Re: How do I get GATEWAY2000 PS/2 mouse to work ?
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>From debian-user-request@lists.debian.org Tue Aug 13 16:44:48 1996
Someone (sorry, lost name) wrote:
> -- one never knows if/when PS/2 mouse is going to be available in a
> downloaded kernel, whereas serial support is virtually always there.
Todd Fries (todd@miango.com) responded:
> Oh give me a break. If you are not experienced enough to compile your own
> kernel for your own custom hardware you should never be giving advice to
> other linux users until you are. SHEESH. It is not that hard. Do a
> 'make config' once, cp .config to some safe place, then if you must remove
> your kernel source tree or upgrade or compile someone else's kernel, you can,
> and the copy the file back and say 'make oldconfig'. IT IS NOT THAT HARD
> PEOPLE!!!!! I personally have 14 different 'configurations' for different
> people in my 'safe place' away from the kernel tree. So I can compile for
> 14 different people if they ask me to.
Todd, I'm sure that you're the neatest computer guy on your block, but
I think that you missed the original poster's point. Users shouldn't
have to recompile their kernels to get their PS/2 mice to work. Such a
requirement is enough to keep many potential Debian users from successfully
making the leap from MSStuff to Debian.
In my case, I used to select a module named psaux, and my PS/2 mouse
worked fine. Recently I upgraded to Debian 1.1, circa July 1st. As far
as I can tell, the psaux module is no longer an option. Coincidentally,
my mouse no longer works (when I "startx", the system says "Fatal server
error: Cannot open mouse (No such device)"). My situation is caused by
one or more of the following:
1. I am doing something wrong.
2. There was a more serious problem with my OS upgrade.
3. Debian has a bug in its PS/2 mouse support.
4. Default support for PS/2 mice was intentionally removed.
Unfortunately, I haven't had time to look into this seriously so I'm
still Debian-less. I've seen possibility #4 alluded to (usually preceded
by the words "I think") several times on this mailing list. But I'm
suffering from a massive case of disbelief that this default capability
would intentionally be removed.
What I would very much like to see is a definitive statement regarding
Debian's default support, or default lack of support, for PS/2 mice.
(Hi Bruce, please respond). If default PS/2 mouse support has been
intentionally removed, I'd also appreciate a quick explanation and
request that this decision be reconsidered.
Thanks for your support,
Mark Rahner
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