For older Logitech keyboards that operate on a 27MHz radio frequency they may have a new lease on life as well as being more secure thanks to a new Linux utility.

Older Logitech keyboards relying upon 27 MHz RF communication have worked on Linux but have not supported the encrypted mode of transmission. Only when running in the default un-encrypted mode of operation have these keyboards worked on Linux but now thanks to Red Hat's Hans de Goede there is this capability for open-source users. Hans de Goede continues to be very prolific in his wide range of Linux desktop enhancements and addressing many previously sore spots of the open-source desktop support.

Hans wrote a Linux utility that allows configuring the encrypted link state for these aging Logitech keyboards. Notably this also allows previously-configured Logitech keyboards using the encrypted link to be properly reconfigured -- up to now they have just appeared broken under Linux and unable to be reconfigured when the keyboard and receiver are not in sync.

The tool is the logitech-27mhz-keyboard-encryption-setup. The utility offers a command-line interface for configuring such Logitech devices. More details on this new effort via Hans' blog.