Intellimouse Optical / Mandrake 9.1
 

I just downloaded Mandrake 9.1 but it doesn't recognize my USB Intellimouse Optical. This mouse has been around for at least 3 years, I figured it would have some support. I was able to select the "no mouse" option to install completely, but couldn't maneuver around too well with the keyboard. Can anyone help? Thanks.

Hmm... Mandrake snorfled it, hmm... let's see if X's utility can guess your mouse. First, get a Konsole or a term, or whatever, and try the command, as root:

init 3

That should kill X-windows and get you to a login prompt. Now log in as root and try:

X -configure

The screen will blink a few times and then tell you what to do to test X-windows, go ahead and run the command it tells you. To get out of the test:

ctrl+alt+backspace

That -configure command created a file that is a decent guess at what X should be set to. It'll have a section for the mouse in it, should look something like:
except of course, not PS/2...

to look at yours, from the command line:

more /root/XF86Config.new

If that test looked okay and the mouse worked, first backup your old XF86Config with:

cp /etc/X11/XF86Config /root/XF86Config.old

and then copy over the test file to where it'll get read:

cp /root/XF86Config.new /etc/X11/XF86Config

Now, let's get the heck out of runlevel 3 and back to 5:

init 5

or...

reboot

Hmm... If the resolution sucks with the new file, just edit the old file and change all the mouse info to match the above kinds section.

Cheers,

Finegan

I attempted to use this fix and it didn't work. Are there any other suggestions? A friend of mine said it might work better if I had the USB-PS/2 adapter, but I don't still have this.

Mandrake is a few months old, my mouse is a few years old, it seems like it should work.