Since you probably own a G15 if you're reading this thread, I'd like to say congratulations on owning the world's finest gaming keyboard! This is a compilation of some good things to know if you're going to use one.
NOTE: You cannot use a G15 to interface with BIOS/CMOS/non-OS interfaces (until Windows loads in other words).
Standard keyboard (main board, F keys, lock keys, etc.)
Numlock keys
Mute button
Backlight button
The following cannot work without drivers:
LCD screen
M1, M2, M3 and MR buttons
G keys
Media controls
USB ports (these may actually work without drivers, if anyone can test that)
You can download the drivers here in case you lost the CD that came with the keyboard. NOTE: you have to select language, OS, etc to access the drivers.
The keyboard will require two drivers: one for the G key functionality, and one for the LCD screen. These will be covered individually.
Some applets are built in to the software. These applets are:
LCD Countdown Timer - a stopwatch.
Performance Monitor - a simple meter of your CPU and memory usage.
LCD Clock - an analog/digital clock with date.
LCD POP3 Monitor - I've never seen this applet working.
Media Display - not sure what this one is either.
LCD Screen Saver - this will only appear when your drivers aren't loaded (before you log in)
There are two other applets that are packaged, Keyboard Profiler and Scripting Display, which run in the background and do various things.
There are many third-party apps available on your G15 as well. You can download statistics monitors for Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4 (I have yet to find a working download link but it's out there somewhere), and probably CounterStrike and Day of Defeat also. These will have individual installation and control instructions. Once you've downloaded it, however, you need to activate it. Open GamePanel Manager and click the Programs tab. If the checkboxes that say 'Enable' and 'Logitech G15 LCD' aren't checked, check them. Your app should not have the word 'Running' next to it; to remedy this (and start your app), right-click its name and select Start.
There are two particularly useful apps for your LCD. The first is Fraps. If you have a copy of Fraps but installed it before purchasing your G15, you may have to update it (even if you have the latest version). On the General tab in the Fraps window, a checkbox will appear called 'Display status on LCD keyboard'. Check this, obviously. Fraps' LCD app will give you a current FPS value, a strip chart of your FPS, and a benchmark (the value on the top of the graph). The next is Ventrilo. Open Ventrilo and click Setup. Go to the Global tab at the far right. Under the section 'Enable external hardware devices' you should see a checkbox for 'Logitech Game Panel LCD support'. This will automatically run a Ventrilo app while you are running Ventrilo (it will not run while Ventrilo is not also running).
So now you have all these great apps, how do you use them? It's simple. The larger, circular button cycles between apps. The other four can interface with the app, but the only app I've seen to support them is the Countdown Timer.
You can manually assign macros. Click on a key, then go to Assign Macro -> Create New Macro. It will ask you to record keystrokes. You can assign each key a keystroke, but making a macro of an individual keystroke is more effective (in my experience).
You can assign your keys functions by clicking them and hovering over Assign Function, but I've found that they don't work as well as they should.
Not sure if your profile works? Go to Profile -> Test Profile to bring up a log window. Each time you press a G key it'll display its equivalent key press. So if I have my G1 key assigned to A and I press G1, it'll show G1 down--A down--G1 up--A up (each one of those is a keystroke).
The M1, M2, and M3 buttons on your keyboard allow you to switch profiles easily. You can use the MR button to record a macro.
My signature isn't a part of this.
The majority of your G15 is plug-and-play compatible; the following will work properly without any drivers installed:
NOTE: You cannot use a G15 to interface with BIOS/CMOS/non-OS interfaces (until Windows loads in other words).
Standard keyboard (main board, F keys, lock keys, etc.)
Numlock keys
Mute button
Backlight button
The following cannot work without drivers:
LCD screen
M1, M2, M3 and MR buttons
G keys
Media controls
USB ports (these may actually work without drivers, if anyone can test that)
You can download the drivers here in case you lost the CD that came with the keyboard. NOTE: you have to select language, OS, etc to access the drivers.
The keyboard will require two drivers: one for the G key functionality, and one for the LCD screen. These will be covered individually.
Once you install the driver, a tray application called Logitech GamePanel Manager will be installed and run. You can use this application to change your available applets.
Some applets are built in to the software. These applets are:
LCD Countdown Timer - a stopwatch.
Performance Monitor - a simple meter of your CPU and memory usage.
LCD Clock - an analog/digital clock with date.
LCD POP3 Monitor - I've never seen this applet working.
Media Display - not sure what this one is either.
LCD Screen Saver - this will only appear when your drivers aren't loaded (before you log in)
There are two other applets that are packaged, Keyboard Profiler and Scripting Display, which run in the background and do various things.
There are many third-party apps available on your G15 as well. You can download statistics monitors for Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4 (I have yet to find a working download link but it's out there somewhere), and probably CounterStrike and Day of Defeat also. These will have individual installation and control instructions. Once you've downloaded it, however, you need to activate it. Open GamePanel Manager and click the Programs tab. If the checkboxes that say 'Enable' and 'Logitech G15 LCD' aren't checked, check them. Your app should not have the word 'Running' next to it; to remedy this (and start your app), right-click its name and select Start.
There are two particularly useful apps for your LCD. The first is Fraps. If you have a copy of Fraps but installed it before purchasing your G15, you may have to update it (even if you have the latest version). On the General tab in the Fraps window, a checkbox will appear called 'Display status on LCD keyboard'. Check this, obviously. Fraps' LCD app will give you a current FPS value, a strip chart of your FPS, and a benchmark (the value on the top of the graph). The next is Ventrilo. Open Ventrilo and click Setup. Go to the Global tab at the far right. Under the section 'Enable external hardware devices' you should see a checkbox for 'Logitech Game Panel LCD support'. This will automatically run a Ventrilo app while you are running Ventrilo (it will not run while Ventrilo is not also running).
So now you have all these great apps, how do you use them? It's simple. The larger, circular button cycles between apps. The other four can interface with the app, but the only app I've seen to support them is the Countdown Timer.
The G keys. This keyboard's claim to fame. The older, bluer version has a whopping 18 of them, the newer one has only 6. Your second driver will also install a program called G-series Keyboard Profiler, which controls your G keys. The first time you open it, it'll search for all the games you have (you can have it search again any time by going Profile -> Scan for new games). If any of the games have an installed profile (two separate lists found here and here), it will notify you. Now it's time to create your profile. Let's say you want one for Call of Duty 4. Click on a key you want to assign and hover over 'Assign Macro'. Notice that the default macros, assuming you selected the profile for Call of Duty 4, are all in game controls! If you want to have one for Oblivion, change it to Oblivion; now all the controls are Oblivion controls! NOTE: all of your macro settings (M1, M2, and M3) fall under the same game profile.
You can manually assign macros. Click on a key, then go to Assign Macro -> Create New Macro. It will ask you to record keystrokes. You can assign each key a keystroke, but making a macro of an individual keystroke is more effective (in my experience).
You can assign your keys functions by clicking them and hovering over Assign Function, but I've found that they don't work as well as they should.
Not sure if your profile works? Go to Profile -> Test Profile to bring up a log window. Each time you press a G key it'll display its equivalent key press. So if I have my G1 key assigned to A and I press G1, it'll show G1 down--A down--G1 up--A up (each one of those is a keystroke).
The M1, M2, and M3 buttons on your keyboard allow you to switch profiles easily. You can use the MR button to record a macro.
My signature isn't a part of this.
