, i have read about 3 quarters down the page, yet to find the answer to my questions.
I want the facts about the habu not options.
1. DOES this mouse SKIP?.. Can someone explain if it does or doesn’t?
2. Will it install on windows without hassle?
3. Is it a good gaming mouse?
4. WILL it last?
Please answer those questions, being facts.
Thanks,
Jag
December 21st, 2006 at 4:05 pm
ok well..habu is a great mouse an equals to a new generation of IE 3.0…however i have a problem..i want to install its drivers to an XP OS without rebooting my pc..this is because , i play from an internet cafe which has DEEPFREEZE on its pcs…and everytime its rebooting the drivers get erased..any ideas on this?
December 23rd, 2006 at 8:13 pm
in answer to Jag!, i’ve had the habu for about 3 weeks, cos my old diamondback’s suffered the infamous usb cable fault :/
first impressions nice mouse, however i’m a low sensitivity player (180o using full width of my icemat 2nd edition) and on the black icemat it skipped at mildy quick moves. not good. i brought out me old ratzpad and it seems to work on it, tho i still think it has a tendency to lose it at really high velocities, which sortof messes with u when ur playing. just got an everglide titan mat which i read was ok with laser mice, and it’s just as bad as the icemat…pity cos i like the feel of it, but there u go.
it installed relatively easily onto windows, tho updating the driver and firmware was a pain.
overall i’m unhappy with the fact that this mouse was touted as a laser mouse for low sensitivity players, when quite clearly there’s still serious problems…
December 25th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Well, I haven’t had any problems updating my drivers or firmware, but 2.01 doesn’t make things any better for me. The razer software now reports “v3.6872″ fw and “v2.01″ fw randomly. The software doesn’t update the DPI sign when I use the DPI kotkeys, and the polling-rate-bug was NOT fixed. For me, 1.00 software and firmware worked way better than 2.01.
Are you working on a new set of drivers and fw, or do I have to use the unofficial “Copperhead fix”?
December 25th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
I’ve followed all of the instructions above in my attempts to get this mouse to work. I’ve never had any problems installing USB devices and I’m well aware of the fact that the drivers must be installed before the device is initially plugged in.
That said, I’ve had no success getting the drivers for this mouse to work on either my old machine or my new machine.
My new machine is a Intel Core2Duo E6600 with 4GB DDR2-800 on a eVGA nVidia 680i motherboard. I have 4×500GB SATA drives in RAID 0+1 and an eVGA nVidia 8800GTX graphics card (no SLI).
My old machine is a Shuttle XPC Athlon 64 3200+ with 1GB DDR-400 and an nVidia 7800GTS graphics card.
I’ve struggled for hours getting this mouse to work on either machine (no KVMs involved, btw) to no avail.
I guess I’m going to have to eat a restocking fee on this guy.
The QA on these drivers is pathetic.
December 26th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
PLUG IN THE MOUSE BEFORE INSTALLING DRIVERS!
Pheew, got it?
December 26th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
This sucks. I bought this mouse because of it’s on-board mem. capabilities and configurable polling. It says it has these features on the product box and on Razer’s site. So far, I’ve spent an hour and a half researching the firmware problems and I’m yet to find a straightforward answer. I still can’t get the 1000mhx polling or the firmware to update.
Does inaddequate product development constitute grounds for a cash refund?
I would stay away from this product until it’s been properly QAed.. Shame on you guys for trying to pull this out to fast.
December 27th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Hi,
I got this mouse for Xmas and I’ m glad with it altough drivers were hell to install.
I’ ve got one big problem: I got a Qpad and in game(enemy territory)Mouse seems to block when moving it very fast to turn(low sens player)——–>Razerguy says it doesnt skip(wich is hard to believe because almpost every mouse does).
Question:
Wich mousepads are compatible with the habu(not just say all razer)—>if possible start with best)
Thanks in advance
I’m happy user and i dont blame razer it’s just that habu is NOT good in combo with QPAD
December 28th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
Mine just arrived (preordered in October) and after reading all the poor online reviews I sent it back. Why go through all the trouble of trying to get it to sort of perform? My current beat mouse can do that already.
As Ryan mentioned, shame on Razer for being a party to the tried and true microsoft way - turn out a product that wasn’t ready.
