Hi. This is my first ,and definitely not my last, post on this forum. I am a relatively new linux user. I installed the Mandrake 9.1 distro about a year and a half ago.

My problem.....
I have a 'micro innovations ps/2 optical mouse' and it's giving me fits. I got all the buttons and scroll wheel working finally after reading through dozens of message boards, but the movement isn't right. If I move it fast it registers just fine, but if I try to do slow, precise movements, the cursor hardly moves at all.

The mouse doesn't give me any problems on windows. I use the standard ps/2 mouse driver on that os. It's just a pain in the butt switching between it and the ball mouse every time I change between win and linux.

my /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 (do I also need to edit the XF86Config-4 in /etc/? Or the standard /etc/XF86Config? I read somewhere that it doesn't read the latter 2 if it finds the -4 in /etc/X11?):

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2" (I tried "auto" here...same results)
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

I also edited the /etc/sysconfig/mouse file, don't know if it was necessary though:
MOUSETYPE=ps/2
XMOUSETYPE=ImPS/2 (was PS/2)
FULLNAME="PS/2|ImPS/2" (was PS/2|MicrosoftExplorerPS/2)
XEMU3=no (was yes)
WHEEL=yes (was no)
device=/dev/psaux

I can't tell any difference since modding that 1.

I've been searching all day and haven't found anyone with a similar problem using this mouse.

thanks

P.S. I recently installed a generic GeForce 5200 FX card, but I think it was doing it before I installed it.

this may not help...
maybe it's just a shite mouse?

if you've got the cash, go and buy a logitech.
they work lovely.

I have a similar problem with a M$ keyboard/mouse wireless combination. (Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 1.0) For the past year I've had this set up on a ps2 based kvm switch. That worked ok on my linux, but not on Windows, so I decided to get a usb kvm. Things work fine on windows now on both systems. But on Linux, my mouse moves to either the very top edge of the very right edge of my screen at random. It's very irritating. I've tried everything you've tried, and haven't gotten any solutions

I have the exact same mouse with the exact same problems that you're having. I can't even get mine to move. I'll post whatever I find for a fix.

I've been doing some testing, and I don't think the problem is with X, but some problem within the configuration of the user. I have tried this with a test user and root using Gnome, and the mouse works fine. I'm going to wipe out my user and see it that helps.

The mouse sensitivity setting just might not be set appropriately. If you're using KDE, go to Control Center > Peripherals > Mouse > Advanced, and all the mouse settings will be visible. Good luck with it -- J.W.

I tried that already. Unfortunately, no change in anything. I think it may be a problem with a windowing toolkit (possibly gtk, because I use GNOME) I've noticed that it happens most often when I move my mouse over something like an icon, button, or even links in Firefox, but at this point that's just a theory. Thanks for the help

I've found the source of my problem. Since I use gnome as my desktop, I deleted everything to do with gnome in my user home folder and redid the desktop. As I was rearranging my panels, everything worked fine until I added the gpilot panel applet, then the behavior started up again. I removed it, restarted X, and now everything's fine. It seems that gnome-pilot was conflicting with my USB mouse/keyboard somehow. (I have a USB palm cradle) Maybe the problems everyone are experiencing here are a result of a similar type of conflict.

hmm.. I just installed ubuntu and I'm having the exact same problem.. and I don't even have gpilot running since I don't have a palm pilot
install.
does anybody else have any other suggestions on how to make this M$ wireless keyboard/mouse combo working properly? the keyboard seems to be working perfectly (from what I can tell)

thxs
-MD

You may want to add the resolution option to see if it helps:

Option "Resolution" "400"

Start with say, 400 dpi and work your way up and down in the hundreds and see if it responds any differently. You'll have to restart X each time though.

KC

It might not be a palm pilot specifically, but some other USB device that you're using. What kind of devices do you have on your system?

I also experianced problems using my optical PS2 mouse with gentoo linux using xorg
At first the mouse was working fine but later on it started acting funny. After a few seconds of moving my mouse it started opening windows and moving irregular mainly in the upper left hand corner. I looked around to see if there was any fixes to this but I could not find any. I tried using various drivers for the mouse in my xorg.conf file. Nothing worked. The only solution that I have came up with so far is this. When I started my xwindows session, I unplugged my ps2 mouse and then replugged it back in. The mouse irregular behavior stopped. Let me know what results you get when doing this.

I have the same kind of optical mouse. It works on 2 other computers, one running SuSE 9.3 and one running W98. dmesg shows that ubuntu thinks I have a ps2 mouse. As far as I know this Micro Innovations optical mouse is built to look like a wheeled PS2 mouse. I have a removable HD on this computer. I can remove it and slide one in that has W98 on it and this mouse works fine. The laser light on the mouse goes out at exactly the same point in the boot sequence every time. Just before ubuntu sets the clock.

From /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

This is making me crazy, hmmm, my wife might say crazyer. I will keep working on this. If anyone comes up with a solution, please let me know. I have also put this on the ubuntu forums as I see someone over there has exactly the same problem.

Thanks, Steve

I noticed that my mouse buttons always work.

I got a reply from someone telling me that his Logic Tech mouse does the same thing, but that after boot, if he unplugs the mouse and then plugs it back in, all is ok. That does not work on this mouse.

The more I research this problem the more folks I run into that appear to have the same or very similar problems. I am beginning to think that the problem is a bug in the software that recognizes, (or in this case fails to recognize) the mouse.