Hello Staff,
I'm a total Linux newbie with an ISO downloaded, 5 CD installed SuSE Linux 9.3 distro with the 2.6.11.4-21.9 kernel since October 15, 2005. The MS standard PS/2, 2 button, middle wheel mouse and pointer have worked well from the first, although the middle wheel has remained non-functional; that has not bothered me as I'm just "feeling" my way through the interesting OS.
Suddenly the afternoon, while trying to "test" the mouse using the various mouse type options on the SUSE screen, the pointer JUST STALLED and has not moved since! Several reboots have not helped; the mouse works fine with Windows XP HE; I've also removed and replaced the cable connection to the system unit without any improvement.
I do notice that the details on the Linux boot sequence screen have changed somewhat. But the full boot completes with the keyboard intact, but STILL NO ACTION WITH THE MOUSE POINTER.
All solutions are welcome.
Sincerely,
langbein

Dell 4600 with ample drive space, speed, RAM, and a second internal hard drive containing the Linux distro.

If you use Alt-F2 then type yast. You can use the keyboard to reconfigure the mouse.
Alt-F2
yast
<password>
<Down Arrow> to Hardware
<Tab>
Go to Mouse Model <enter>
Use keyboard to select correct mouse

Thank you Jongi,
Your user friendly instructions were 100% correct and very easy for a "newbie" to follow. What a pleasant introduction to this incredibly complete Linux problem solving user group.
The mouse pointer immediately reactivated when the intellimouse ps/2 choice was selected again.
TTFN,
langbein

I had a similar problem at some point. I am only too happy to pass on my limited SUSE experience that I probably learnt from others.

Hello again Jongi,
Well perhaps I spoke too soon!
While your sequence certainly "cured" the stall yesterday, I did not reboot after the "repair."
This morning (10/30/05) following the first Linux boot of the day, the STALLED MOUSE POINTER again occurred.
Your sequence again solved the stall, but it appears that the corrective steps are not saved in the Linux system. How do I SAVE this correction after I enter the changes?
Hope you again will have some welcome help on the OS failure to retain the correction.
Sincerely,
langbein

This part, I am afraid is not quite as easy.
Way 1:
Login as root, navigate in Konquerer to the etc/X11/ folder. Open the xorg.conf with kate or kwrite, then scroll down to the mouse section of the conf file. Check to see what is set, you may have to write in the PS/2 settings. Save, log out, log in as yourself.

Way 2:
Command Line... type "su" then enter. Type in your root password, and navigate to etc/X11.(type ".." ".." "cd etc" "cd X11"(caps matter). Either type "edit xorg.conf", if you are familiar with how to edit in Command Line, or type "kwrite xorg.conf" and hit enter. Check the same as above. Modify as needed. Logout, log back in.

Hello RedShirt,
I appreciate your response with 2 options. I chose the first as they both seemed to take me to the same destination and #1 seemed easier to follow.

I found /etc/X11/xorg.conf and moved down to the following area:

Input Devices "/dev/mouse" where I replaced ".../mouse" with..." /IntelliMouse Explorer (ps2)" and saved the changes.
Unfortunately upon reboot these changes were NOT SAVED and the stalled mouse was again back!

I noticed, however, that further down the list of xorg.conf file entries there is the following section that I will try to reproduce:

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "mouse"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
option "ButtonNumber" "5"
option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
option "Name" "PS/2 Generic Mouse"
option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
option "Vendor" "Sysp"
option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

Above the section is another that I will try to reproduce:
Section "ServerFlags"
option "AllowMouseOpenFail"

Where do I go from here?

Sincerely,
langbein

Well, you had the right idea, but modified it in the wrong way...

Change this:
To this:
Now, I know the /dev/mouse to dev/input/mice is a change, it should work anyway, it did for me. Then save the changes. across the top of Kate or Kwrite, you should see the "Xorg.conf[modified]" drop back to "Xorg.xonf".


To then get your side buttons working:
create a new text file in etc/ called "profile.local" and put this text in it:
xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5" with nothing else. If you already have a profile.local, just add that line to it.

I had the 9.3 mouse problem as well. A more permanent fix would be to configure the mouse with sax which seems to do a more complete job of mouse configuration. In 10.0, YaST uses sax directly for mouse configuration. I didn't resurrect that problem when upgrading from 9.3 to 10.0.

I can second that. After my issues with it in 9.3 I said "F off" and waited for 10.0. I have had virtually no problems in 10.0 that weren't caused by me, or were just how Linux is, like the intellimouse sidebuttons and the 3d Acceleration of an ATI card. I could never get any of that working right, or keep my mouse up in 9.3, but in 10.0, it has all worked sweetly.

Hello again RedShirt and Fragos,

Wow, these changes make mine look insignificant!
But......"a total newbie" is the person you're trying to help. I'll be gone for several days, so I may have to wait until I return to continue with the RedShirt suggestions.

What is "sax?" Is this a possible solution for SuSE 9.3? If so, a simple yes or no will suffice for the time being; it might be a option to pursue if this MOUSE STALL persists???

Thanks to both of you for your prompt answers; we'll get this "simple" problem solved sooner or later, I hope.

Sincerely,
langbein

Sax is a graphical compenent, like Xorg, that reads settings of and configures periphirals. SuSE 9.3 should have it built right into YAST. So to access it, you can just run the Control Panel and access the peripherals section, then mouse. And viola you are configuring the mouse with Sax2.

In 9.3 YaST may not always use sax for mouse configuration. To insure sax is used:
bring up a console terminal window
su (you'll be prompted for the root password)
sax2 (GUI version of sax should start)
the rest should be intuitive

Well, having "digested" your detailed help of "change this code... to this code..."I couldn't wait to get started! So I'm back to say that the code changes worked perfectly and the mouse pointer keeps moving even after several reboot efforts.

RedShirt, you are truly "THE MAN."

I will wait until I return "To then get your side buttons working." The sax search and modify sounds tempting, but I may need some further input before I try to get very far on this job.

At any rate, I deeply appreciate your continuing messages and patience with a learner;
but, hey, isn't this is the way that Linux can eventually become a valid alternative to "everyman?"-->> Conversion one person at a time.

TTFN,
langbein

It may be slow, but I just began the journey my self. I didn't like many many versions for my own use. At work and school I used linux for years. But for my home use, SuSE 10 is the first happy enough to let me learn about the install and other setup processes while having a functional OS to use.