December 28th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Regarding the install procedure for the Habu mouse, what worked for me was to plug in the mouse first, before installing the drivers/software. Once the mouse was plugged in, then I installed the software on the CD (version 1.0) that came with my mouse. Then I installed the firmware update, then installed the new 2.01 version of the software from the website. Everything worked fine when done in that order, for me at least.
Now if you installed the software first before plugging in the mouse, you must uninstall the Razor Config software AND the mouse drivers that got installed. Go to the ‘Device Manager’ (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware Tab -> Device Manager) and make sure you uninstall the ‘HID-compliant mouse’ under the ‘Mice and other pointing devices’ sub-tree. Also, uninstall the ‘Human interface device’ found under the ‘Human interface devices’ sub-tree. Uninstall the Razor config software using the ‘Add/Remove programs’ icon in the control panel as well. Also, make sure to unplug your Habu and then restart your computer. Then try what I did above. Mine worked after finally trying it that way after 3 days. Hope this helps.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Wow, the software installation for this mouse is total shit. Check out: http://www.ggl.com/news.php?NewsId=4300
I had the exact same problem this guy had. Spent 1.5 hours with MS support and FINALLY it works. But I can’t move it to any other USB spot. I’m afraid to even touch the driver and firmware now. The user experience of installation and getting this thing to work is an absolute embarassment to everyone involved in the development of this mouse.
January 1st, 2007 at 7:30 am
I bought and tested the razor habu mouse. It says on the box that it its “fast movements and low sens”, but no matter how i config the mouse, it can
NOT move fast - if i move it very fast, at actually moves in the opposite direction!
January 5th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
None of the steps above worked. I’ll try the copperhead drivers now. I’m using the 2.01 drivers. I can not get the razer software to detect the mouse. This is very challenging to get the mouse to work in anything but basic mode. The reason I bought the thing was because I want the high dpi and refresh rates but that’s exactly what I can’t get working.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:12 am
What a FREAKEN’ pain in the ass loading the drivers and firmware. I am in the same boat as these guys.
January 10th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Ok so i bought this mouse yesterday.
Looks cool and all with the lights and such. Problem is it’s about as usefull as my beaten up 4 year old mouse.
I’m speaking ofcourse about the damn software/firmware issues. what the hell! I regret i didn’t read about it here. Then i would just go and buy a regular 10$ mouse saving me around 50 of my very hard earned dollars. This problem should have been fixed before you even started selling it. Yeah i know it works fine without all fancy stuff but thats why i bought it in the first place….to have all fancy stuff and macros and what not! Fix it!
January 10th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
*POS Garbage software installation*
I’ve installed a lot of hardware in my life, ranging from high end server components to low end, low quality junk, and I have to say the Habu was the worst piece of hardware to install in my entire life. No amount of swearing and capital letters could detail my passionate hate for this devices installation procedure.
Myself and a friend bought one at the same time and we knew it was going to be fun when the tag on the mouse USB plug stated to install the drivers first, yet the manual stated to plug the mouse in first, and further yet, there was an insert stating to download the latest software and not use the installation CD.
After installing software, plugging in mouse, our mice were not detected by Razer software. So we tried manually installing the drivers. Then we tried uninstalling drivers and reinstalling drivers. Then we tried uninstalling drivers and installing older drivers. Then we tried again and again and again until we discovered a site where someone said it was impossible to install the latest software without *manually* updating one of the USB Composite devices, and making it update the driver off the INTERNET (!). The local drivers will never install… it must automatically get them online.
During the driver installation my computer did a hard reset (!!!). Not a BSOD, but a hard reset with no information in event log. This computer is rock solid Intel parts, and a fresh install of Windows… and then my friend who also bought this mouse called me up swearing about how his computer just automatically restarted. Ha ha, sucks to be a Habu owner.
After booting up my mouse was finally detected by Razer software and I was able to install the necessary firmware upgrade to bring my mouse to version 2.01. After installing the firmware my mouse no longer functioned… thinking I bricked it, I rebooted the computer a number of times before being instructed on a forum site that occasionally the mode must be changed with a button on the underside. Yay, my mouse works again and I can stop freaking out.
