Differences between version 3 and previous revision of XFree86KeyboardMouseNotes.
Other diffs: Previous Major Revision, Previous Author, or view the Annotated Edit History
| Newer page: | version 3 | Last edited on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 5:20:53 pm | by DanielLawson | Revert |
| Older page: | version 2 | Last edited on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 5:19:42 pm | by DanielLawson | Revert |
@@ -1,4 +1,63 @@
+
+!!! Mouse hardware support under [XFree86]
+
+!! Side buttons on 7-button mice
+
+Mice like the MS Intellimouse Explorer have 5 buttons, besides the wheel, which means a total of 7 buttons as far as [XFree86] is concerned. Here's a summary of how to get the extra buttons working, as outlined in the [official XFree developer documentation|http://www.xfree86.org/4.2.0/mouse.html].
+
+Under XFree86 4.2.x and later, add/change settings in your mouse !InputDevice section of /etc/X11/XF86Config(-4):
+
+ Protocol "ExplorerPS/2" # instead of plain "IMPS/2"
+ Options "Buttons" "7"
+ "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
+
+Verify that it works by using xev(1) and clicking on the various buttons after restarting your display manager (xdm(8)/gdm(8)/kdm(8)/wdm(8)/...).
+
+You'll probably notice that your mouse wheel doesn't work any more, but the two side buttons act as wheel up/down now. The reason for this is that the application widget sets (eg [Qt] and [GTK]) assume buttons 4 and 5 are generated by a wheel, in the same way that they assume a button 3 message was generated by the 3rd mouse button. For some reason the Explorer driver and/or hardware assigns 4 and 5 to the side buttons, and 6 and 7 to the wheel.
+
+To fix this, change the button order:
+ xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5"
+
+To have this happen automatically, you could
+# add it to your __.xsession__ or __.xinitrc__, which only works per user
+# assuming you're using gdm(8), add it to /etc/gdm/!PreSession/Default which affects everyone using gdm(8)
+# assuming you're using kdm(8), add it to ??? - AddToMe
+
+MozillaNotes has examples on how to use these extra buttons for things like going forward/backwards in a browser. Many games also support them.
+
+!! Using your Keyboard as a mouse
+
+Should you happen to find yourself without a mouse for one reason or another you can use the numpad on your keyboard as a substitute. To enable this feature simply press __Shift-!NumLock__ (various people report their keyboards' !NumLock keys even have mouse icons on them - check yours!), which gives you two beeps to signify it's active.
+
+Use 2/4/6/8 as down/left/up/right, respectively. 5 clicks a mouse button, + toggles whether it's the left or right one. * produces a middle-click.
+
+!! Changing the mouse cursor speed
+
+[GNOME] and [KDE] have applets/config settings to change the mouse speed settings. If you prefer to do it manually, or you are running a different window manager/environment, you can use the xset(1) command.
+ $ xset m 2 4
+sets the acceleration to 2 and the threshold to 4. This means that the mouse cursor will be accelerated to double speed when the cursor passes over 4 pixels in a "short time". This means that if you are moving the mouse slow enough (under the threshold), the mouse moves at normal speed, but over the threshold and the cursor is moved faster than normal. The acceleration can be a fraction, eg
+ $ xset m 5/2 8
+will make the cursor go 2.5 times normal speed if the cursor moves over 8 pixels in a short time.
+
+!!! Mouse cursor
+
+Some games on linux (such as Quake2 or [BzFlag]) don't change the mouse pointer, meaning you get the mouse arrow in the middle of your game.
+
+You can change the shape of the cursor using standard programs that come with [XFree86]. X also comes with lots of bitmaps for this purpose. The xsetroot(1) program does this. If you give it the __-cursor__ option, the first argument is an xbm to use for the cursor and the second argument is a transparency mask.
+
+A good, minimalist pointer is:
+
+ $ BMPATH=/usr/X11R6/include/X11/bitmaps
+ $ xsetroot -cursor $BMPATH/opendot $BMPATH/opendot
+
+To restore the cursor back to the original pointer:
+
+ $ BMPATH=/usr/X11R6/include/X11/bitmaps
+ $ xsetroot -cursor $BMPATH/left_ptr $BMPATH/left_ptrmsk
+
+
+!!! Keyboards under [Xfree86]
If you have a keyboard with 'extra' buttons, you'll probably want to get them to work under X.
!! MS Natural Pro
I have a MS Natural Pro keyboard, with the 'multimedia' blue buttons across the top. I borrowed the following xmodmap file from JamieCurtis, no idea where he got it from. Problem is, it only works if you use the keyboard via PS/2 - use USB and it has a different set of keycodes!
