To start, yes, I have done my searches and homework and I seem to be running into some problems....

I'm running kde3.1.0, XFree4.3 and Mandrake9.1

I edited my XF86Config-4 file to include 7 buttons and z-axis mapping to 6 & 7. Everything's fine so far. I ran xmodmap and the scroll switched, yippie!

My XF86Config-4 mouse section:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Buttons" "7"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
EndSection

Problem #1: I created a text file called Autostart and placed it in the directory named Autostart. That text file only had the line 'xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5".' Everytime I restart kde, I need to rerun xmodmap. I've tried making the file 'Autostart' and 'autostart' and I've tried to run with just a text file in the ~/.kde/ directory. Nothing seems to work. When I delete all Autostarts (directory and file) and restart, kde automatically creates the Autostart directory. I also tried creating a text file called '.xsession' in my /home/me/ directory, but that also didn't work.

Problem #2: As I said, xmodmap runs fine and I have scroll functions, but when I run 'xev' there is no responce from the side buttons. Is there any other way to see what's going on here?

...and.... Where are my side buttons? I suppose the only real reason I need them is for games, but I'm having problems with my quake3, so I can't test them there... suggestions? Many of the topics I'm finding also mention imwheel, but I was told by MandrakeExpert that imwheel is not needed.

Thanks!

I'm working on this problem myself which is what brought me to the forums. I don't have an absolute answer for you but I can help you on a couple of issues. To have your xmodmap command run every time you start up X, you need to create and edit ~/.xinitrc

Secondly, I just got done editing my /etc/X11/XF86Config file about 3 or for times in a row. Each time exiting X, logging back in, and running xev. What I found was that for my Logitech mx700 mouse I had to use the ExplorerPS/2 protocol to get all 7 mouse events. When I used the IMPS/2 protocol, my side buttons didn't send an event. And when I used the MouseManPlusPS/2 protocol, the side buttons were sending the same event as the scroll wheel. But with the ExplorerPS/2 protocol, all of my buttons are sending a different event.

That's as far as I've gotten so far. I have imwheel running but all it seems to be doing at the moment is acting as PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN when I press my side buttons. However when I kill imwheel, the side buttons don't do anything so I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track. All I have to do now is figure out how to map the side buttons to ALT_L left arrow and ALT_L right arrow.

I'm running Mandrake9.1 and when I brought this up as a paid support incident, I was told that "It can't be .imwheel, that hasn't been used in ages."

Time to ignore the "expert" advice and try that one I'm getting the same result as you by using the ExplorerPS/2 protocol without .imwheel in that there were no events with the side buttons...

Well I do think imwheel is kind of a dirty hack. But I can live with it for the time being until there is a more elegant solution. Unfortunately though I haven't yet been able to get imwheel to do what I need.

I find it comforting to know that someone does have it working! I went back and looked up my old incident at mandrakeexpert and the quote was "...hasn't been used in over 2 years." Curious, what Distro/XFree/Xserver are you running? I don't think that would make a difference, but I'm running Mandrake9.1, XFree4.3 and kde3.1.0 myself.

When you say you can't get imwheel to do what you need, are you refering to what actions it takes in certian programs? From what I understand, that's all dependant on how the program was written, some use the mapped functions, some don't... From what I can guess in imwheel, if you would change the "Alt_L|Left" section, that would change the buttons function. As in, if you put "Enter" it would send enter on the button event. (Although I really don't know what all the key maps are Alt_L is for the left alt key, although I'm assuming that's obvious...)

Well.... I'm running imwheel and there are still no side events... I've tried both ExplorerPS/2 and IMPS/2 Protocols.

If anyone has any other ideas.....