After that whole mess I discovered that mouse software was still not detecting my mouse version correctly. Despite flash completing, software still stated mouse was only firmware version 1.0. My friend, who somehow got ahead of me in the install procedure, called me up to tell me that I have to disable driver signing and manually update once again for it to take the newly flashed mouse drivers, and after rebooting my software should report the correct version. Which it did.
So after a good hour and a half of serious anger, frustration, disappointment, swearing, violence, and more (and I’m a relatively calm person), I now have a working Habu mouse. I think I like the mouse itself but it will never redeem what I had to go through.
This isn’t a sole experience - many people on many forums also have similar or worse experiences. Razer’s 1-888 number isn’t available to Canadians, Microsoft says to go to Razer for support and Razer says they don’t support the mouse. I’ve owned and resold many Microsoft mice in my life and they’ve all been pleasurable experiences so I’m going to assume the Razer aspect of this mouse is what caused my displeasure, especially since all the software has Razer all over it.
I will never, ever buy or suggest another Razer product for as long as I live and I probably won’t buy a Microsoft mouse again for a long while…
January 10th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
My copperhead died because of the cable wich was too thin and broke … so i had the usual disconnect/reconnect problem -> unplayable device.
I bought a habu last month and it already does the same !
(when i twist the cable just a bit, the mouse disconnects .. same effect when moving fast in games)
What the hell with these cables ?! why twist the cables out the factory just to have the mouse fit in its box ?! will Razer make an effort in the future (more resistent cables) ?
The Habu is the very best mouse i’ve tried … but also the most ephemeral
Another problem is that i still don’t have support for these two mice :
- don’t have any reply from Razer about my copperhead when asked for a RMA.
- don’t have any reply from Microsoft about my habu and it seems they just don’t offer support for this mouse.
January 15th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
What if Windows XP SP2 not reconize de Habu, dit anyone have a solution? I think I have installed de driver software (2.01) 15 times but notting works.
January 15th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Here is a blog post that shows how to get one of these up and running: http://blog.x-caiver.com/2007/01/installing-microsoft-razer-habu-mouse.html
Mac users, go ahead and follow the link to. I don’t have info on configuring the buttons under OS X, but this will get you far enough for now.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Regarding Habu, Linux and habu firmware 2.1:
I managed to get razertool (and razertool-gtk! which was a bit trickier) to work with the Habu:
1) I did what was described above in razertool.c
a) Now razertool works, BUT razertool -i gives a “broken pipe”, which means that the firmware version cannot be detected!
b) razertool-gtk does NOT work, because, once again, the firmware version is not being detected. The razertool-gtk GUI can be launched, but you cannot do anything with it! (in contrast to the command line program “razertool”, which like I said, is functional, except for the firmware detection and “razertool -i”)
To get razertool-gtk working to the same degree as razertool I had to (once again) edit a file, this time not just “razertool.c” (see above), but also callbacks.c, in the gtk subdirectory!
I did it in a kind of dilettantic way, but it works for me! Of course, I wouldn’t try to flash firmware now, but to change settings it works flawlessly.
I simply removed the line below:
status = razer_read_firmware_version(razer_udev, &firmware_version, RAZER_TOOL_TIMEOUT);
Which means, I removed this line:
if (status) goto err;
I am quite sure, this is a rather stupid way, but since the firmware cannot be detected anyway (the original 2.1 habu firmware version), it enables a functional razertool-gtk at least!
Manfred W. V.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
I should add:
I also needed to remove two lines from razertool.c:
fprintf(stderr, “Unable to read firmware version: %s\n”, strerror(-status));
and
exit(-1);
Thus, it now reads:
if (status
January 25th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
LOL, and sorry:
Seems like I can’t get the full text published…
Anyway:
I removed the two lines, so there is nothing between the parantheses any more.
Hehe, silly, I know, but now razertool -i doesn’t complain any longer; of course, it doesn’t spit out the correct firmware version either.
Manfred W. V., Saarbrücken, Germany
hopefully, no longer truncated now, please, remove the double post, thanks
January 29th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
If you guys now have a relationship with Microsoft can you get your drivers certified ?.
I just bought an extremely expensive Deathadder - which says on the box it works with all OS’s including and up to Vista but the drivers come up not certified. To have a key component of the system not certified just doesnt make sense.
