Howdie~

running SuSE 8.0 - KDE 3.0 - Intellimouse explorer USB

Whenever I do a restart, my mouse stops working. I can cli to root and start yast to 'find' my mouse. restart X and I'm good to go.

How do I get X to keep my settings?

thanks

i've watched your question go unanswered because i don't know much about linux and even less about suse, but since no one else is going to give it a shot...

have you checked your resource allocation and error messages on boot up?

you might want to post the output of

cat /proc/interrupts (gives you irq assignments)

and

dmesg (gives you errors that the kernel encounters during boot up related to hardware).

here's the /proc/interrupts:

CPU0 CPU1
0: 8910309 8848335 IO-APIC-edge timer
1: 7109 7008 IO-APIC-edge keyboard
2: 0 0 XT-PIC cascade
5: 5326128 5357185 IO-APIC-level nvidia
8: 1 1 IO-APIC-edge rtc
9: 0 0 IO-APIC-edge acpi
10: 94637 94189 IO-APIC-level ide3, EMU10K1
11: 485263 486224 IO-APIC-level ide4, ide5
12: 631999 630741 IO-APIC-level eth0, usb-uhci, usb-uhci
14: 181499 178207 IO-APIC-edge ide0
15: 1914 1879 IO-APIC-edge ide1
NMI: 0 0
LOC: 17758060 17758146
ERR: 0
MIS: 0


I have no idea what this all means but it looks cool!?


dmesg had a lot to say... still don't know what this is all about but thanks for the help!

end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 6
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide1(22,0)
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 2
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 4
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 6
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide0(3,0)
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 1
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 2
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 3
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 4
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 5
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 6
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide1(22,0)
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 1
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 2
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 3
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 4
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 5
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 6
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide0(3,0)
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 1
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 2
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 3
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 4
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 5
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 6
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide0(3,0)
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
VFS: Disk change detected on device sr(11,0)
VFS: Disk change detected on device sr(11,0)
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 1
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 2
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 3
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 4
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 5
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 6
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide1(22,0)
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISOFS: changing to secondary root
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 1
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 2
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 3
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 4
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 5
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 6
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide0(3,0)
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 1
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 2
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 3
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 4
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 5
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 6
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide1(22,0)
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISOFS: changing to secondary root
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 1
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 2
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 3
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 4
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 5
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 6
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide0(3,0)
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
VFS: Disk change detected on device sr(11,0)
VFS: Disk change detected on device sr(11,0)
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
NVRM: AGPGART: allocated 10 pages
NVRM: AGPGART: freed 10 pages
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 1
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 2
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 3
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 4
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 5
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 6
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide1(22,0)
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISOFS: changing to secondary root
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 1
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 2
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 3
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 4
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 5
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 6
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 7
VFS: Disk change detected on device ide0(3,0)
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 0
FAT: unable to read boot sector
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
ISO 9660 Extensions: RRIP_1991A
parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [PCSPP,EPP]
lp0: using parport0 (polling).
lp0: compatibility mode
parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [PCSPP,EPP]
parport_pc: Via 686A parallel port: io=0x378
Non-volatile memory driver v1.1
parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [PCSPP,EPP]
lp0: using parport0 (polling).
lp0: compatibility mode
imm: Version 2.05 (for Linux 2.4.0)
ppa: Version 2.07 (for Linux 2.4.x)
WARNING - no ppa compatible devices found.
As of 31/Aug/1998 Iomega started shipping parallel
port ZIP drives with a different interface which is
supported by the imm (ZIP Plus) driver. If the
cable is marked with "AutoDetect", this is what has
happened.
VFS: Disk change detected on device fd(2,0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 02:00 (floppy), sector 0
VFS: Disk change detected on device fd(2,0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 02:00 (floppy), sector 0
VFS: Disk change detected on device fd(2,0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 02:00 (floppy), sector 0
VFS: Disk change detected on device fd(2,0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 02:00 (floppy), sector 0
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 64
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 65
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 66
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 67
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 68
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 69
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 70
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 71
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 72
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 73
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 74
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 75
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 76
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 77
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 78
ide-scsi: hdc: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 16:00 (hdc), sector 79
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 64
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 65
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 66
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 67
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 68
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 69
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 70
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 71
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 72
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 73
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 74
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 75
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 76
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 77
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 78
ide-scsi: hda: unsupported command in request queue (0)
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:00 (hda), sector 79

Wow!. Where to start? I'm really in over my head, but here goes ...

There are a lot of errors. Sometimes linux complains about a lot of things that aren't important but i don't remember ever seeing so many error.

How many physical drives do you have on this box (pplease list hard drives and IDE CDROM or CDR or DVD)? From cat /proc/interrupts, lines, 11, 14, and 15, I would guess you list should contain five items.
11: ide4, ide5
14: ide0
15: ide1

Do you have any USB attachments besides your mouse (IE like for a digital camera, etc). Your cat /proc/interrupts shows two usb-uhci, usb-uhci on IRQ 12 with your network interface card. that's a lot of resources on one IRQ. This is not necessarily bad because some hardware can easily co-exist on the same IRQ but generally the mouse is not one of them in my experience. you might want to consider relocating the NIC (its easier than messing with your USB stuff believe me). if this were a redhat box you would edit /etc/modules.conf. in this file you would see something like alias eth0 yourNICmodulenamehere. at the end of this line you would add irq=7. before you do that, however, read below because you will need to get your module name correctly from the list you are going to make from the lsmod command).

Do you really have any scsi (as opposed to IDE) drives on this box? You may not have any and still have scsi drives reported because linux uses scsi drivers for some IDE devices like CDR's.

