Mouse Problems with Knoppix and ubuntu
 

Hey y'all;

newbie here; I simply loved the look and feel of Knoppix 2.XX running live on my Dell "Latitude", Pentium III, 256-k ram machine. I had also gotten a copy of ubuntu, so I loaded that on a 10 gig partition of my HDD. I have since learned that Knoppix uses KDE and ubuntu uses Gnome. Be this as it may, Booting ubuntu from my HDD went smoothly enough, but the mouse pointer jumps all over the screen, and/or jams in the corner and won't be moved by my efforts with the PS/2 wheel mouse.

So I got new version of knoppix 4.xx (I thought I might eventually run it from my HDD) and running THAT live has nearly the same effect as running ubuntu from my HDD. The difference being that as long as I leave the PS/2 wheel mouse (actually optical) plugged into the mouse port in the back, I can use the touch pad; MOST OF THE TIME. If I un-plug the wheel mouse, then the touch pad won't work and the mouse pointer jumps all over the screen. Plugging in the wheel mouse AFTER this has no effect. Sometimes, on a subsequent boots, neither device controls the pointer effectively.

The only version of linux that seems to work with my laptop is the older knoppix

It would seem that something to do with mouse drivers is not makeing to the "full monty". Any suggestions?

The mouse is defined within /etc/X11/xrog.conf on newer systems. Could you post your mouse section and the section on your touchpad?

I have a Compaq with a Synaptic touch pad and it uses a different protocol than my optical wheel mouse.

The wheel mouse - protocol=ImPS/2 and the touchpad; protocol=auto-dev. This is my Ubuntu breezy machine.

dont you mean /etc/X11/xorg.conf

check for your mouse in /dev and then add it to your X11's config, then restart X

Ooops... spell checker doesn't check brain checks....

Yes, it should be /etc/X11/xorg.conf

This sounds like really good advice,...but...Somehow I knew I would get useful tips on how to make command line tweaks. How and where, pray-tell, does one go about playing around with things like "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" and "protocol=ImPS/2 and the touchpad; protocol=auto-dev"?

Don't want to sound like a total newbie, but tell me once, and then I'll know too.

If y'all could give me a hint as to where and when one goes to make these changes, I would most greatful.


thanks

Phazon

Not sure where it is you are getting this information. I am guessing there is a command prompt type environmaent that I can get into to look around in the "guts" of the code, but I don't know how to do this. Would you mind giving step by step instructions on where to get this info?

Thanks for the come back

RL

Well, when the system is booting from a live Knoppix CD, I see a sentence scroll by that says

mouse is standard PS/2 wheel mouse at /dev/psaux

Does this mean anything to you?

I am starting to pickup on the way to effect and change this stuff.

Apparently, at the boot: prompt when using Knoppix, I can enter cheat codes that might help with several things. Perhaps this is where I could put in something that helps.

Also, after the GUI has loaded, using Kubuntu live, and or Knoppix live, and can go to bash and type some stuff in thee.

Don't know much more at this time.


I have been able to load a live version of kubuntu that allows me to use my touchpad with no problem, but does not even see the PS/2 wheel mouse plugged into the machine. At least the pointer does not fly all over the screen....

I suspect that my mouse ports/hardware is a little iffy too. When ever I move the pointer, I can hear a "...zzzzZZZzzzz..." sort of electrical noise coming from around the hot-swap cdrw drive area. I used to get the same problem with win98. When using 98, if I pulled out the hot-swap cdrw drive and plugged it back in, the mouse would start to behave again for awhile. After switching to XP, things seemed to self heal. I never get these mouse/touch pad issue while using XP. I have to say, when linux first started raising eyebrows, it was in the win98 era. Since then, XP seems to have addressed a lot of these issues, and almost anticipates these kinds of problems. I have yet to see how linux is so superior and more stable. I like linux so far, when it works. I think it has potential, but XP never throws my pointer all over the screen and I am able to use touch pad and wheel mouse alternately on the fly.

Hmmmm....

O.K. let me see if I can point you in teh right direction. The first thing you need to understand is linux looks at disks and folders in a differen way than any flavour of windoze.


The disks... First hard drive is know as hda and the first partition will be hda1, assuming it is a primary partition. If I use a term you don't understand, like primary partition, this one is common to all os's since dos. The second drive will be hdb, the third hdc etc.

Partition numbers go up by one... almost unless they are a primary partition. This makes the story more difficult. We have to track primary parts... so the second primary will be 2, regardless of the disk it is on. The extended parts are numbered after the primarys. So, if you had a dorve with 1 disk, with one primary and 2 parts on an extended part, you would have hda1, hda5 and hda6. ( 2,3, and 4 are for primarys ). Sounds messy, but not bad once you get the hang of it. Notice no more 'c drive and d drive...'

Now for the file system in linux. It looks at all partitions as one large file system, as if they were on one disk. In reallity they can be spread over several disks, even the network. Everything starts from the root, show as the forward slash character '/'. A folder in the root will show up there; such as bin, and would be typed as /bin. Notice the slash. So to get to get to /etc/X11 ( watch, case sensitive ) you would do a cd /etc and press enter, then type X11 ( no slash ) press enter and you would be in the correct directory. If you did another cd / ( enter key) that would take you back to the root. Try it, it works...

So, the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf is in the path from the root of etc/X11. It is a plain text file and can be edited with a program like vi or (my favorite gedit) there are lots more.

Yes it does, this is the driver loading to run your mouse. If you look in /etc/X11/xorg.conf you will see a mouse section, with a protocol= parameter, and I would expect it to be 'pasux'

Is this mouse plugged into the USB port or into the ps/2 port? This matters a lot as to why this is not operating properly. I saw this bug once on my old Compaq when I had a USB wheel mouse plugged in, and had the PS/2 port driver loaded.

As far as your comments on stability, linux is far more stable, ie you can go years and never boot.(Large corporations do this all the time). You can add hardware, boot once, configure, and use it. Try that with windoze.

There is a steep learning curve with linux. Is it worth the effort??? Only you can decide that for your self.

Sentences like this just roll your tongue I can tell, but you keep saying "enter",....where"? Where is it that all of these xxx/xxx/xxx commands are being entered? Imagine you are me sitting in front of a KDE or GNOME GUI, and I you are being told..."just type xxx/xxx/xxx and push enter...". Where is this to be done?

Do you see my dilemma?

it's defenitely "psaux". Is this the problem, or one of them? If so, why hasn't this been addressed in the past. Can it be fixed after it loads?

Where would this be done?

The mouse is plugged into the PS/2 port. I might have suspected a usb mouse to be better, but maybe not now that you have sadi this about yours. hmmmm

side note: Stability? Well, I have pulled out my cdrw drive (which seems to be a usb connection becasue I get that "tong" noise from the speakers when I pull it out) and put it back in on the fly whle using xp, and it will work fine. If I do that while running any version of linux, it just "goes" away, never to return as usable until the next boot up....

OK, now it's getting even more ineteresting. I just tried fooling aroung with a live version of "Damn Small Linux" running off of mr cdrw drive. Wow. Brillliant looking. smooth, flawless perfromance. This is apparently based on Knoppix, but only barely resembles any other KDE GUI that I have seen.

Best part of all, it loads my mouse AND touch pad perfectly and I can use either at any time - flawlessly.

So,.....what does DSL have that the others don't? I wonder what command is used during boot up that could be incorparated in the other ones.

I'm beggining to wonder if I got a bum download on some of these.


hmmmm

I tried the live version of Kubuntu because the install iso failed to install the entir package. some files were corrupted I guess. I tried downlaoding the iso from antoher site and seem to have gotten a good one. I just installed Kubuntu on a partition, and it runs fine. I am able use the touch pad without problems, but it does not see the ps/2 mouse; same as the Kubuntu live version.

I am guessing that with the HDD versin of Kubuntu I am running now, I can change something in the boot-up so that it will give me use of my mouse and touch pad - like the wonderful way that the live versin of Damn Small Linux does. I supppose I need to find out what DSL is doing right, put that in the start up of Kubuntu, and bingo, pefect linux. Ya!

I have to say, I am disappointed that Kubunut has no games...

This is all done in a console. If you are running KDE, look for an icon labeled "Konsole" When you click it, you will get a command prompt. Type the stuff in there. When I sue the term enter, it means press the enter key. That causes the system to process the command string you have typed.