I’m probably not your target market and i must admit the MTV like ” the mouse makes you a cool death warrior” hype on the box made me queasy - but I thought the mouse looked cool and i do a lot of graphics work with it. However if you ever want to go mainstream the product needs to work out of the box without complaint. There is a space for a high end very accurate mouse for teh non gaming world.
Also doesnt it work with the ATEN KVM - I’ve logged that with them
January 29th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
SlotsMachines
complimentary Lindholm,falling!cleanser:coco Online Roulette [url=http://www.atonlineroulette.com/#]Online Roulette[/url] http://www.atonlineroulette.com/#
January 30th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Hello!
I’d like buy new mouse!
But I can’t decide which choose HABU or CH?
February 1st, 2007 at 9:28 am
Well, I was planning to buy one of the 2 mice, but now I am very sure I will never buy a Razer mouse. I was looking for a big mouse to support my hand when playing alot, not only my fingers, and Habu looked ok, but I guess its’ not what I am looking for. I don’t want to buy stuff that I will spend alot of money and I am not even sure it works. I thought Razer’s products are better than the ones made by Logitech, but it seems like they are not. So i guess the old MX518 will do for me, or maybe the G5 mouse, don’t know. Very disapointed…
February 4th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Anyone else having problems with the habu detecting movement even though it’s not touching any surface?
Extremely annoying. I’ve gone back to my intellimouse 3.
What a waist of money.
February 15th, 2007 at 3:03 am
I’m wondering if there are any plans to add accelerated scrolling to the Habu, like Microsoft mice can regularly do? I previously had a Microsoft Intellimouse Optical and it’s been a really swell mouse — it’s served me well over the years. However, I recently got this Habu, and have been enjoying it wholesomely… but I sure do miss accelerated scrolling.
I find that in the online world Second Life, since the regular “vertical scrolling speed” isn’t recognized, that I have to keep notching my finger on the mouse wheel, and it’s very tiring and feels wasteful. I wish with one quick flick, I could scroll as fast as I do with my Intellimouse Optical.
Please reply if this a feasible addition in the future, or if there are any current ways to “hack” the drives and enable accelerated scrolling for the mouse wheel!
Thanx a lot.
February 17th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I have a problem with my Razer Copperhead. Having had it for a while I was impressed with the sensitivity and all the other features listed above. However there seems to be a problem with the tracking that I don’t think is the same issue that everyone else on here seems to be talking about.
The problem only affects a certain movement on the Razer; when I move my mouse diagonally from top right to bottom left, the mouse seems to naturally ‘raise’, so that if I move the mouse in this way, my pointer wonders towards the top of the screen. I’ve tried cleaning the sensor and trying it with different mice and there definately seems to be a problem (and it’s not related to the natural tendency of one’s arm to move in a certain motion).
Having looked at the embedded sensor/lazer on the bottom of the mouse, it seems to be set at an odd angle rather than facing directly down.
Has anyone experienced a similar problem as this? Is this the kind of ‘tracking’ issue that everyone seems to be talking of? Does everyone have this offset embedded sensor at the bottom?
Please let me know because the mouse is useless at the moment, I’m having to use something else.
And yes, I have all the updates/software installed.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:04 am
I have bougth Habu 5 days ago and I can not update firmware v2.01 “FAILED, reboot PC always :S”…. RAZER said me that they do not support Habu , I go to Microsoft…… I send email to Microsoft, but I do not received nothing in my mailbox. Other problem, many times when I turn on the computer, Windows can not detected Mouse Habu and not work it, I remove and put USB for Windows detected mouse.
In many forum I see people with same problem……
February 20th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Razerguy, thanx for the details, much appreciated. I didn’t know this before, but I was hoping that since the Habu is marketed under the Microsoft name, that they could work with Razer to add scrollwheel acceleration!
February 23rd, 2007 at 4:47 am
Good gosh, after following this trail some more, I just learned that ’twas Alessandro Levi Montalcini, inventor of USB Overdrive some years ago which I enjoyed, who invented the accelerated scrolling that Microsoft would in turn come to patent. That ties up one loose end. (I presume the Logitech MX Revolution uses a different type of non-infringing mechanism, then.)
