MC Saite TB01 Trackball Complete Working Config for ± 90° Rotation

General
1

I’ll just drop this here on the odd chance it might help someone else: here’s how I’m using HID Remapper with an MC Saite TB01 trackball where the scrolling wheel is stupidly placed below the ball. Perfect for those who evolved to grow a 6th finger from the bottom of the palm, not so much for the rest of us.

Trackball Original
Trackball Original300×300 11.7 KB

Fortunately, the awful design becomes decently comfortable to use as soon as the trackball is rotated 90° in either direction. However, in the aftermath of this brave manouver, button assignments and scrolling direction cease to make any sense.

Trackball Rotated
Trackball Rotated750×565 184 KB

Not to worry, HID Remapper to the rescue. Big up to the author of this great tool!

New assignments

With the attached configuration, the functions are reassigned as follows:

  • Scroll wheel is used for vertical scrolling just the same (no change) but can now be operated conveniently with the thumb.
  • Scroll wheel button toggles between left- and right-hand operation:
    • Right-hand mode (clockwise rotation) is on layer 1 (and 0).
    • Left-hand mode (counter-clockwise rotation) is on layer 2.
    • Holding the button and rolling the ball adjusts audio volume up and down (layer 3).
  • Cursor movement is swapped X/Y and inverted depending on the active hand (layer).
  • Top inner button is the left button
  • Top outer button is the right button
  • Bottom outer button is the middle button (convenient to press with the outer side of the hand)
  • Bottom inner button (relatively the least convenient to use) is used for task switching:
    • Tap to switch to previous task, i.e. Alt-Tab
    • Hold longer and release to show all tasks, i.e. Win-Tab

The nitty-gritty

Arguably, the most reusable and/or interesting parts of this setup are the expressions:

  • Expressions 1 and 2 are used as inputs for Cursor X/Y to discard cursor movement in volume-adjustment mode (layer 3):
1000 port 0x00010030 input_state layer_state 0x08 bitwise_and not mul

1000 port 0x00010031 input_state layer_state 0x08 bitwise_and not mul
  • Another expression (saved as the last one, number 8, since it is never going to be referenced directly anyway) handles the ball movement, storing it in registers 1-4 for volume-control purposes while also swapping where it is being stored in one of the directions (effectively reversing it) depending on whether layer 2 (left-hand mode) is concurrently active or not:
1000 port 0x00010030 input_state -1 lt 2 layer_state 0x04 bitwise_and not sub store
1000 port 0x00010030 input_state 1 gt 1 layer_state 0x04 bitwise_and not add store
1000 port 0x00010031 input_state -1 lt 3 store
1000 port 0x00010031 input_state 1 gt 4 store

Customization

The configuration assumes the trackball being connected to port 1, while a mouse connected to port 2 can be used as well – without any remapping taking place. If you do not plan to use multiple devices:

  • Delete all occurrences of 1000 port from the expressions
  • Remove all mappings for source port 2 and
  • Change source port from 1 to 0 elsewhere

Since I simply edited the JSON file directly so as to always start with the same consistent state, it should hopefully be somewhat more legible than if it were auto-generated.

Tested to work with release 2026-05-25 (configuration version 18). Enjoy!

The JSON Configuration File* 
{

  "version": 18,
  "unmapped_passthrough_layers": [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7],
  "partial_scroll_timeout": 1000000,
  "tap_hold_threshold": 200000,
  "gpio_debounce_time_ms": 5,
  "macro_entry_duration": 1,
  "interval_override": 1,
  "our_descriptor_number": 0,
  "input_labels": 0,
  "gpio_output_mode": 0,
  "ignore_auth_dev_inputs": false,
  "normalize_gamepad_inputs": true,

  "quirks": [],

  "macros": [
    [["0x000c00e9"],[]],
    [["0x000c00ea"],[]],
    [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], [], []
  ],

  "expressions": [
    "1000 port 0x00010030 input_state layer_state 0x08 bitwise_and not mul",
    "1000 port 0x00010031 input_state layer_state 0x08 bitwise_and not mul",
    "",
    "",
    "",
    "",
    "",
    "1000 port 0x00010030 input_state -1000 lt 2000 layer_state 0x04 bitwise_and not sub store eol 1000 port 0x00010030 input_state 1000 gt 1000 layer_state 0x04 bitwise_and not add store eol 1000 port 0x00010031 input_state -1000 lt 3000 store eol 1000 port 0x00010031 input_state 1000 gt 4000 store"
  ],

  "mappings": [
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff30001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010031", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff30002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010030", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": -1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090001", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x000700e2", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": true, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x0007002b", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": true, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x000700e3", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": true, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x0007002b", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": true, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090003", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff10002", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": true, "tap": true, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090004", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090002", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090005", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090003", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00010038", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010038", "layers": [0, 1], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},

    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff30001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010031", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": -1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff30002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010030", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x000700e2", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": true, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x0007002b", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": true, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x000700e3", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": true, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x0007002b", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": true, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090001", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090003", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff10001", "layers": [2], "sticky": true, "tap": true, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090004", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090003", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090005", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090002", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00010038", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010038", "layers": [2], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},

    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00090003", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff10003", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": true, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff50001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff20001", "layers": [3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff50002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff20002", "layers": [3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff50003", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff20001", "layers": [3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0xfff50004", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0xfff20002", "layers": [3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00010030", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00000000", "layers": [3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 1, "source_usage": "0x00010031", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00000000", "layers": [3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},

    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00010030", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010030", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00010031", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010031", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00090001", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090001", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00090002", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090002", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00090003", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090003", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00090004", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090004", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00090005", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00090005", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000},
    {"source_port": 2, "source_usage": "0x00010038", "target_port": 0, "target_usage": "0x00010038", "layers": [0, 1, 2, 3], "sticky": false, "tap": false, "hold": false, "scaling": 1000}

  ]

}

*) Newly-created user account, so can’t upload it as an attachment.

Edit: Port number value correction following @jfedor’s suggestion below in this thread.

2

Very nice!

One remark, with port you want to use 1, not 0x01. Internally 1 translates to 1.000, while 0x01 is 0.001 (so it just works as zero as far as port numbers are concerned, meaning “all ports”).

1 Like
3

Appreciate the correction. Fixed it now, including in the OP (where I’m using 1000 for consistency since that’s how it appears in the “raw” JSON that’s also pasted inline underneath). Thank you!

In fact that’s what the value originally was in the auto-generated JSON export of course but then I changed it and didn’t re-check if it still worked.

That's because while I'd been planning to use my Contour Unimouse as the 2nd device, I ran into a separate issue that makes the setup more cumbersome than I expected.

On the Contour Unimouse, there are 2 “middle” buttons: one dedicated, separate, the other with the wheel. I’d want to remap each differently. The OEM driver is able to distinguish between the two but with HID Remapper they predictably both show up under the same usage. There must be a way to detect them as distinct one way or another but being the lazy person I am who knows next to nothing about the USB HID protocol I’ve yet to decide whether to bother figuring it out since the level of annoyance with the original driver here is relatively lower (it works and offers the customization I need, it’s just an annoying piece of bloatware that in the latest version even prompts the user to “log in” to an online account to be able to use the mouse connected locally, and then still repeatedly attempts to connect to the Internet regardless of opting out.

Thank you once again for coming up with HID Remapper, and sharing it with the world! :folded_hands: