Bug#281504: [FAQ] More information for left-handed X users
Package: xfree86-common
Version: 4.3.0.dfsg.1-8
Severity: wishlist
This bug relates to
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=181579
but it is stated that this bug is archived and cannot be changed, so I
open a new one.
On
http://necrotic.deadbeast.net/xsf/XFree86/trunk/debian/local/FAQ.xhtml#lefthandmouse
the following section can be improved with the proposed replacement
below.
=========================================================================
How do I set up the mouse buttons for left-handed use?
Thanks to "ulisses" for suggesting this question for the FAQ, and
providing some of the information given.
This depends on how many buttons your mouse has. If it has two or three,
I have an answer. If it has more than three, and/or a wheel, I'd
appreciate submissions from lefties with such mice who have gotten them
reconfigured.
For a quick fix, you can execute the following while in an X session:
xmodmap -e "pointer = 2 1" (for two-button mice)
xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1" (for three-button mice)
To have the pointer buttons remapped for all of your X sessions, add the
following line to your $HOME/.Xmodmap file (creating the file if
necessary):
pointer = 2 1 (for two-button mice)
pointer = 3 2 1 (for three-button mice)
and call xmodmap $HOME/.Xmodmap from your $HOME/.xsession file. Note,
however, that the system administrator can configure the X Window System
such that users' .xsession files in their $HOME directories are ignored.
See the Xsession.options(5) manual page for more information.
For more information about xmodmap, see xmodmap(1x).
The following information is courtesy of Osamu Aoki.
There is a gpm-based approach to solving this problem if the XFree86 X
server is configured to use /dev/gpmdata for a mouse device. The -B
option to gpm should help. You can use it by adding it to the append
line in /etc/gpm.conf.
=========================================================================
=========================================================================
How do I set up the mouse buttons for left-handed use?
Thanks to "ulisses" for suggesting this question for the FAQ, and
providing some of the information given.
Use one of the following command depending on how many buttons
your mouse has.
xmodmap -e "pointer = 2 1" (for two-button mice)
xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1" (for three-button mice)
xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1 4 5" (for three-button + wheel mice)
Note that the 4 and 5 buttons represent the wheel up and down actions
and thus should not be modified.
To have the pointer buttons remapped for all of your X sessions, add the
following line to your $HOME/.Xmodmap file (creating the file if
necessary):
pointer = 2 1 (for two-button mice)
pointer = 3 2 1 (for three-button mice)
pointer = 3 2 1 4 5 (for three-button + wheel mice)
and call xmodmap $HOME/.Xmodmap from your $HOME/.xsession file. Note,
however, that the system administrator can configure the X Window System
such that users' .xsession files in their $HOME directories are ignored.
See the Xsession.options(5) manual page for more information.
For more information about xmodmap, see xmodmap(1x).
This xmodmap approach for setting a left-handed mouse only works for the
XFree86 3.x series. It produces bad behaviors (button confusion) when
used for the XFree86 4.x series. If you are running a XFree86 4.x
series, you should use the gpm approach.
The following information is courtesy of Osamu Aoki.
The gpm approach is to feed X with the mouse data coming from gpm, a cut
and paste utility and mouse server for virtual consoles. The gpm utility
is of interest here because it can be configured to handle left-handed
mouse. This approach as the drawback that all the users of the system
have to share the same gpm configuration, while with xmodmap every user
could have his own .Xmodmap file.
To use the gpm approach, 2 files need to be modified. The provided
configuration is for a Logitech three-button + wheel mouse. One can
easily adapt this configuration by changing "device", "type" and "Option
Protocol" according to the type of the mouse you are using.
/etc/gpm.conf
-------------
device=/dev/input/mice
repeat_type=raw
type=imps2
append='-B 321'
/etc/X11/XF86Config-4
---------------------
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "gpm mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/gpmdata"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
==========================================================================
--
Marc-Aurèle DARCHE <http://www.cynode.org/>
AFUL <http://www.aful.org/>
Association Francophone des Utilisateurs de Linux/Logiciels Libres
French speaking Linux and Libre Software Users' Association
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