Just for the record, DSL does not use KDE. Been a while since I used it. DSL is a very good small live CD.

Now, if you want to fix the mouse problem, with DSL loaded, open a console. I'm not sure what one is made available in DSL. ( The nice thing about linux is choice; multiple desktops, different consoles etc...)

Go to the directory /etc/X11/ and look for the file xorg.conf. Open that file with a text editor. You will have to explore DSL to find one. I'm sure there is one there somewhere. Look at the section for the mouse, write down what is there. My guess is there will be about five lines. Now if you boot to the distro you want to fix, edit its /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to match. That process will fix your mouse troubles.

What you have discovered so far is, various distros do a better job at detecting hardware than others. This is a very complex task for any OS. It seems better in windoze, simply because if any manufacturer wants to sell their hardware, they have to make sure it works in windoze. So they make a driver to work in windoze. Linux is free, not made by manufacturing companies. Most of this stuff is made to work by volunteers, not looking for financial reward.

One other thing I saw in your posts, there is a way to verify your download is good, before you burn the ISO. Each ISO will have a file called md5sum associated with it. They can be found on the site where you downloaded the ISO from. That file is a complex algorithm of all data making up the file. For windoze there is a .exe program you can download. You run that program again the ISO. It will produce a md5sum of the ISO file you downloaded. If the one on the download site, and the one calculated on your system are equal, you have a good download. If not, download again, check again. There is a how-to if you want to try this out. Post if you want the link. I'll look it up for you.

Yes,...got the enter part. Konsole is what I am looking for.

I wonder what command Knoppix 3.7 and Damn Small Linux are using to make the system see both the PS/2 mouse and the touch pad without problems. Even if I knew, would I have to put it in every time I run Kubuntu, or could it be made a permanent part of my start up batch file? I am assuming it is called batch file even in Linux...

Very cool bro. this will help a lot I am sure. I will take a look at theis using Knosole. Way cool.

By the way, is it just me or does the penguin seem like it's watching?

Well, I am getting the hang of this a little.

There is no file named xorg.conf in /etc/X11 when either DSL or Knoppix GUI is running. All kinds of other cool stuff though.

By the way, X11 is case sensitive, one mild thing I don't like about Linux/Unix.

O.K. if you don't have a file called xorg.conf, you should have a file called XF86Config in the same path. This is the older file for configuring the gui, mouse keyboard, monitor and video card.

Open it and follow the information above. Yes linux is case sensative, so note how I typed the config file name.

I definitely do have this file. I was checking it out. It seemed like it might be a file that had something to do with this. I will certainly take a look at the differences. Thanks a lot. I will get back to you on this. What would be really cool is if I could save the text file to my jump drive. I can see the jump drive on my desk top, and look at files on it, but I can't save to it. Probably because it is formatted as fat32. I'll have to right it down I guess...

Ok

It was Xf86config on Knoppix, but it is xorg.conf in Kubuntu.

Kubuntu does not seem to have any basic editors on board, so I used Openoffice writer to add

Section "pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Butttons
Emulate3Timeout 70
EndSection

to xorg.conf

But...I am unable to save it to /etc/X11, "acces denied".

I saved it to the desk top. Then tried to move it using a DOS command for moving, but it won't go (well! CD works, why shouldn't some others?) . How do I get it into the /etc/X11 directory? What is the command for moving stuff in linux/unix? Where can I go for a list of commands and what they do? Is there one on line that I can print?

Thanks

O.K. we are making progress, don't give up. All distros have editors available. Each distro will put them in the menu structure in different places. No big deal, you just have to look around.

Now, for the reason you could not save the edited file to /etc/X11. This is the first time you have run head long into permissions. At first this may seem like a pain, but it is one thing that makes linux more stable and secure. Files not in your home directory and in the system directories usually have an owner of 'root' and all other users probably don't have write access. There reason is simple, to prevent unfamiliar users from destroying a multi-user system. So how do you find out who owns a file, and what permissions does it carry. There are several ways, the one I use the most is the ls command with the -l parameter. Here is what it will look like.

