HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless

The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless is a wireless gaming headset from HyperX (HP, Inc). While the headset functions as a standard USB audio device on Linux, the companion features (battery monitoring, sleep timer, mic monitor, voice prompts) require additional software as the official HyperX NGENUITY application is Windows-only.

Features

The following features are available on Linux through the hyperx-alpha-wireless-git^AUR package:

Feature	Status
Audio playback/recording	[Works natively via USB audio Yes]
Battery monitoring	[Supported Yes]
Sleep timer (10/20/30 min)	[Supported Yes]
Mic monitor (sidetone) on/off	[Supported Yes]
Voice prompts on/off	[Supported Yes]
Mic mute status	[Supported Yes]
Mic connect/disconnect	[Supported Yes]
Charging status	[Supported Yes]
System tray icon	[Supported (legacy systray) Yes]
Settings persistence	[Supported Yes]
Equalizer / DTS surround	[Windows software-only (see #Equalizer) No]
Sidetone volume level	[Not supported by headset firmware No]

Installation

Install hyperx-alpha-wireless-git^AUR from the AUR.

Alternatively, build from source:

$ git clone https://github.com/WaffleThief123/HyerpxAlpha-Linux
$ cd HyerpxAlpha-Linux
$ cmake -S . -B build
$ cmake --build build
$ ./install.sh

Dependencies

wxwidgets-gtk3 - GUI framework
hidapi - USB HID communication
systemd-libs - udev support

Configuration

udev rules

The package installs a udev rule to /etc/udev/rules.d/99-hyperx.rules that grants access to the headset's HID interface without root privileges:

SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="03f0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="098d", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="03f0", ATTRS{idProduct}=="098d", MODE="0666"

After installing, unplug and replug the headset's USB dongle for the rules to take effect.

Note The uaccess tag may not work on all session configurations. The package uses MODE="0666" for broad compatibility.

Settings file

Settings are stored in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/hyperx/config (defaults to ~/.config/hyperx/config). The file is a simple key-value format:

sleep_timer=2
voice_prompts=1
mic_monitor=1

Settings are saved automatically when changed in the GUI and restored when the headset reconnects.

Usage

Launch the application:

$ Hyperx

Launch minimized to the system tray:

$ Hyperx --systray

Enable HID packet debug logging:

$ Hyperx --debug

Flags can be combined:

$ Hyperx --systray --debug

Autostart

The package installs a desktop entry to /usr/share/applications/hyperx-alpha.desktop. To start the tray app automatically at login, copy it to your autostart directory:

$ cp /usr/share/applications/hyperx-alpha.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

Note The install.sh script does this automatically. If installed via the AUR package, copy it manually.

System tray

The --systray option requires legacy system tray support. This is available natively in KDE, Xfce, and LXQt. For GNOME, install a tray extension such as gnome-shell-extension-appindicator.

HID protocol

The headset communicates via USB HID using vendor ID 0x03f0 and product ID 0x098d. All commands use 31-byte packets prefixed with 0x21 0xBB.

Byte[2]	Byte[3]	Direction	Description
`0x03`	`0x01/0x02`	Receive	Connection state (disconnect/connect)
`0x05`		Send/Receive	Microphone state query
`0x07`	`0x0a/0x14/0x1e`	Receive	Sleep timer state (10/20/30 min)
`0x09`	`0x00/0x01`	Receive	Voice prompts state (off/on)
`0x0b`	`level`	Receive	Battery percentage (0-100)
`0x0c`	`0x00/0x01`	Receive	Ping / charging status
`0x10`	`0x00/0x01`	Send	Mic monitor off/on
`0x12`	`minutes`	Send	Set sleep timer
`0x13`	`0x00/0x01`	Send	Voice prompts off/on
`0x20`	`0x00/0x01`	Receive	Mic disconnected/connected (physical)
`0x22`	`0x00/0x01`	Receive	Mic monitor off/on confirmation
`0x23`	`0x00/0x01`	Receive	Mic unmuted/muted (physical button)
`0x24`	`0x01/0x02`	Receive	Power off/on

Use --debug to log raw HID packets to stdout for further protocol analysis.

Equalizer

The equalizer and DTS Headphone:X spatial audio features in HyperX NGENUITY are implemented entirely in the Windows audio driver. They are not HID commands sent to the headset and cannot be replicated through this application.

For equalizer functionality on Linux, use a PipeWire or PulseAudio equalizer plugin:

easyeffects - GUI equalizer for PipeWire
pulseaudio-equalizer - for PulseAudio setups

Troubleshooting

Device not found

Verify the dongle is detected:

$ lsusb | grep 03f0:098d

If it appears but the application cannot access it, check that the udev rules are installed and the dongle was replugged after installation.

Settings not applying on reconnect

The application delays settings restoration by 2 seconds after the headset powers on to allow the firmware to finish initializing. If settings still do not apply, power cycle the headset and wait for it to fully reconnect.

System tray icon not appearing

Ensure your desktop environment supports legacy system tray icons. See #System tray.