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Old 06-27-2007, 09:57 AM   #1
pickarooney
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Can I use two mice?

Just wondering - I got a cordless mouse as part of a package today and thought it might be handy to be able to use it to change volume/channel in TV/video applications when I'm sitting on the couch. It's too small to use as my standard mouse, but is there a way to have both mice recognised and usable? I'm pretty sure I've used two mice concurrently on a Windows machine, though I might be mistaken. Any ideas how I might do this in Xorg.conf?
 
Old 06-27-2007, 10:11 AM   #2
wjevans_7d1@yahoo.co
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You'll get a wealth of information if you google for this:

Code:
Linux "two mice"
Hope this helps.
 
Old 06-27-2007, 10:13 AM   #3
wjevans_7d1@yahoo.co
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Quoth pickarooney:

Quote:
Can I use two mice?
Why not use three blind ones?

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
 
Old 06-27-2007, 10:20 AM   #4
IsaacKuo
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The answer is yes. I have a HTPC with an old wireless mouse connected by the serial port and a normal mouse connected by the PS/2 port. Both of them work. Either will move the pointer around.

Back when I was running Windows 98 on my HTPC, both of them worked also.

[edit added:]
Oh the way I did it in xorg.conf was to manually add a mouse entry for the serial mouse. However, this might only have been necessary because the serial port doesn't have any hardware autodetection capabilities.
Last edited by IsaacKuo; 06-27-2007 at 10:22 AM.
 
Old 06-27-2007, 11:40 AM   #5
pickarooney
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I've been fiddling with Xorg, adding a second InputDevice of type mouse but X never restarts after making changes.

Currently the serverlayout and inputdevice sections look like this:

Code:
Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Default Layout"
    Screen         "Default Screen" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice    "Configured Mouse"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Configured Mouse"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "CorePointer"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
I can't figure out what to add as the "Device" for the new mouse nor if it should be "mouse" driver" or "evdev" (both are USB mice)
 
Old 06-27-2007, 11:44 AM   #6
pixellany
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On a laptop, the "pointing stick", the touchpad, and an external USB mouse will all work together. Just as long as you and your friend/significant/dog/cat don't try to control the cursor at the same time....
 
Old 06-27-2007, 12:13 PM   #7
pickarooney
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I've got X running again now, but still only one mouse working.
Is there anything obviously wrong with this?

Code:
Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Default Layout"
    Screen         "Default Screen" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice    "Logitech Mouse"
    InputDevice    "Sansun Mouse"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Logitech Mouse"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "CorePointer"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Sansun Mouse"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "AlwaysCore"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
 
Old 06-28-2007, 01:39 AM   #8
IsaacKuo
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I don't really know how to fix your problem. I just tested out some USB mice on my main computer--it has just one mouse device entry, which looks like your "Logitech Mouse" entry.

I had a PS/2 mouse and two USB mice attached at the same time. All three mice worked, even though there was only one InputDevice configured. I suppose /dev/input/mice gracefully handles multiple simultaneous mouse devices (at least as long as they're PS/2 or USB).

BTW, I'm using Debian 4.0, which may have some small differences with Kubuntu Edgy.
 
Old 06-28-2007, 05:29 AM   #9
pickarooney
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I'm beginning to think it's a USB problem - when I plug in the wireless mouse my webcam crashes out. Something's not quite right hardware-wide, I reckon.
 
Old 06-28-2007, 05:51 AM   #10
syg00
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You can even do it from two physically separate PCs (even 'doze).
Seriously sexy - synergy.
 
Old 06-28-2007, 09:52 AM   #11
IsaacKuo
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Hey, I just had a thought--maybe your computer's BIOS is set to a "legacy" mouse compatability mode, or something like that? Many BIOS's have options to make USB keyboards and/or mice emulate PS/2 devices (for operating systems that lack adequate USB support). I can see that if such a compatability mode is activated, only one USB mouse would be active at a time.

But that wouldn't explain your issue with the mouse vs webcam, of course.

Still, you might as well check it out.
 
  


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