I did a cd to /etc/X11 and on the first line typed the command. The response from the system is on the second line. Note the field -rw-rw-r-- These are the permissions for that file. There are 10 columns. The first has to do with the type of file. Don't worry about this field. The next 9 characters represent the permissions for user,group,other 3 characters per field.

So, the owner ( root ) can read 'r' write 'w' but nothing else like execute this file. The group root the same, and all other users read only.

If you opened up OO and edited the file, you are 'other', and therefore can not write the file.

So how do you get around this? Best way is to open the file as root user. When you log into konsole ( remember that? ) you first open as your username. You can then use the su command ( switch user). So, open a konsole, wait for the command prompt, type su and press the enter key. The system will prompt you for a password. You need to type the password you created for the root user. Careful here, these live CD's have different ways of looking after this. Check the documentation for the distro on the live CD's for the way they handle the root password. When you do an install, this is an option during the install. Always create a root password, and don't forget it.

Once you enter the root password, and press enter, the last character of the command prompt will change to a # character. It si a $ when you are logged in as a user. Now you have the power to edit this file, delete it or destroy the whole system; so be carful. It is always a good idea to create a backup of any file you are going to mess with. Do that by using the cp command. Here is a sample, to backup xorg.conf BEFORE you edit it, change to the directory, and do a 'cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.bkup' ( without the quotes). You will now have the original file, and a backup. If things get screwed up, do a 'cp xorg.conf.bkup xorg.conf' and you will write the .bkup file over the xorg.conf file. The system will ask you 'are you sure', you have to answer yes.

A list of commands can be found at :

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Commands

You can learn a lot about commands by reading the man pages. The best way is to open up konqueror. On the line where you usually type a URL, type 'man:/ls' and press enter. You will get the man page nicely formatted, and scrollable for the command ls. There is a lot of stuff you don't need to know, so look for what you need, and remember this is always there. You can also look at the man pages on a knosole. Type 'man ls' for the same information. It is not as pretty, and can not be scrolled. Use the up and down arrow keys to go up and down the file. Use the 'q' key to quit viewing the man page.

I think this is enough for now, see if you can make a copy and try some editing of the file. Let me know what you need help with.

This sounds like flying to me! One small problem may still be lurking (I will know soon enough when I try what you have suggested); that is, what might be the root pass-word? When Kubuntu is installing, it asks you to create a user name and pass-word. This is the pass-word I use whenever I boot Kubuntu; but will this be the same for root status? hmmm,

wonderful info - thanks

This should help greatly

Ubuntu and Kubuntu come without the root account active. You can use instead 'sudo command' You will still get a passord prompt, just enter your user password. That will give you root athority for one command at a time.

I found this a pain, and activated the root account and set a password. I'll see if I can find the information on how to do that and post it.

If you wan to activate the root account, this is how...

Enabling the root account

To enable the root account (i.e. set a password) use:

sudo passwd root

Enter your existing password
Enter password for root
Confirm password for root

This is all done in a konsole.

Just type

"sudo passwd root"

and enter?

I shall try it.

I also found this page at the Kubuntu site

https://wiki.kubuntu.com/RootSudo?ac...nableRootLogin

Let me go play and see what happens

Thanks so much

It is a matter of choice. The design in Ubuntu is to try an make the system more 'goof proof'. I find it a pain to have to keep typing sudo command. I was also trying to keep things as simple as possible, for your benefit. Linux can seem overwhelming to a new user.

Keep in mind this may not work on other distros. However, I have not run into a distro where you can not su to root. Since you were trying Knoppix as well, learning one new thing that would work on them all seemed to make sense.

K...

This worked...boy did it.

Let me take you on a little adventure.

First, it may be interesting to note; Knoppix will go to root simply by typing

su

I had to enter and re-enter a password for Kubuntu, fair enough.

You know what they say about being able to load Knoppix and fix things? so true.

Using Knoppix, I right clicked on the icon for my linux partition, which is hda3 on my machine. I looked at the properties, which said it was at

/ramdisk/hda3

but using a text editor, and viewing the file tree, it looked like it was at

/mnt/hda3

after much trial and error, I was able to

cd ../

and finally back into

/

and tried cd /mnt/hda3

bingo! then I was able to go to xorg.conf in my Kubuntu folder which is on hda3 at

/etc/X11

and do a

chmod 777 xorg.conf

now we are talking heh?

so now I open the little editor on-board with knoppix, and do a save-as of the xorg.conf file that I created with the new "section" for the mouse, which I created using Open Office.org write.....

ooops, now Kubuntu won't boot....

