Re: Mouse configuration during installation needs improvement
Since my initial post I have done some research on the
subject of mouse support in the Linux kernel. I can
see now why my suggestion was met with such strong
opposition: it goes counter to the direction the
kernel has been going since 2.5. With such a sweeping
redesign of mouse support since 2.4, I think I need to
do some experimentation to see if gpm still provides
one of the key benefits that it once provided, namely
the ability to resurrect a dead PS/2 mouse after
unplugging and replugging. On older kernels, I could
issue the following command which nearly always
regained the use of the mouse in a virtual console:
/etc/init.d/gpm restart
And if X was set up to use /dev/gpmdata, this would of
course also resurrect the mouse in X too. Thomas
Hood, in his web page for Debian GNU Linux on an IBM
Thinkpad 600, specifically recommends this
(http://panopticon.csustan.edu/thood/tp600lnx.htm).
However, this information appears to have been written
when he was running a 2.4 kernel.
On my system, gpm is currently configured to use the
legacy mouse port /dev/psaux, but it appears from what
I've read that this "device" no longer gives the
direct access to the physical port that it once did.
I wouldn't be surprised if gpm has thereby lost its
ability to resurrect the mouse. I'll do some testing
over the weekend and let you know what I find out.
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