Can you post the output of lsmod here?

hey this is great! I'm learning a lot of commands that I had no idea about.


here's the lsmod:

Module Size Used by Tainted: P
mousedev 3904 1
snd-pcm-oss 45568 1 (autoclean)
snd-mixer-oss 11424 1 (autoclean)
agpgart 30272 3 (autoclean)
NVdriver 1066848 10 (autoclean)
nfsd 65408 4 (autoclean)
snd-seq-midi 4480 0 (autoclean) (unused)
snd-emu10k1-synth 5824 0 (autoclean)
snd-emux-synth 29440 0 (autoclean) [snd-emu10k1-synth]
snd-seq-midi-emul 4528 0 (autoclean) [snd-emux-synth]
snd-seq-virmidi 3880 0 (autoclean) [snd-emux-synth]
snd-seq-oss 24800 0 (autoclean)
snd-seq-midi-event 2760 0 (autoclean) [snd-seq-midi snd-seq-virmidi snd-seq-oss]
snd-seq 42156 2 (autoclean) [snd-seq-midi snd-emux-synth snd-seq-midi-emul snd-seq-virmidi snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event]
snd-emu10k1 65092 2 [snd-emu10k1-synth]
snd-pcm 61824 0 [snd-pcm-oss snd-emu10k1]
snd-timer 12256 0 [snd-seq snd-pcm]
snd-hwdep 4768 0 [snd-emu10k1]
snd-util-mem 1504 0 [snd-emux-synth snd-emu10k1]
snd-rawmidi 14112 0 [snd-seq-midi snd-seq-virmidi snd-emu10k1]
snd-seq-device 4416 0 [snd-seq-midi snd-emu10k1-synth snd-emux-synth snd-seq-oss snd-seq snd-emu10k1 snd-rawmidi]
snd-ac97-codec 24548 0 [snd-emu10k1]
snd 33640 0 [snd-pcm-oss snd-mixer-oss snd-seq-midi snd-emu10k1-synth snd-emux-synth snd-seq-midi-emul snd-seq-virmidi snd-seq-oss snd-seq-midi-event snd-seq snd-emu10k1 snd-pcm snd-timer snd-hwdep snd-util-mem snd-rawmidi snd-seq-device snd-ac97-codec]
soundcore 3396 10 [snd]
ipv6 156928 -1 (autoclean)
isa-pnp 27656 0 (unused)
printer 5696 0
hid 17792 0 (unused)
joydev 5792 0 (unused)
evdev 4000 0 (unused)
input 3168 0 [mousedev hid joydev evdev]
st 26452 0 (autoclean) (unused)
sg 24356 0 (autoclean)
usb-uhci 21988 0 (unused)
usbcore 57184 1 [printer hid usb-uhci]
3c59x 25736 1
nls_iso8859-1 2880 1 (autoclean)
ntfs 49248 0 (autoclean)
lvm-mod 58944 0 (autoclean)
ide-scsi 7552 0
reiserfs 160576 2
ataraid 6304 0 (unused)

_______________________________

as for the number of drives- I've got 3 IDE hard drives and 2 cdrecorders:

/dev/hdi2 -- is my system drive.
/dev/hdk2 -- just a storage drive with .mp3's etc.
/dev/cdrecorder -- is a liteon 32x12x40
/dev/cdrecorder1 -- is a plextor 8x4x32

and no truely scsi drives in the system.

As for USB, I have 2 USB ports- the mouse is plugged into one and the other is connected to a USB hub in my monitor (viewsonic VP181) I think this is the UHCI that we're seeing. My USB printer is plugged into the hub along with my RIO500 cable (I hardly use my rio anymore though)

I'll work on changing the IRQ for the nic today. Thanks so much for the help, this place rocks.

-fing

WOW, it seems I've stumped the experts.

I've been using linux now for about six months. And I've got to say, it has not been a good experience.

I really think I've put a lot of time and effort into giving linux a chance. 6 months is not just an over the weekend stab at it. I've really tried!

I'm having a really difficult time understanding what all the attitude is about linux... People who are into linux think its the greatest thing since sliced bread. I've found it to be WAY more complicated to use than any windows box I've ever touched (sysadmin for 2 years- working on computers for 8).

Dependencies, terrible hardware support, more crashes than ANY windows machine I've ever had, forums (excluding this one for the most part) with users who would rather ridicule or criticize than help.

I had a win2k machine that ran RC5 and seti@home for months (my record was 2.75 months) without a restart or crash. This SuSE machine I'm working on now can't make it through more than 4 or 5 hours without freezing up.

So, do I now try my 4th linux distro (I've tried RH, DEB, SuSE)? or do I go back to windows...

*I REALLY WANT TO LIKE LINUX*

but

***LINUX DOESN'T WANT ME TO LIKE IT!!!***

Well, i'm still way over my head but desperate measures seem to be in order. I've never done this but theoretically it might provide some help. Open a virtual terminal and type the following and hit return:

tail -f /var/log/messages

The tail command tail {[options] [file]}normally prints the last 10 lines of the named file but in this case we are going to ask it to keep recording until you hit control c. un plug your mouse and then plug it back in. See if an error message related to your mouse is recorded. If this doesn't generate a helpful error message, leave the terminal open. User your desktop as per usual and try to make your mouse fail. linux might just generate a helpful error message that you can bring back here and share.

once you get the error messages, you are probably going to hand edit your xf86config file. for a reference on the intellimouse config file, try:
http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/showdev.php?id=6


Regarding your experience, I'm sorry whenever people are rude. As a linux newbie, I've only experienced that one time. I guess it didn't bother me because I felt that it reflected more on the person who shot me down rather than myself. I figure I can ask in ignorance once, and learn from my experience rather than just keep my mouth shut and maybe never learn at all.