How to Configure Logitech MX Anywhere Mouse for Ubuntu

I wanted the side scroll on my mouse to control volume. This is what I did:

1. install xev and xbindkeys:

sudo apt-get install xev

sudo apt-get install xbindkeys
sudo apt-get install xbindkeys-config

2. run xev (by typing "xev" in the terminal) and find out what my side-scroll buttons were called

my side scroll buttons were buttons 6 and 7 

3. create a text file called .xbindkeys_config and leave it in your home directory (the directory where Desktop is)

4. add the following text into the .xbindkeys_confg file:

#volume down

"amixer sset Master  6- unmute"

  b:6

#volume up

"amixer sset Master  6+ unmute"

  b:7

Note: i think xbindkeys-config is the gui version or xbindkeys, so one of them might not be needed. i'm too lazy to find out, because installing both as described above worked for me. typing "xbindkeys-config" at the terminal brings up the gui. it might segfault if you don't have the .xbindkeys_config text file, and it tells you the command to run to automatically create it, so you can do that instead of step 3.

i gained the above info from reading these two short guides:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/101105/how-to-assign-back-and-forward-actions-to-logitech-anywhere-mouse-mx-horizo and http://superuser.com/questions/499022/configuring-xbindkeys-bindings-for-logitech-m510-mouse


the backstory:
often times i think the right path to take when solving a problem is the hard path, the path that challenges myself and forces me to learn something new. but sometimes, that could just be a waste of time depending on my goal.

i started using ubuntu 12.04 and i needed to configure my logitech mx anywhere mouse's side scroll buttons to change my volume. (but logitech doesn't have linux drivers!!! complain to them here! (other than that logitech's an awesome company though)).

one way to do it (the hard way) was to dig through forums and tutorials, discover that i would eventually need to open up the right file in .../X11/xorg.conf, and then configure the hell out of that file. Other people may have been able to do this quickly, but it would have taken me a while to figure everything out.

i realized that i didn't need to figure this out because even if i did, i'd forget it in several weeks and would have to relearn it again. there was no need for me to reinvent the wheel when there were already existing programs i could download to do this for me. in one sense i wussed out because the hard way would've been the purest and cleanest way. but sometimes the hard path isn't the best path.