RhinoWIP for Mac: Updated 3DConnexion library

[dan]

Cross-posting just in case…

Using V9 With 3dconnexion Space Mouse

Hi All- We’re aware the the 3DConnexion support in the RhinoWIP on Mac is broken at the moment. We had intended to work on this over the past few weeks, but unrelated regressions on macOS Tahoe have taken priority. We hope to get back to this soon. Apologies for leaving this in a broken state. -Dan

[Gijs (Gijs de Zwart)]

@Rhino_Bulgaria

Any chance that the stock Rhino 9 will support SpacePilot

not sure either, but I can tell that this device I have still works:

[Rhino_Bulgaria (Bobi)]

This is 3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer from year 2006. They are about the same age, so fingers crossed that mine will be also supported…

[dan]

Hi All-

In this week’s RhinoWIP (9.0.25280.12306), we’ve backed out some of the 3DConnexion changes we introduced back in August, bringing back the legacy behavior in Rhino for Mac.

This means that the older - pre-August 6th 2025 - behavior should be back by default. (We broke it, now it should be “fixed”).

This does not mean we are abandoning the modern integration. We want to allow for both. Hopefully, in the coming months, we’ll be able to share updates on the newer plugin.

-Dan

PS: Apologies for leaving this in a broken state for a few months…but that’s the WIP for ya.

[Akash]

It’s still broken in 9.0.25287.12306, 2025-10-14 @dan

linking to Rhino by pressing a button on the device [to highlight in yellow ] is not working.

and then I get this new stutering phenomena.

[gurney1 (Gurney)]

Hi Dan

I have updated to the latest rhino 9 wip and my space mouse is still all mixed up

Running on a mac with serengeti 15.7.1

[dan]

@Akash

and then I get this new stutering phenomena.

Apologies, looks like I messed this up. I’ll start to debug this, but first, can you please try something for me first…

1. Launch the latest RhinoWIP and start a new modeling window.
2. Run the _PluginManager command.
3. Find the 3DxRhino plugin in the list and disable (uncheck) it.
4. Quit and Restart Rhino.

Does the older, legacy behavior come back?

[Akash]

thanks @dan

I disables and restarted.

now it doesn’t work at all. [Just as it doesn’t work now also in R8 BTY ]

problem is that the function of highlighting a button in the device so it can be linked to a rhino command [just one was always enough] is not working anymore [in the WIP and in 8]

Please see my post from an hour ago regarding this.

Rhino8 Mac 3Dconnexion. the knob navigation is broken [resolved]

With all the issues around the WIP9 3Dconnexion support [or lack of currently ] I now find that Rhino 8 [Mac] has also become unusable [the knob navigation is kaput!] the reason is [AFAIK] that rhino won’t highlight in yellow any of the devices buttons anymore… In the past, It was necessary to link one button to a Rhino command via rhino options for the knob to work. For me I feel totally stuck. Since 3Dconnexion is also broken in the 9WIP and because I always used it with Rhino…. Having to …

Edit: this got resolved after restarts and rewiring and fiddling with the 3dconnxion settings. so it seems to works fine on both rhinos now. thanks a lot

[dan]

@Akash

now it doesn’t work at all. [Just as it doesn’t work now also in R8 BTY ]

Now I’m confused. To my knowledge, we haven’t changed anything concerning 3DConnexion in Rhino 8 for Mac.

[Akash]

@dan

Now I’m confused. To my knowledge, we haven’t changed anything concerning 3DConnexion in Rhino 8 for Mac.

I edited my post above. it was a local thing here [don’t know what] but got it to work now.

thanks

[dan]

@Akash

I edited my post above. it was a local thing here [don’t know what] but got it to work now.

Great to hear! I think I know what I did wrong: we cache which plugins were loaded previously and - since you had the “new” (not yet functioning) 3DxRhino.rhp loaded - it was interfering with the old, legacy behavior. I’ll have to figure out what to do in that case…still working on that.

We still have a ways to go here but we are actively engaged with 3DConnexion to improve the new integration (we just want to give the option of using the older version still).

-Dan

[Akash]

@dan

we are actively engaged with 3DConnexion to improve the new integration

They can use it as promotion for themselves [as a motivation to be more actively engaged ]

they have done so with other software with good outcome …. what I mean by that is also that they [with you] add presets macros for rhino!
So when someone just starting out with their device and rhino. they start from a default setup which is a good all-around basic for users that are not [yet] comfortable to do customization.

As for now. setting up a multi button device like the Enterprise is a very involved process.

Please kindly consider.

[gurney1 (Gurney)]

Thia has resolved it for me

Thank you!

[Udo_Kolter (Udo)]

Hello Dan , this is Udo Kolter

Has there been any progress getting Space Mouse to work with V9 Wip on Mac ?

 It still tilts when it should rotate.

[dan]

See my reply here: Using V9 With 3dconnexion Space Mouse - #21 by dan …it looks like we’ve made a mess of switching between the old integration and the newer one. We’ll focus on fixing that while the 3DConnexion developers continue to work on the updated plugin.

[dan]

In this week’s RhinoWIP for Mac, we have - yet again - updated the 3DConnexion integration. This time we hope it’s easier to switch between the new integration and the legacy one (many of you requested that the older integration be kept around).

The new integration is not yet enabled by default. To enable it:

1. Install the 3DConnexion drivers (if you haven’t already done so)
   

   

2. Launch the latest RhinoWIP and navigate to Settings > Advanced and search for UseLegacy . Uncheck (disable) Rhino.Options.SpaceBall.UseLegacy.

3. Restart the RhinoWIP.
   You can tell the new integration is active if the zoom target appears in the Rhino viewport.

With the newer version, all settings are now controlled from macOS’s System Settings > 3DConnexion (found at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar).

Please test this out and let us know where you see problems. There are a handful of known bugs we’ve already logged.

-Dan

[davidcockey]

@dan Does the updated 3DConnexion integration also apply to the WIP on Windows?

I installed the latest 3DConnexion driver, installed (9.0.26027.12305, 2026-01-27), and found and unchecked Rhino.Options.SpaceBall.UseLegacy. I don’t see anything related to System Settings at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar.

[Akash]

Here [on Mac] the update does not work at all, went back to legacy ….

drivers updated and latest WIP

Can’t test for bug, as it does not work [device knob and rhino viewport do not communicate]

Updated the WIP to 9.0.26027.12306

updated 3dxWare to 10.8.11 and restart computer.

allow all requested permissions .

restart WIP after disabling legacy .

What am I missing here ?

[wim (Wim Dekeyser)]

Hi David -

@davidcockey

I don’t see anything related to System Settings at the bottom of the left-hand sidebar.

Those are the macOS System Settings, not something in Rhino.
-wim

[davidcockey]

@wim

Those are the macOS System Settings, not something in Rhino.

@wim Does the Rhino.Options.SpaceBall.UseLegacy option setting have any effect with Rhino on a Windows machine?