Scroll wheel doesn't work with mouse
 

I've tried the search feature, and while I've found a number of threads dealing with this, none have solved my problem. I'm running Debian (Woody), and the 2.4.22 kernel. I have a USB Logitech mouse with two buttons and a scroll wheel. The mouse is attached to my computer via a USB to PS2 adapter. The mouse works fine in Win2k. In Linux, I can use the middle button to click things but the scroll won't work.

I'm a Linux newbie, but here's what I've tried.
I set up my mouse via "dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low xserver-xfree86"
I selected /dev/psaux, emulate 3 buttons no, and enable scroll wheel.
This writes /etc/X11/XF86Config-4
The relevant parts (I think) are listed below:

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

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

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

This causes my mouse to behave very oddly. I've read this referred to in other threads as "crazy mouse". Basically the cursor moves to the bottom left hand corner of the screen and does odd things like left and right click without me having hit the buttons. Also, this sometimes causes my keyboard not to work except for Ctrl-Alt-Backspace

I've tried setting Protocol in the Configured Mouse section to all the possible options with the following results:
ImPS/2: crazy mouse
PS/2: works but no scroll
GlidePointPS/2: works, but no scroll
NetMousePS/2: crazy mouse
NetScrollPS/2: moving left also causes scroll up. moving right also causes scroll down. Scroll wheel does nothing
ThinkingMousePS/2: crazy mouse
MouseManPlusPS/2: works, but no scroll
ExplorerPS/2: crazy mouse

I've also tried using the mouse without the adapter, so it was plugged directly into a USB port. I then reran "dpkg-reconfigure --priority=low xserver-xfree86" and selected /dev/input/mice instead of /dev/psaux, but the scroll wheel still didn't work.

One other thing I've noticed is that most threads dealing with the no scroll issue mention changing settings in /etc/X11/XF86Config. This seems to have no effect on my computer. Only changing /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 does anything.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

My 2 cents: I don't know if this will help, but I'd question declaring 2 mice within a single ServerLayout, and if you're using a USB-to-PS/2 adaptor, I'd be inclined to use the regular /dev/mouse rather than /dev/psaux. Here's what the relevant sections of my XF86Config looks like, although I'm on Slack rather than Debian, so it may be that Debian uses a different approach. Good luck -- J.W.

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Simple Layout"
Screen "Screen 1"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Thanks for the response, J.W. Unfortunately the changes you suggested resulted in X not even starting at all. I tried those settings as best I could. I don't have a /dev/mouse, so I used /dev/input/mice. I commented out the "Generic Mouse" and used your settings for my "Configured Mouse" with the mouse plugged in with the adapter and also without it. Here's what my /var/log/XFree86.0.log recorded both times:

(**) Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
(**) Configured Mouse: Protocol: "ImPS/2"
(**) Option "CorePointer"
(**) Configured Mouse: Core Pointer
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
(EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/input/mice
No such device.
(EE) Configured Mouse: cannot open input device
(EE) PreInit failed for input device "Configured Mouse"
(II) UnloadModule: "mouse"
(WW) No core pointer registered
No core pointer

Fatal server error:
failed to initialize core devices

Also, I forgot to mention earlier I have an optical mouse. I don't know if this matters or not.

I just also tried /dev/input/mouse{0,1,2,3} and /dev/input/event{0,1,2,3} with the same results. The mouse works (but not the scroll wheel) when plugged into a USB port and "Device" is set to /dev/psaux. Why is this? I thought /dev/psaux was the PS/2 port.

Maybe this can help you.

Sometimes case is everything. I had the same trials as you on some distro installs. One thing that I don't think you've tried yet is: change "ImPs/2" to "IMPS/2"

I think the syntax changed for a certain revision of the X-server, but I'm not sure. Try it. Worked for me.

Thanks for trying pipio, but the only difference I see between that and my setup is the line "Option" "Emulate3Buttons" "true". I don't think I need this because my mouse already has three buttons (including the scroll wheel).

I tried changing both instances of "ImPS/2" to "IMPS/2" but the mouse behaved the same either way.

Any other ideas? I'm using XFree86 4.1.0.1 if that makes a difference. I guess I'll try upgrading to 4.4.0.

Try

I tried it, but it didn't change anything.

If I weren't bald, I'd be pulling out my hair. Got a big hammer? Or $20 for a new MS optical USB/PS-2? J/K

Oh well. I've given up for now. After upgrading to Sarge, my computer will no longer boot into Linux. Time for a fresh install...

My logitech optical mouse also has 3 buttons, but to use the scroll wheel on one distro or another (I forget which) I had to select emulate 3 buttons to get the scroll wheel to work right. Don't know why, but after I changed it the mouse worked fine.

In case this helps anyone else, I eventually got my scroll wheel working. I reinstalled Debian and got the system back the way it was before I tried to upgrade. I then tried adding the line, "Emulate3Buttons" "true", but this had no effect. I then skipped testing and upgraded right to Sid, the unstable version of Debian. I then compiled the newest kernel (2.6.5). My mouse now works great, even though it still has the Option "Protocol" "PS/2" in the "Configured mouse" of my XFConfig-4 file. It's finally working, so I'm a bit hesitant at the moment of playing with options lest I mess it up again.

Another thing is the message dmesg spits out. It gives the following lines that are quite different than before (my motherboard is a SIS by the way - re: line 2):
mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
Failed to disable AUX port, but continuing anyway... Is this a SiS?
If AUX port is really absent please use the 'i8042.noaux' option.
serio: i8042 AUX port at 0x60,0x64 irq 12
input: ImPS/2 Logitech Wheel Mouse on isa0060/serio1



I guess it was something in the new kernel that's different by default, or maybe I just enabled the right setting this time. Either way, my mouse works, and I'm happy. :cool:

check you have necessary stuff in your kernel first, the rest like setting up XFree manually is easy.

Yeah. There are quite a few things in the 2.6 kernel that are different. I'll find it hard to go back to a 2.4 because a lot of stuff like mouse support just works better (and the threading is so much better - its way faster)