Hey I'm a super n00b to linux and I'm trying to get it set up so i can learn to use it.

I got everything Setup, I even figured out how to set up my AOL DSL with it which is, or was, a true feat ^_^

But I still have one (hopefully last) problem still to deal with. right now I'm using a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer Wireless Optical USB device. I've tried to set it up and have already scoured the internet with google reinstalled a few times. I can't figure out how to get the mouse to work though in KDE/ whatever windows manager is active.

It works perfectly well in the installation but when I get to KDE the mouse can only go up and down and the buttons don't work (or work erratically).

I know very little about linux but I've tried looking it up
I have the mouse set to the /mouse part

it's really annoying. I'm soo close but so far.
So anyone have any suggestions? I'd be enormously grateful.

BTW I'm using Mandrake 9.0

A couple of things.

Edit /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 to include the following for your mouse

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/usbmouse"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection


If it doesn't already. If you wish to use the side buttons, try this page

http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/xwin/xmouse2.html

but good luck, not many apps support them.

Also, if this doesn't fix your erratic mouse behaviour, try unplugging your mouse, rebooting, then plugging it back in when you get back to your login prompt. I've found this solves my probs. It's a pain in the ----, but it works. I'm working on a solution ( I think it may be a hotplugging issue) & if I come up with a definitive fix, I'll post again.

HTH

RoryG

As reported in other posts, I had problems with a USB mouse, but it came with a PS/2 adaptor so I retried that. I still had problems until I put back the BIOS changes I had made for the USB mouse.

My problems had started when I moved the mouse socket from the front to the back of the computer! Really!

So unless you need hotplugging, try PS2 and see how you get on! You may need to change your BIOS to its default setting.

nope, none of that stuff seems to work. on the plus side I figured out how to read X config files and use the editors but on the downside I couldn't fix my problem. I'll try to pull out my ps/2 intellimouse and try that. otherwise if that don't work I'll hav to switch to redhat. PS can someone post up the config for setting up intellimouse like the one posted by RoryG?

Thnx for ur help everyone.

I think the mouse response is a function of XF86Config-4 whether you use Red Hat or Mandrake. My solution worked for someone using Red Hat on another thread, so I doubt whether changing distros will make that much difference, unless you go to a later distro with a more recent XFree.

If you do switch to RedHat try 9.0 or upgrade your Mandrake to 9.1, Mandrake, in particular, do put pretty good stuff on their download edition, and you can find out how to get what's missing at the Penguin Liberation Front http://plf.zarb.org