I used Knoppix to look at xorg.conf in the Kubuntu folder on hda3 again and found that the "write" program I used when I was in kubuntu had replaced the quotation marks with @ symbols and little tiny boxes,...nice.

So, I used the little text editor that comes with Knoppix to change these to quotes.

Now, I load again...still no PS/2 mouse, kubuntu is running at least.

So I try another "section" type string of sentences that I picked up from god knows where at this point.

Now I can't boot again.

SO, scratch kubuntu, I download the ISO for VextorLinux.

Load that, try to boot...scrambled images, flickering screen, no mouse or touch pad...nice.

So, I re-load kubuntu. This does run nicely I have to say, and I think it even has games but they have to be sort-of unlocked according to the documentation at the kubuntu site.

I may yet get the mouse to work too, but at this point, I will settle for mounting my hard drive partitions, and installing www and some games. I will go from there.

I am working on the mouse a little more tonight.

There really seems to be no reason why knoppix and dsl can do it and kubuntu can't....


By the way. Is there a way to do a

chmod 777

for the whole system at once instead of doing it per files?

There may well be a way, but I would highly recommend you do not do that. That would defeat a lot of the security and stability of your system.

You have learned a lot, I know linux has its frustrations at first, but stick with it. You will learn, and before long you will not have the need to do such drastic actions.

Well, tell me this; (I have not spent enough time actually using linux to do regular things yet so I'm not sure) If while you are tooling along on a word processor in linux, or spread sheet, and you want to save, then must you always go into the terminal mode and do a

chmod file

to keep working?

By the way, I think I might have remembered the prosses wrong. I tried changing the mouse declaration or what ever it's called, and could not boot Kubunut again. I tried to get into the file structure and change xorg.conf but Knoppix, even though it had the # at the prompt did seem to grant me permission to "save-as" this file. When I do a

ls -l xorg.conf

I get a

-rwxrwxrwx

In response, but it still won't let me save an altered version of it....

So, I guess I am back to re-installing Kubuntu.

I was able, while in Kubuntu (before it would not boot), to add language to etc/fslap (I think thats the name) so as to mount my ntfs partitions. That worked out perfectly, and I felt like a power user for about 5 minutes.

Somehow, changing the

Section

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxx

EndSection

for the mouse in etc/X11/xorg.conf chokes the system

I have a feeling that the etc/psaux file is not identicle between Knoppix and Kubuntu. So when it runs that applet to do the mouse, it needs the right wording in xorg.conf.

This begs the question; can I save the version of psaux from Knoppix to Kubuntu and make it work the way Knoppix does? hmmmmm

That generally is not necessary. If you create a new file as a user, with a program like Open Office, the file you create will be set to your user as the owner, and you will have read and write permissions.

The only reason you needed to do that with xorg.conf was because its owner is root, most system files are, and as a user you didn't have write permission. If you do a su to root, then you can read and write the file. The essayist way is to open the application you want to edit the file with from within the konsole, after you do a su to root. The sequence looks like this;

1. Open konsole ( at this point it opens as user.
2. su ( press the enter key ) type the root password (press the enter key).
3. Do a cd to get to the directory where the file is you want to work on.
4. Type the name of the script or binary that launches the application you want to use.
5. Open the file, edit away, and save when done.

Step 4 is the only one that may give you a problem. One way to find out the name of the script, or binary is to look at the icon on the desktop for its properties. Or if it is in the start menu, open the menu to the application you want. Right click on the icon, and edit the item. There is a field called 'command' that field is the script or binary file name to launch the application.

I would suggest you try using something other than Open Office. BTW, OO opens from a konsole if you type 'oowrite' without the quotes.

If you have KDE as your desktop, you should have kate installed. It is a basic text editor. OO may add word processor type stuff to your plain text files you do not want there. It will also add file extension to the file. If it a system file, the boot process won't find the new file.

You need to edit xorg.conf and have it saved with that exact file name. Do not do a 'save as' That will cause the file to be saved, but with some other file name. The system will not file the changes.

