usb mouse, and tecra 8100 trackpad problems
 

I am having difficulty getting both my Logitech mx310 usb mouse, and the trackpad in the laptop to work. I don't necessarily want them to work at the same time, but it would be nice if the Logitech was not plugged in, to be able to use the trackpad. I have done quite a lot of configuration changes to the xorg.config file. I have gotten both to work seperately, so I know that the kernel is working to some degree. The PnP options are enabled, and working because I am able to unplug the mouse, and plug it back in and it will work fine.

To let you know I am using the latest version of slackware, kernel version 2.4.31 according to uname. I have used several different protocols in the xorg.config file, including IMPS/2, ExplorerPS/2, auto, PS/2 and a couple others. The only way I was able to get the usb mouse to work was to remove the Option "Device" "/dev/mouse" line and replace it with "/dev/input/mice". Now the interesting part of the whole thing is that I have also tried using multiple Identifiers, i.e. Mouse0 and Mouse1 with their own InputSection and EndSection.

Now for the real question, is there a way to program an "if" statement to recognize whether or not the usb mouse is plugged in? This may seem unnecessary, but it seems as though X11 reads the config file and sets the first Device it runs across in a certain area. And if everything works fine, it will disregard further settings. I have not done a whole lot of programming, but it seems there can be a work around to get both mice to work.

Just so you know I check this site at most a couple times a day, so it may be a while before I can respond back. Thanks in advance.

Maybe I should elaborate on this a little more. The reason I want to be able to use both the trackpad and the usb mouse, is because I use usb flash memory, and an external CD/RW. Unfortunately I only have one usb port on my machine, and I probably will not purchase another laptop for another six months. If this is going to be too much hassle, I can purchase a usb hub, that might be the simplest solution.

usb, ps2 mouse solution
 

Well I finally figured this one out. I kicked myself once I realized how easy this was.

X11 has difficulty recognizing two mice of different protocols. So the trick is to get both mice working with the same protocol, and more importantly the same device. This may not make too much sense, but this is how it works on my system. I recently purchased a new usb keyboard, and I already have a usb mouse, I could only plug one of them into the computer at a time. I plugged the keyboard into the usb slot, and found a usb to PS/2 adaptor, and plugged the mouse into it.

I don't know if you have a usb to PS/2 adaptor, but this worked well for me.

Then I edited the xorg.conf file, so the device option for the mouse is.

Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"

Then the protocol option is IMPS/2.

Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"

The primary reason this works for me, is because the IMPS/2 protocol works for the trackpad, plus the auxillary PS/2 port. Since X11, or more importantly the version I am running, has a tough time working with two devices with the same Identifier. Finding a device option and protocol option that runs both, becomes essential. Strangely enough, the mouse runs better than in windows, I think part of this would have to do with me manually setting the ZAxisMapping option. That is pretty much hardcoded in Linux, windows has had a tough time getting the scroll function to work, and I am not about the try and figure out where the driver config files are in windows. I hope this helps.