Re: support for serial pointer device
retitle 632419 X: please ask for (serial) mouse device name at installation time if no pointer is detected
reassign 632419 xserver-xorg-input-mouse 1:1.5.0-2
severity 632419 wishlist
quit
Hi,
axst@users.sourceforge.net wrote:
> X works differently in this distribution. I needed a configuration file in Lenny to get
> the two separate screens to work. It was not a perfect setup as one screen was distorted
> but I found a workaround for that.
>
> In Squeeze, this is no longer necessary, both screens can be configured using the Monitors
> menu item, and there is no distortion.
>
> Moreover, the configuration does not work anymore as it is; it causes errors.
What are those errors? That might be an X bug. (Ideally, upgrades of
any program should not break working configurations without warning.)
> But even if I make it work or create a barebones X configuration file just with the
> Pointer Device set to /dev/ttyS0, the pointer is not functional.
If this is true and xserver-xorg-input-mouse is installed, then it
would definitely be an X bug.
> This takes me back to my original point: If it was possible to use a serial mouse in the
> past without installing separate software which is not available at installation time, why
> was this functionality removed? If it is not possible to recognize serial pointer devices,
> the installation process should include a question if no other pointer device is
> discovered.
By this functionality do you mean X's configuration process
(xf86setup, etc)? If someone is interested in working on that, it
might be possible to revive it, but it would have to be a separate
program, since the general approach to X installation nowadays is to
autodetect as much as possible.
The idea of a debconf prompt when installing and no pointer device is
present sounds more interesting, though it might be hard to get right.
Reassigning to the X maintainers in case someone there is interested.
Thanks for writing, and hope that helps.
Jonathan
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