March 4th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Great mouse. Poor drivers. Recommend against installing the Razor drivers. Absolutely could not get them to work - after following several different instructions in this blog (and I’m a software engineer for a living). I gave up. No mouse install should be this difficult. Mouse works fine simply plugging in to Windows XP SP 2. Who needs profiles stored in their mouse anyway? Useless gimmick. All buttons function as expected (even the DPI buttons). I had no sticky scroll-wheel issues as I saw a few post. Although, I did notice my DPI-Down button on the mouse was a little sticky upon first install. It seems to have gone away. (Unacceptable for a $70 mouse, though.)
Seems to track nicely. I saw some people report tracking problems, but I haven’t experienced this at all. I’m using a Razer eXactMat on the “X speed” side. That may have something to do with it. It has a subtle texture which, I imagine, helps the mouse track. I’d imagine these people complaining of tracking issues just didn’t have the correct surface.
Another slight complaint. The side buttons are too close to your thumb. Your thumb is always touching the side button. It’s too easy to inadvertently hit the Back button. One button on the left and one on the right is the most usable configuration. Too bad they opted for both buttons on the same side.
I am pleased to see Microsoft finally waking up to mouse usability principals and ergonomics. A usable mouse is not a big, heavy wireless thing that attempts to conform perfectly to the shape of your hand. No one moves a mouse by resting their entire palm on the mouse (actually, I’ve witnessed 3-year-olds do it when touching a PC for the first time). A mouse is moved with the fingertips. (Just observe anyone.) A mouse must be light. It must glide freely, unencumbered by the weight of batteries. A mouse must be WIRED!!! I can’t stress that enough. To put it bluntly, WIRELESS MICE SUCK! I renounced wireless mice 7 years ago when they came out because of the performance and reliability issues. I just watched my friend purchase a Microsoft wireless mouse a week ago. He is cursing the ground on which Microsoft walks. I wasn’t surprised to see that wireless mice STILL do not work. The cursor jumps all over the place. It’s a complete wreck.
Anyway, good to see Microsoft finally listening to users who actually understand how a mouse SHOULD work (gamers, software engineers). This is probably their best mouse. Run far away from all wireless mice. The best Microsoft mouse still is the Intellimouse Optical from about 6 years ago. A SINGLE side button on each side. Symmetrical. Ultra-light and ultimately flickable with the fingertips. Elegant and simple. No gimmicks. I wish they still made them.
“Perfection comes not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
March 18th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I find this a gorgeous mouse, but a glaring lack for me is the inability to set the scrolling rate to “one screen at a time”, i.e. so that each snick of the wheel has the same effect as “Page Up/Down” on the keyboard.
This is not an issue in gaming, of course, but even gamers have to spend some time in Windows proper… and this is such a fundamental ergonomic feature that I’m amazed it was left out.
It’s true that you can assign Page Up/Down behaviour to the wheel in the Advanced functions menu, but unfortunately this stops the wheel doing what’s required of it in certain applications.
March 22nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I second what Bazzer says about the scrolling wheel scrolling one screen at a time. Even when changing this setting via the Control Panel -> Mouse, it reverts to the default of 3 lines at a time after each reboot. I’ve been searching for a way to fix this but have not found an answer yet.
Any chance this will be an option that can be saved in the next version of drivers for the Habu? I am running 2.01 at present.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Is anyone else encountering a glitch whereby the left (main) button sometimes thinks it’s the right?
I seem to be getting this quite a lot. For example, clicking on a Quick Launch bar icon will invoke the context menu instead of launching the application. The misbehaviour is corrected if I do a double Alt+Tab, but it soon recurs.
I’ve tried removing and reinstalling the mouse drivers, but to no avail, and it’s extremely annoying, to the point that I’m finding myself tempted to do away with the Habu altogether, as excellent as it is in other ways.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:15 am
ive had viper and diamondback and after using both for long long time, i can honestly say that im not impressed,
both viper and diamondback have unresolved problems to this day!
thats pretty poor product support if u ask me,
all side buttons are useless due to a poor design
since the viper days i have emailed razer with many suggestions to improve the mouse,
sadly all of them have been ignored,
now i will do the same and will ignore all their future products
there are better gaming mice for a lot less money out there, take a look at the rosewell RM-408 for example, it hands down owns the copperhead or any other razer mouse! and it is half the price or less
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I had all kinds of issues with Vista 64 bit RTM. here’s what i had to do:
first off, i was in test mode, for a different driver. not sure if that makes a difference, but i was and am.
