[H-GEN] XFree86 4 Mouse Strangeness? (was: Admin forward for Sarah Hollings)

[Joel Michael]

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On 26 Mar 2001 17:05:54 +1000, Jason Henry Parker wrote:
> [This message bounced because Sarah used the word `h*lp' in the subject
> line.  I'm forwarding it to the list.]
> 
> Looking for assistance from any XFree86 4.0 gurus, for my mouse which 
> has become schizophrenic under my upgraded system.
> 

I wouldn't call myself a guru, but here goes nothing :-)

> Set up is a PS/2 port "Trekker" wheel mouse (not a genuine Microsoft 
> one) on /dev/psaux, under kernel 2.4.2, and XFree86 4.02 (from .deb's). 
>   I also have KDE 2.1.1.
> 

I have a Logitech TrackMan Marble + working fine (again, not a real MS
mouse, but works just as well).  Maybe the things that work for me will
work for you too?

> The symptoms are that using XF86Setup I get the best results with the 
> "MouseManPlusPS/2" protocol, and the mouse seems to behave itself while 
> running XF86Setup in that mode.  But when I start up kdm and go into KDE 
> after a short time the cursor will start to randomly dart off into 
> (usually) the lower left hand corner of the screen and fire off a bunch 
> of clicks and drags with disastrous results.
> 

Whoa... freaky!  Kind of like the mouse at work whose pointer creeps
around without being moved...

> If I move it round the screen slowly and infrequently, just clicking 
> here and there it seems OK, but trying to drag say a scroll bar, choose 
> from a menu, or do a text selection, causes the above behaviour.
> 
> Have played around with the other settings but they don't seem to make 
> any difference.
> 
> The same mouse worked **almost** perfectly under 2.2.17 kernel, xfree86 
> 3.3.6 (or whatever it was) using the "IMPS/2" protocol.  The old 
> "Pointer" section of XF86Config has now been deprecated in favour of 
> "Input Devices", but my old pointer section gave me wheel support, and 
> now the wheel is no-go, and doesnt even function as a middle button.
> 

Ah, the ImPS/2 driver is still around, and works fine in XFree 4.0

> Have tried a Microsoft 2 button PS/2 mouse with protocol "PS/2" but 
> behaviour is the same.
> 
> Could it be caused by the hardware cursor on the video board?  I am 
> running NVIDIA drivers downloaded from their website and compiled for 
> this set up.  They are working superlatively for everything else - 
> screen animations, eg "lament" and dragging windows etc are smooth and 
> very fast.
> 

I doubt it, but I 'spose anything's possible :-)

> Any ideas or avenues of inquiry greatly appreciated.
> 

Well, a snippet of my XF86Config-4 shows:

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/misc/psaux"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
EndSection


Hope you can get something out of that.

-- 
Joel Michael

Where am I going?  And what am I doing in this handbasket?


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