Now, let me see if I can guide you a little. If I understand what you were trying to do, you booted the system with knoppix, a live CD and tried to change the file xorg.conf that Kubuntu created during the install.

In order to do that, you need to mount the partition where the Kubuntu installation is. After booting Knoppix, you should see a disk icon on your desktop for each partition on your hard drive. ( I'm assuming you have one HD ). You need to right click the one for your Kubuntu installation. My best guess is it will be hda1 if you have no other operating system installed, or hda5 if you have a single windoze partition. Find it, right click it, there should be an option 'mount' and click it. A little green arrow head will show up.

Now click that icon. Konqueror will start, and show you the files and directory structure on that partition. The F9 key will turn on and turn off a left side navigation bar. Turn it on. You can navigate by clicking the different folders.

From a Knoppix point of view, you have mounted this partition in path /mnt/hda5 ( if it is hda5 or hda1 if it is hda1 ). If you navigate to /mnt/hda5/etc/X11 that is where the Kubuntu xorg.conf file is you need to change.

Hope this helps...

Yes Knoppix puts them t

mnt/hdax

In my case, I have WinXp on hda1, then just a partiton for holding my windows files on hda5 (I learned the hard way after my operating system crahed to keep my files on a seperate drive or partition). The Linux partition is hda3 I have not creat4ed a seperat partition for my linux files only because I am totally commited to it yet. But I may end up re-formatting the partitions and making the whole drive Linux eventually.

Anyway, I was able to do all of what you suggested by using Konsole to get to

hda3/est/X11/xorg.conf

but while in Knoppix, if I types

chmod 777 xorg.conf

instead of just going back to the primpt (thus having changd the permissions) it says something like "changing permissions for "read only" file, and if I do a

ls -l xorg.conf

it show me

-rwxrwxrwx

But, I can not save the xorg.conf file when I have edited it using Kate.

Once I re-installed Kubuntu, I ws able to all of the same, but it does not give me the message after

chod 777 xorg.conf

and I am able to save (this time for modifications to my fstab file for moutningmy hard drives)

Conclusion, Knoppix does not seem to hold sway over hda3 even after ding

su

While in Knoppix, I am not asked for a password after doing

su

It simply goes to #


hmmmm

This is because Knoppix has mounted the drive as read only.

The reason is simple enough. For saftey reasons, the creators of Knoppix decided it was best to mount drives read only, to help prevent accidental damage to files on some other operationg system.

To change this, after you boot Knoppix, and before you click the disk icon to mount the linux partition;

1. Open a konsole and su to root.

2.Navigate to /etc.

3. Open a file called fstab. This file is the file used by the system to mount file systems into the 'tree'.

Here are two lines from my fstab file, to give you some idea of what to expect.

The first line is a linux partition, and the second is a windbloze partition. If we look a the first line, the 'dev/hdb6' is the hardware device of the partition, as linux knows it. The 'mnt/pictures' is the mount point in my file system. The 'ext2' is the type of file system on that partition. The rest of the line tells the os how to mount the partition.

On your machine you will see a flag in this field 'ro' This stands for read only. To mount as read write, edit the 'ro' to rw. Save and close the file.

4. Now mount the partition, and you will be able to save changes to the xorg.conf file.

Some cool stuff, in linux you can add partitions on the fly, just by editing the /etc/fstab file and then mounting the partition. You would have to boot the system in windoze to do the same task.

Add this skill to your kit bag...

The above is one of my own quotes form another thread I started on trying to see my partitions. As you may be able to tell after reading this, I have had sucess in moutning my partitions as rwx using the commands I added to fstab.

Now if only getting my mouse to work was as easy.

I have tried several differnt mods to xorg.conf including

Section "Pointer"
Protocol "IMPS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
ZAxisMapping 4 5
EndSection

and

Section "InputDevice"
Indentifier "Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "imps/2"
Option "Dvice" "/dev/psaux"
Option "ZAxisMapping " "4 5"
Option "Buttons" "3"
EndSection

and, this is one is from XF86Config from Knoppix...

Section "pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "/dev/mouse"
Emulate3Buttons
Emulate3Timeout 70
EndSection

I suppose I will try this one next...

