Re: Mouse an 2.6 Kernel Problems: Solved
I am running a stable box with a 2.6.12 kernel and a newly upgraded
testing box with both a 2.4.14 and a 2.6.12 kernel. Both run through the
same KVM switch. The mouse works flawlessly with the stable 2.6.12 box.
However the Testing box has problems with the mouse and the 2.6.12. It
complains about losing synchronization.
Art Edwards
Hal Vaughan wrote:
A while back I posted that I had some problems with my mouse and a 2.6
kernel. At first, I had problems with early 2.6 kernels, even with
Ubuntu's live CD, as well as Sarge. The mouse would jerk all over the
place whenever I tried to move it anywhere. Then I started using Sid
and overall it worked, but I had a problem with the scroll wheel.
There was no problem scrolling down, but whenever I scrolled up in
Firefox, as soon as I moved the mouse after scrolling up, it acted like
I was highlighting the text. If I scrolled up in KMail in a list
window, the item under the mouse was selected as soon as the scroll
wheel moved up.
Nobody had a solution and I searched quite a bit until I found something
not too reliable (I can't even remember what it was!) suggesting the
KVM. I've been using Linksys 4 port KVM for several years -- so much
so that I forget I have it -- even when I switch from one computer to
another, I tend to take it for granted because the hotkeys worked well
and I hadn't touched the KVM in several years. I never realized it was
so easy to forget about a piece of hardware. I had never had even a
hint of trouble from the KVM before, but I tested the connections and
plugged the mouse into the computer without the KVM and had no trouble
at all. (I had also asked here for comments on KVMs before buying a
new one.)
My mouse problem is fixed and it only cost about $90. I bought a new
KVM switch from Egghead. I've only had this one up and running for a
short time and I'm having a hard time adapting to things working right.
No more scroll wheel problem at all. It's amazing how you get used to
work arounds and avoiding certain actions! Unfortunately, as hard as
I searched, I never found a software solution to this problem. I tried
using different input devices, but that didn't help.
I had tried a number of fixes and config changes to get things working
and nothing helped with the old KVM. Then I plugged in the new KVM and
the mouse went nuts. I'd move it a little bit and it would jump and
jerk all over the screen like mad and bring up context menus, jump from
one window to the one behind it (how it did that I'll never know, since
both windows were maximized!) and other flakey stuff. Then I
remembered what I just stated here: I still had fixes in place for the
old problem -- fixes that weren't working. So I edited my xorg.config
file and changed the mouse device to /dev/psaux, since it's a PS/2
mouse and restarted X. No help. So I went into /etc/modules and
commented out mousedev so it wouldn't be used and commented out the
line mouseproto=raw and rebooted.
That was all it took and it is now working quite well. I can scroll up
and down through a list window and that first movement up on the scroll
wheel no longer selects an item. I can scroll up and down in a web
page or other page of text in different programs and starting to scroll
up no longer starts selecting text.
For the record, I bought an IOGear GCS78 8 port KVM. I had been using a
Linksys 4 port KVM for 4-5 years with no problem until I started using
a 2.6 kernel. Even then, I'm so used to the KVM that it's become
transparent and, even though I use it to switch from box to box, I
forget about it. When I first tried a 2.6 kernel I had serious
problems with the mouse jumping around (like it did today, when I first
tried the new switch before rebooting) and stuck with the 2.4 kernel
until I tried the 2.6.15 in Sid. Since the KVM had always worked so
well and had become transparent to me, I didn't suspect it until just
recently.
There are only 2 points on the new KVM that I am not thrilled about: 1)
It needs a power supply, and the Linksys did not, and 2) The Linksys
used ctrl-alt-shift-x-enter as hotkeys, where "x" was the number of the
computer you were switching to. It wasn't picky, so I could press down
the first 4 keys together, let up, and press enter and it would switch.
This switch uses ctrl-shift-alt-x-enter and is much pickier. I can't
press any of the keys simultaneously: I have to press them all in
sequence or it won't switch. It takes about half a second longer to do
that. Maybe I'm just being picky.
I seriously looked at KVMs with much faster switch times and with on
screen display, but decided there was no reason to shell out the extra
money. This is a good KVM and I can even gang it with others to
control upto something like 256 computers with one keyboard, mouse, and
monitor.
While, at this time, I'm only using 4 ports, now I can hook up my
firewall and be able to access it if, for some reason, ssh isn't
working and I have some extra ports for expansion.
If anyone is having similar problems, I don't think you'll get them
fixed without replacing the KVM.
If anyone is considering a KVM, this one seems solid, but, hey, I've
only been using it 15 minutes.
I hope this helps someone out there so they don't go through several
months of mouse problems like I did before finding a solution.
Hal
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