Re: ailing gpm - tp380ED
Peter Cordes wrote:
> GPM never conflicted with X, except maybe before it supported the repeater
> option. The problem has always been that the PS/2 device driver only allows
> a single process to open the device and read events, IIRC.
I'm not even sure that last is true. I've heard stories of gpm and X
conflicting, but I've never seen it in several years of using various
systems.
>From my laptop's[*] /etc/gpm.conf:
device=/dev/psaux
responsiveness=
type=ps2
append="-l \"a-zA-Z0-9_.:~/\300-\326\330-\366\370-\377\""
>From my laptop's XF86Config:
Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/psaux"
BaudRate 1200
Emulate3Timeout 50
Resolution 100
Emulate3Buttons
EndSection
[*] a tp600e running an up-to-date stable system plus ximian-gnome.
No repeaters used anywhere, and no conflicts -- it all works like a
champ (except when I install a new gpm while running X, and that's just
a easy-to-fix glitch). And yes, I do actually use both X and console
often enough to be sure.
> The serial driver is different. gpm and X can both open /dev/mouse
> simultaneously if it is linked to ttyS0.
Yup, my old desktop machine used serial mouse, and I had no problems
there either.
It seems like the repeater is something that is only needed, er, when
it's needed, i.e. if you have a problem without it, then you should
probably try with it. Since I've never had a problem without it, I've
never even tried it.
OTOH, from earlier msgs in this thread, I gather there may be some minor
advantages to using a repeater, even if you don't need it, so I guess it
comes down to a matter of taste. Use the repeater if you need it, or if
you just want to. (Which replaces my old advice: use the repeater only
if you really need it.)
Anyway, bottom line, I just want to emphasize that gpm and X do NOT
conflict, even WITHOUT the repeater, except, well, except when they do.
Advising *everyone* to remove gpm or set up the repeater is not
necessary -- only those people who are having problems (or who want the
features the repeater offers) should set up the repeater or purge gpm.
cheers
--
Chris Waters, Systems Engineer, Critical Path, Inc.
cwaters@cp.net or xtifr@debian.org
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