Section "InputDevice"
Indentifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Corepointer" "imps/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/inpout/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
Option "Buttons" "7"
Optoin "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
EndSection

Actually, I think the last one is what Kubunut is already using, I'll have to check.

Mouting my hard drvies was easy and worked like a charm, but every time I modified my xorg.conf file with one of the above, Kubuntu would no longer boot and gave me this message.

ubuntu login:[4294741.138000] cpufreq: change failed with new-state 1 and result 0

If you read through the differnet thing I tried above, you can see how some similar sentences are capitalized in one but not in another, or are in quotes in one but not in another.

I really think that the differences are due to the fact that xorg.conf or XF86Config are calling for applets that are specific to the Linux pacakge you are running; therefore, the Section, """"",EndSection command lines are not interchangable. You would have to have the whole set of applets, and those would have to be coordinating with everything else, so it gets into a can of worms rather quickly. I think the designers of Kubuntu would have to address this, or I would have to become a "C" programmer and reverse engineer or find the open source for the applets and "get busy".

I think that I have exhausted my abilities at this juncture unless someone comes up with another solution.

I will have to live with using only the touch pad for now until I find another iso to download that does what I want as far as mouting hard drives and using my PS/2 mouse, or uless I find a "patch" for the mouse problem with Kubuntu.

Cheers

Ok, someone turned me onto using nano at the recovery mode command prompt by typing

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Using nano in the recovery mode helped a lot. I had been trying to alter xorg.conf using Kate editor and saving etc. After using Kate, I was un-able to boot Kubuntu and had to re-install it. Using nano alowed me to change xorg.conf several times and restart to see what it did. Here is how my Kubuntu xorg.conf handles the mouse

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxismapping" "4 5"
EndSection


I noticed that there is no character device called "mice" in /dev/input, but there is "mouse0" and "mouse1", so a tried changing "mice" to "mouse0" and re-starting, and at least I was able to get all the way to the desktop. There was no change in the behavior of the machine. Then I tried changing it to "mouse1", same result. Then I tried changing the whole line from /dev/input/mice" to "/dev/psaux". This made it so even using the touch pad made the pointer jump all over the screen in a very useless way.

Knoppix uses this

Section "Pointer"
Protocol "PS/2"
Device "dev/mouse"
Emulate3Buttons
Emulate3Timeout 70
EndSection

So I'm thinking that if Kubuntu is calling for character device "mice", but it does not exist, and "mouse0" and "mouse1" are probably worthless, how about dragging a copy "mouse" from Knoppix" into the folder for Kubuntu and calling for "mouse" instead of "mice" in Kubuntu. Problem is, I don't know how to create the proper permissions to do this. While in Knoppix it won't let me copy character device "mouse" to the Kubunu folders.

First: Am I on the right track?

Second: How do I copy character device "mouse" from knoppix to Kubuntu?

OK,

I found this

https://wiki.kubuntu.com/SerialMouseHowto

on the Kubuntu pages. While this is for a serial port setting, I found that by adding this to xorg.conf, and exitting nano, my mouse buttons would cause the pointer to jump accross the screen. Useless reallyt, b ut far more life thtn it had out of the box. After re-booting, neither the touch pad nor the mouse would work at all. So I had to re-use the back up of xorg.conf~

Even though this didn't work, it points to the possibility that there is a port issue. It seems that Kubuntu has to b e told where to look and then all of the other option this, protocol that will work.

QUESTION; What does Linux call the PS/2 port?

Good question... Linux assigns a special file to each detected piece of hardware, and you will find them in the /dev directory. If you go there with konqueror, you will see the files. Some are easy to tell what they are, others are more difficult to tell.

I looked at my Ubuntu system which has a synaptic touch pad, and a 2 button wheel mouse, BTW, my wheel mouse is USB, not PS/2. My system has the following;

/dev/input/mice
/dev/input/mouse0
/dev/input/mouse1
/dev/psaux

From xorg.conf, here are the sections for the two mice.

If you look at the two sections, the USB mouse is first, it uses /dev/input/mice with protocol ImPS/2, and driver mouse.

The touchpad uses /dev/psaux protocol auto-dev and the synaptics driver.