second, mouse showed up with PID 00FB instead of 0009. no 64 drivers for FB or firmware updater for FB.
after an hour of futzing with it, put it on vista 32 machine. futzed with it there for 30 minutes but was able to flash it like so:
install off cd. restart. never got mouse to work, but it did light up, so i used the update on a hunch. first time i had to install driver and that caused it to take to long and fail. second time i ran it, it worked and updated it. mouse went from FB to 09. ROXOR. by the way, the update utility turns all the lights off if it connects.
took it back to vista 64 machine, plugged it in (after having already installed the software with no mouse attached) and then rebooted. now it works and the config sees it. hope this helps.
April 13th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
I am running Habu with v 2.10 driver in my Vista 32bit. What was happening is that it always say “NO MOUSE DETECTED!”, but I can use Habu because it was recognized by the system as a normal HID-Compliant Mouse.
I wish the next version of driver can solve the problem.
April 14th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
After spending literally HOURS trying to get this thing working, I finally did! I’m a computer professional, this thing was ridiculous… can’t imagine how hard this must be for the average-joe. The engineers at Razor should be ashamed of themselves… and Microsoft should have never OEM’d this product, and never should do business with Razor again. I have never had such a difficult experience configuring a mouse since Windows 3.1, this thing is trash.
If you haven’t open the box yet, return it… if you are stuck with it, here’s what I did to get it working:
1. Take the CD and all instructions that came with it and put them in the trash and light them on fire, then do a voodoo dance. They are worthless, and you’ll need all the luck you can to get this working
2. Download and install the updated drivers and firmware from this link:
http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=63&nav=0
3. With the mouse plugged in it will be detected as a “HID-compliant mouse”. You can try for hours, but you’ll never get the driver updated… so don’t waste your time.
4. Open up a browser and hit Windows Update. It will give you an update… don’t ask me what, because it still appears as a “HID-compliant mouse”. But this is where life gets better
5. With the downloaded software go under Firmware, and run Update. You’ll be prompted to install an unsigned driver (can’t believe something with a Microsoft logo requires an unsigned driver). Then reboot
6. Now if you go and run Razor Habu Config, it’s actually detected. Yay! You can check the driver and firmware version… it’s probably still old. Run Firmware / Update again, it will actually update the firmware on the mouse this time. Unplug and plug the mouse in again. Open up Razor Habu Config again, and it should actually be listed with the up to date firmware version.
Looks like it is finally working, but the driver still says “HID-compliant mouse” and if I try to update the driver and point it to the C:\Program Files\Razer\Habu\Driver\habu.inf, it just errors out saying “The specified location does not contain information about your hardware.” /shrug
I’m sure something is still not quite right, but I’m finally able to use the features of the mouse and it’s working ok. I’ve just run out of patience and wasted a Saturday afternoon on a stupid mouse.
April 15th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
New mouse, same shit I guess..
My Habu cable broke after 2-3 weeks.
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Hey just bought the Habu
Same problems
Im using Windows Vista 64 bit and I’ve tried everything but still no help with the software and firmware
Software shows cant detect mouse
Firmware wont update and always tells me to restart
Is there a different process i have to follow for Vista 64???
May 6th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
i want to buy a new mouse but dont know which of the two. what would you recommend?
thanks
May 7th, 2007 at 11:42 am
I reccomend you read the arsing post and it’ll tell you which.
Moreover, replace Habu with Deathadder. The shape/finger grip style of the Copperhead is good for high sense players, whereas the Deathadders optical sensor and high speed before malfunction is perfect for low sense.
The shape and increased speed before malfunction over copperhead (read:reduced skipping) make the Habu a wonderful mid-sense “in between” mouse. Personally, I use the Habu with eXactmat (speed side), though your choice of mouse will be dependant on your mousing style. Palm Grip + Reduced Skipping for me, with the added precision of a laser mouse.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Hi Razer Guy
When will the Razer Deathadder be available at stores like best buy, circuit city, compusa, J & R, and fryes? I dont want to order it online, i want to physicaly look at the boxes and touch it
May 11th, 2007 at 11:26 am
May 17th, 2007 at 8:35 am
i did everything to put habu working… i followed every steps mentioned near the habu drivers download and when i opened the habu drivers. It just apears the same message, cannot fInd the mouse ( but the habu is working) :X
I tried to install the firmware but it shows the following message:: the habu synapse firmware update has failed! please restart your computer and try again :X
( obviously i did that and with no results)
razerguy what should I do? :S
May 17th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Now i managed to install the firmware but the mouse isnt detected in razer config anyway :X
May 17th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Is there still no sign of an imminent driver update for the Habu? In particular, the lack of one-screen-at-a-time wheel scrolling is driving me to distraction. Surely this should be quite trivial to implement?
