Re: mouse configuration

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

Mithras wrote:

> Excuse me if this question is really basic.
>
> After installing Debian for the first time (but not Linux), I
> discovered the mouse wasn't working.
>
> It didn't move at all at first, and I found last night that /dev/mouse
> was just symlinked to some weird device, but not ttyS0 like it should
> (for my 3-button Logitech mouse).  When I started X, however, the
> mouse moved only in occasionally sudden leaps to the left & downward,
> while also sending imaginary mouse clicks (pop-up menus appeared).
>
> Could I have chosen the wrong mouse device to link to?  I've heard
> that GNOME can be sluggish, but this doesn't appear to be a system
> grinding along (other symptoms, like hard drive activity, or slow
> screen draws, are not evident).  (My cpu is an AMD K6 233, with 80M.)
> I cleaned the mouse wheels, so it couldn't be that either.
>
> Note: I did notice an X error on the console about accessing the mouse
> after I quit last night, but alas I don't have that message written down.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Besides this mouse problem, I'd just like to say how *pleased* I've
> been with Debian.  The default X environment (what I've been able to
> see of it) and Xdm are gorgeous, and when I discovered that xdm & my
> mouse problem conspired to keep me from a console or xterm prompt, I
> really appreciated finding the shell prompt available from the boot
> CD.  My past experience has been with old Red Hat & Slackware
> distributions, which simply didn't look as *pretty* as Debian.
> (Trivial perhaps, but it is somehow satisfying when your favorite
> operating system doesn't look like a sow's ear.)
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> ben taylor
>
> mithras@dhp.com / http://www.dhp.com/~mithras
> 716-586-0020 work, 716-256-2484 home, 716-233-3159 cell
> 174 Henrietta St. #2 / Rochester, NY 14620

If you want a mouse in the text-based console, you'll need to run gpm 
(apt-get install gpm, and/or run gpmconfig).

If you don't need the mouse in the console but you do want it in X, 
don't run gpm; this makes things simpler. You'll then tell X (via 
/etc/X11/XF86Config[-4]) to use the mouse found on /dev/ttyS0 for serial 
port one, or /dev/ttyS1 for serial port two, or /dev/psaux for a PS/2 
port mouse, etc.

If you want the mouse in both the text-based console and in X, you'll 
need to run gpm, and tell X to use /dev/gpmdata instead of /dev/ttyS0, 
etc. This allows gpm to gather the mouse data and pass it to X, instead 
of having X and gpm both fighting for the mouse data.

I've had setups where running gpm and having X point to the real device 
(/dev/ttyS0, etc) (or its link) work fine; I've had setups where trying 
to do this causes erratic or no mouse response (like you describe 
above). I've also had setups where having X look to /dev/gpmdata work; 
I've had setups where it didn't work. In my experience, getting your 
mouse to work is almost more of an art than a science.

What you might do if try running gpmconfig and getting the mouse to work 
in the console correctly with gpm. Once that's done, shut down gpm (run 
"/etc/init.d gpm stop") and try to get X working with the real device. 
Once that's done, shut down X, restart gpm ("/etc/init.d/gpm start"), 
and then try to get X to work with /etc/gpmdata.

Doing it step-by-step like this gives you more clues as to what may be 
going wrong than just trying to do it the correct way all in one step.

Wheel mice and USB mice are for another day . . . .

Kent