I know you are using the PS/2 port. Could you post more info about the mouse? How many buttons 2 or 3 or more? Does it have a scroll wheel?

This....

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

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
EndSection

Is identicle to mine. This does not make it work. Knoppix and DSL seem to be able to. There has to be something, somewhere else that we are missing. I am using a standard GE optical, 2 button, 1 wheel mouse. Plugged into the PS/2 port. I would have suspected a bad port, but Knoppix and DSL work fine. If I knew the name of the port, then this might work. I am thinking of plugging the mouse into the serial port and trying the other thing I posted last. Maybe that will work. If it does then I will stop fighting it. I would still like to solve this and post it for the world to know. Then maybe the next poor schlepp will have a better time of it.

Let me know if anything else occurs to you. Thanks for your help.

Ummm...

Ok, feeling a little chagrin here. Just for the heck of it, I plugged in a good old fashioned 2 button, one wheel, roller ball mouse (not an optical mouse) and it works fine..........!

Now, I suffered under the assumption that optical mousses (mice?) processed the optical portion of the data within the mouse itself, and sent "roller ball" info down the wire to the PS/2 port; thus, looking like a roller ball mouse to the computer.

Apparently not. Whatever is going on, it has to do with the optical vs. roller ball equipment.

I am very happy that a standard roller ball will work, even though I would be much happier if an optical mouse would work.

It still begs the question:

Why can Knoppix and DSL do this and Kubuntu can't?

Do the designers of Kubuntu care?

If I find the answer to this it will be while using a roller ball mouse, but rest assured, I will post the solution here!

Thanks to all of those who responded. Perhaps this news has jogged the memory of someone who knows the riddle here. Feel free to contact me at

phazon1@hotmail.com if you have some information on this.

Interesting stuff, I'm doing some research into the problem. I think I have some answers, and will post shortly...

I have done some testing on my Compac laptop, with Ubuntu Breezy. First, the touch pad works, and so does my mouse IF attached to USB. It does not work when plugged into PS/2 port, using a USB to PS/2 converter. So, I believe this is similar to your results. I did not try a straight PS/2 mouse, roller ball or PS/2 optical.

I booted my Knoppix 3.9 live CD, and it shows the same results as Ubuntu, USB mouse works, will not work plugged to PS/2 port.

I found some information on a known kernel issue, basically if you are running a 2.6.8 or later kernel, there are problems being worked on. Knoppix 3.9 is running kernel 2.6.11 and Ubuntu Breezy is running 2.6.12. BTW, if you want to know how to to determine the kernel, on a console type 'uname -r' (without the quotes) and it will tell you.

I also found threads for other distros sowing problems with the 2.6.x kernels. Patches are being worked on, but I would not suggest a noob try to install a patch. Never tried it myself.

It seems you have found a work around, using a roller ball PS/2 mouse.

I would suggest you may look at buying a USB optical mouse, I believe it will work without any hassel.

I think the answer here lies in what kernel version these other distros are running. Note, Knoppix 3.9 ( kernel 2.6.11 ) fails.

You bet they do. If you want to pursue this further, you would need to post to the Ubuntu Wiki in the bugzilla section. Be prepared to be asked to help with testing.

So cool. I thank you for your intelligent responses. You have helped me learn loads in the short while I have been fooling around with this stuff. I think the mouse problem actually helped me in the long run. From what I can tell, Linux is far from being soccer-mom friendly (no offense soccer-moms; you rock!). I believe many Linux varsity users might not care, but when I first heard of Linux, it was presented as a hedge against the monopoly and suckiness of you-know-who. It has obviously grown to be more fun and productive than anything you-know-who could hope to attain, but I am afraid it will never send you-know-who packing if a friendlier version does not emerge.

Since I have a tinkering impulse, I dig it. I knew that it was high maintenance going into it. I have friends who still have a knee jerk reaction to the suggestion of using it, and I know it is because they are afraid they are going to starve.

Be that as it may. I love what I have seen so far and I plan on getting very much immersed in it.


CHEERS. I'll check back

It was a pleasure to help. No dought, the learning curve is steep, and long. Once you have made it over the hump, you may well see your way clear to give windbloze the boot...

Linux is just like an indian tent: no Gates, no Windows and an Apache inside...