Barry
May 27th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
OK, so a new update appeared just a couple of days after my last post (Driver v2.12/Firmware v2.03). But no details of what it’s supposed to fix or enhance, and still no “screen-at-a-time” scrolling
Barry
June 1st, 2007 at 6:26 am
habu rules!
I just want to say that i just bought the mouse is good but i want something new and more interesting.
I mean that all Razer’s mouses sre almost the same and i hope to see something new.
June 16th, 2007 at 7:04 am
err ppl who said copperhead skips and stuff thats not tru im so happy with my copperhead
never had a real big problems with razer it doesnt skip it works awesome on qck+ steelpad
mouse was kinda to fast on cus im low sens user just couldnt get used to it
it does still work but sometimes it freaks out and i use right mouse to duck in game u should see me going duck stand duck stand duck stand 
next mouse will be habu (and if habu wasnt out i would buy another copperhead since i got this 1 for ages before button went to fuck around :P) when im gonna start to game active again
i used to have exactmat also that was just to shit for me
only problem i had was the right mouse button it seems to break down for me all time
maybe it was just me who was just unlucky twice with copperhead but i really dont care
June 18th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Both the Habu and the Copperhead skip if you move them fast enough. The Habu is a bit more tolerant than the Copperhead, but it still skips at fast speeds (it’s likely most mid-sense players won’t notice ANY at all because they won’t be moving great distances fast). The DeathAdder is the only one that doesn’t skip at fast speeds.
July 1st, 2007 at 3:01 pm
You know, I really hate people that do this, but it’s getting to the stage where I’m caring about as much as Razer does about their fans.
I always sneered and looked away when people complain about the faulty-wiring in the Microsoft Habu, thinking “hey, it won’t happen to me.” But it has, and I’m getting tired of putting up with it.
Do Razer have ANY form of warrenty on their mice whatsoever? Maybe the partnership with Microsoft was intentionally so they can pawn off their mistakes on each other. That’s all well and good, but what about the customers? What about people like me, who bought their mouse for “an unfair advantage” now sitting with a £40 mouse giving my opponents the edge when it randomly disconnects during a match? Come off it, that’s just not on.
As I said, I’ve always hated people that complain on your blog Razerguy. I took your advice and tried emailling you like you suggested to someone else, but all I got was a delivery failure - and yes, I copy/pasted the address exactly. The Habu has not even been around for a year. I want to know where I have to send it to get a new one that DOESN’T have poor, poor wiring.
July 6th, 2007 at 1:11 am
OK, I’ve now given up on my Habu until some drivers are released that provide the full range of basic configuration options offered by every other wheel mouse as a matter of routine. Yes, I’m harping on about the “screen at a time” scrolling facility again. A small but very crucial point that stops the show for me.
The Habu may be intended primarily as a gaming mouse, but it should still cover all the bases in Windows, especially at its inflated price.
No useful response to any of my many pleas (and those of others) made to all possible quarters on this issue, despite having being told on the phone by a Microsoft tech support person, many months ago, that I had a “very good point indeed”. Driver updates have come and gone without it being addressed.
I fell in love with this mouse at first sight and feel, but I won’t be recommending it to anyone now.
July 6th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
August 20th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
The Copperhead …
Beautiful snake, with a powerful bite … but their weak frames make them easy to kill.
Any product is only as good as its weakest component.
Why emphasize a comparison of dpi, or discuss “flicking” and “gliding”
when there are such serious issues with drivers and hardware.
A Copperhead is an impressive mouse with slick design and impressive engineering dangling at the end of a weak thread. The quality of the mouse is moot. They simply break.
