xbindkeys problem with Logitech cordless optical trackman under Suse 10.3
 

I am having problems setting up xbindkeys with my model T-RB22 Logitech cordless optical Trackman so as to be able to use the "back" and "forward" buttons with Firefox. I used the directions I found at http://linux-trackball.dreamhosters.com/ to set it up, and also used the links on that page to get the needed software.

I first found that the command xbindkeys -d did not write a .xbindkeysrc to my home directory or anywhere else on the disk for that matter, according to Beagle. So, I used kate to write one using the following:
"echo 'KeyStrPress Alt_L KeyStr Left KeyStrRelease' | xmacroplay :0"
b:8
"echo 'KeyStrPress Alt_R KeyStr Right KeyStrRelease' | xmacroplay :0"
b:9

When I tested it using the command xbindkeys -n -v, those buttons worked perfectly.

Here's where the problem arises however. When I control-c to end xbindkeys, it appears to terminate normally, and then the mouse and keyboard both start showing strange behavior. When I left click on any window to give it focus, focus does not shift, and I get a hand cursor momentarily just from a simple click as if I had done a click + drag. The only way to give focus is clicking the program on the taskbar. Clicking within kate or any other program that allows placement of the cursor will not place the cursor there. Also, when I did manage to get focus back to the Konsole window, apparently the cursor position was not where it appeared. I had left the testing command above at the prompt, and therefore should have been able to press <enter> to run xbindkeys again. Instead, it would either do nothing at all, or delete text from the prompt. Also, keyboard shortcuts such as Alt-B to open my bookmarks in Firefox would not work - nothing at all would happen.

The only way I have been able to get back to normal has been to log out of the session and back in.

I am using OpenSuse 10.3 with the latest patches and KDE as the desktop.

Can anyone help with this? It is really frustrating that something that would be so simple to set up in Windows (just install the trackball) is maddeningly complex in Linux. It took quite some time to even find how to do this, and considerable time to get it to work as far as it does. Of course, it's also quite easy to crash and burn with the (P)OS Vista, which is why I dumped it and came to Linux. :)