You can try to comment out

Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"

by placing # in front of the line and add the line below beneath the comment line

Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"


The reason why I suggest commenting lines is because you can refer to it later.

The listed option (device /dev/input/mice) is correct for Fedora Core 4 (the distro under consideration). Indeed, /dev/psaux does not exist. Do you have a special reason for believeing that this will work?

It does on my setups that is using different kernel versions and distributions. I only use PS/2 mice.

Actually PS/2 is /dev/psaux and it is well documented in the kernel. If PS/2 is set as built-in, the PS/2 mouse will never be loaded when using 2.6.x kernels. The kernel have to be compile for PS/2 to be set as module. The module will be named psmouse. Adding a line in /etc/modules.conf or /etc/modprobe.conf to load up psmouse will not work because 2.6.x does not detect PS/2 mouse. You will have to add /sbin/modprobe psmouse to /etc/rc.local.

The device node /dev/input/mice is for USB mouse. This is also documented in the kernel.

OK - the reason you felt it should work is that this is how the kernel documentation says it should. That's fine, (certainly a good reason) can you provide the reference you are using?

Just checking the systems at my immediate disposal ... all have ps2 mice (I like the way it frees a usb port for other uses), none have /dev/psaux. All the Xorg.conf use /dev/mice regardless of usb or ps2 other mouse styles (ie generic serial) have not been tried.

FC4, Ubuntu Breezy, DSL.

Have your seen: http://kerneltrap.org/node/1587 ?

My systems that uses Xorg or XFree86 are set at /dev/psaux. It works perfectly. If I have not change it, it will never work.

Download the kernel source code and look through files under directory named Documentation or type make menuconfig and look through the help for PS/2 mouse.

You can do it your way and find out that does not work or do it my way and it will work.

Now-now... no need for that. Please note that I am doing it my way and it does work my way , and, this is the Fedora default method.

I'm looking through the kernel documentation in (ubuntu) /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12/Documentation/devices.txt ... this what you mean?

Here I see, indeed, /dev/psaux being reserved for "ps/2-style mouse port". Reading on I get...
/dev/input/mouse0 is the first mouse, /dev/input/mouse1 is the second mouse, /dev/input/mice is called "Unified mouse".

But also see: post-halloween-2.6.txt ...

There has been a lot of discussion on the kernel developmennt lists about this. (See the archives.) Quite a bit of the discussion goes quit a bit like this one ... should we have a specific thread?

The 2.6 kernel handles mice differemtly from the 2.4 kernel, though it is possible, as you have noted, to force the old behavior. Specifically the kernel handles mouse events and all input goes to /dev/mice ... though mostly this gets mentioned in relation to implimenting multiple mice, it makes a handy default for distro releases where they don't want to have to second-guess the exact mouse configuration.

See our very own wiki page on this subject!Perhaps forcing the old 2.4 behavior will do the trick, as you say. However, as there is an identifiable error in the xorg.conf file (lack of a declaired corepointer device), lets just correct that before completely changing the way X interacts with the mouse.

At this point, there is enough for others reading this to make up their minds. We're wandering well off the matter at hand... and both our recommendations are on the record. Lets leave it at that shall we?

It remains only to wait for a responce from the original poster...

lini: how did you get on?
When a question brings together a couple of hackers with different understandings, this sort of thing is bound to happen. One of the beauties of this forum - an innocent question turns out to be interesting on a level you didn't anticipate. This is a good reason not to be shy of asking, apparently, silly questions

My personal suggestion, given the previous discussion, is to add the corepointer thing into the xorg.conf and see if that does the trick. If it don't, then you may want to try changing the way X handles your mouse.

Let us know how it went. Happy hacking.

well i hav installed fedora 4 on my pc yest. Nut during n after installation mouse doesnt work.
Is it so serial mouse wont work?

I read some related threads nut i dun hav ne /etc/X11/
sub directory?
Now how to solve it?

From the Fedora Core 4 Release Notes:

To get serial mice to work after installation - try a reboot. Kudzu may detect the mouse and ask you to configure it. However, you are better to use ps2 or usb.

If you have rebooted and still no mouse, I'll need to see the bits in /etc/X11/xorg.conf which mention a mouse.