I’m unsure how or when the 1 in 500 stat was arrived at, but I am certain that the officially reported breaks do not reflect what is actual. Razer knows that too. It is likely that the percentage would be astounding - when the mouse breaks, it will be the cord that breaks. It’s that simple.
At this point, Razer’s patrons are not looking for a higher dpi, or a slicker design - simply a solid, more reliable design. I have to believe that if a finer laser can be engineered, so can a more reliable flexible cord.
If it cannot, please release a mouse with a hardcore cable, half an inch thick, made of titanium, and call it the anaconda! >=)
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Further to my gripes above regarding the Habu’s lack of “screen at a time” scrolling in Windows, can someone tell me whether this function is available on any other Razer mouse? Maybe I can trade in my Habu…
September 25th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
My habu is giving me a very hard time
Did the installation right, updated to the last firmware and software but Habu keeps disconnecting on 2 different PCs.
Waisted hours and hours to figure whats going on. Reinstalled windows, updated everything, tried different USB ports.. same thing.. it randomly disconeects in games.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:46 am
[code]# Bazzer Says:
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Further to my gripes above regarding the Habu’s lack of “screen at a time” scrolling in Windows, can someone tell me whether this function is available on any other Razer mouse? Maybe I can trade in my Habu…
[/code]
The same scrolling problem is present with both my DeathAdder and Copperhead. I wish there was a fix for one-screen-at-a-time remaining a default when I reboot. Could be as simple as a registry tweak if I knew how.
September 28th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Having recently purchased a Logitech MX 1000 and returning it the day after for a Microsoft Habu, allow me to once and for all put an end to any doubt. The Logitech MX 1000 is not only too heavy, it does not at all suit low defintiion gamers. Playing STALKER with the MX 1000 is near impossible. The slightest movement sends the screen reeling. There is no on the fly DPI setting so you have to try and tweak the SetPoint and in-game settings. I have abandoned the installation of the Habu drivers because on XP sp 2 you dont need them. On-board profile settings are not only a gimmic but totally unnecessary. The Habu has not skipped at all since I’ve had it (and I use it directly on my wooden desk without fancy pads). As a low def gamer I make very quick and large movements without any skipping or jumping. Also, the Habu is much more comfortable to hold and use than the MX 1000.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Thank you, lejarretnoir, for letting me know that the other Razer products have the same deficiency with regard to the scrolling issue.
It’s a real shame, because the products are otherwise beautifully conceived. It’s a mystery to me why this simple and fundamental option was omitted in the first place, or why the problem hasn’t been addressed in the appropriate driver updates.
Incidentally, does anyone else find an occasional problem (on any Razer model) with misbehaving left-clicks in Windows? My Habu - before I consigned it to the bottom drawer - would sometimes have strange bouts of interpreting these as right-clicks. This meant that the click would bring up the context menu instead of highlighting the icon, filename, etc. Alt-tabbing away from and then back to the window concerned would put things right, but then it would do it again a few clicks later.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:53 am
the driver for my deathadder isnt picking up the mouse yet the mouse is working
the thing is ive just got a new comp and installed the drivers, on the old pc it worked fine but now it just says FAILED wen it goes 2 pick the mouse up
could someone help me with this?
December 25th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
what is the difference between windows xp and vista…
Nice points……
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 am
Here’s a interesting link where you’ll find how to properly install your Habu. Hasn’t tested it yet though.
http://blog.x-caiver.com/2007/01/installing-microsoft-razer-habu-mouse.html
March 6th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I personally like the HABU myself. Just feels more “firm” to me.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I actually got the mouse for free, but that doesnt make up for it failing on me ALL THE TIME.
Ive had it changed 2 times due to cable problems, and now its starting again. Wherever i move the mouse, the pointer goes upward to the left. This time i wont even bother go to change it.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:24 am
Well, just wanted to share my HABU experience … After 9 month I started to experience some click issues. This means that I would click once but the system would behave like I clicked 4-6 times …
Tried to contact MS support but despite the 3-year warranty, my PID indicate that no free support is available …
Razer cannot help either … I purchased a new mouse (and keyboard), will never purchase co-branded product again, since both vendor play ping-pong …
I you need a super clicking mouse, I have a neat MS Habu for sale !!!
August 31st, 2008 at 10:17 am
I have same HABU multiple clicking problems :/