Mouse support Q

Mouse support Q

[Andrew B. Cramer]

Hi,
	Has anyone tried using both a PS/2 and Serial mouse on a laptop? I 
want to switch to an external KVM setup, but it only supports Serial 
mouse protocol. When not switched through the KVM, I still need to 
use the PS/2 mouse. I guess the question is will Linux support 2 
mouse devices.

TIA - Andrew

Re: Mouse support Q

[terry white]

... ciao:

on "2-18-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:

: 	Has anyone tried using both a PS/2 and Serial mouse on a laptop? I
: want to switch to an external KVM setup, but it only supports Serial
: mouse protocol. When not switched through the KVM, I still need to
: use the PS/2 mouse. I guess the question is will Linux support 2
: mouse devices.

    you may not actually need to use two mice.  from my reading of it.
the KVM's mouse interface is serial, which implies the laptop using that
for mouse input.  you might consider getting a 'PS2 --> Serial' adapter.

    having said that, a boot-time decision about the mouse device to use
seems like an option.

    about the KVM (keyboard-video-mouse).  make sure it is linux-able.  i
made the mistake of not checking that out, and ended by replacing the
first device i tried.  i currently use a 'belkin' device and have had
NO problems with it.  finally, it is a prudent idea to acquire more
'ports' that you think you'll need ...


-- 
... i'm a man, but i can change,
    if i have to , i guess ...

Re: Mouse support Q

[Andrew B. Cramer]

Terry,
	Yes, I use a Belken as well. I cannot find a voltage/protocol for 
PS/2 to Serial convertion. I have been looking, but cannot find one. 
The PS/2 mouse uses 5v and the Serial expects +-12v signals. Although 
it is a Microsoft dual mouse (aka: PS/2 & Serial) the KVM switches at 
+-12v. I have put it on a O'scope and looked at the signals. If you 
can recommend a device, I'd appreciate it. But the real question is 
during boot, can I select which mouse to use, and/or can I change it 
on the fly.

Regards, Andrew

On 19 Feb 2003 at 6:53, terry white wrote:

> ... ciao:
> 
> on "2-18-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:
> 
> : 	Has anyone tried using both a PS/2 and Serial mouse on a laptop? I
> : want to switch to an external KVM setup, but it only supports Serial
> : mouse protocol. When not switched through the KVM, I still need to
> : use the PS/2 mouse. I guess the question is will Linux support 2
> : mouse devices.
> 
>     you may not actually need to use two mice.  from my reading of it.
> the KVM's mouse interface is serial, which implies the laptop using that
> for mouse input.  you might consider getting a 'PS2 --> Serial' adapter.
> 
>     having said that, a boot-time decision about the mouse device to use
> seems like an option.
> 
>     about the KVM (keyboard-video-mouse).  make sure it is linux-able.  i
> made the mistake of not checking that out, and ended by replacing the
> first device i tried.  i currently use a 'belkin' device and have had
> NO problems with it.  finally, it is a prudent idea to acquire more
> 'ports' that you think you'll need ...
> 
> 
> -- 
> ... i'm a man, but i can change,
>     if i have to , i guess ...
> 
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: Mouse support Q

[Glynn Clements]

Andrew B. Cramer wrote:

> But the real question is 
> during boot, can I select which mouse to use, and/or can I change it 
> on the fly.

For changing mice on the fly, using "gpm -M" *might* work.

Otherwise, you would probably need to manually hack your init files to
ensure that X uses the correct mouse protocol.

With XFree86 4.x, you can specify multiple pointer devices in
XF86Config and use the X server's -pointer switch to select the right
one. For XFree86 3.x, you would have to modify XF86Config dynamically.

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn.clements@virgin.net>

Re: Mouse support Q

[terry white]

... ciao:

on "2-19-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:

: If you can recommend a device, I'd appreciate it.

    'radio shack' has been known to carry a 'PS2 to DB-9' adapter ...


-- 
... i'm a man, but i can change,
    if i have to , i guess ...

Re: Mouse support Q

[Milan P. Stanic]

On Wed, Feb 19, 2003 at 09:32:57AM -0800, terry white wrote:
>     'radio shack' has been known to carry a 'PS2 to DB-9' adapter ...

In my experience that works only if the mouse (PS/2 one) support
serial mouse protocol. And small number of these mouses do that.

Milan

Re: Mouse support Q

[Andrew B. Cramer]

Hi,
	The mouse I have is a M/S Ballpoint. It does support both serial and 
PS/2 modes. The problem is I cannot just put an adapter cable on the 
other end past the Belken KVM. It does not work. The KVM buffers all 
lines and maintains serial states. It does not put the connection 
directly through. Since that doesn't work, I'd like to be able to 
change the PS/2 driver to Serial on the fly. I would do this without 
having X11 running, just the base system. I tried changing the mouse 
symbolic link, but since the serial has not been initialized to the 
mouse, that does not seem to work either. (hrumpf).

- Andrew

On 20 Feb 2003 at 20:27, Milan P. Stanic wrote:

> On Wed, Feb 19, 2003 at 09:32:57AM -0800, terry white wrote:
> >     'radio shack' has been known to carry a 'PS2 to DB-9' adapter ...
> 
> In my experience that works only if the mouse (PS/2 one) support
> serial mouse protocol. And small number of these mouses do that.
> 
> Milan
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: Mouse support Q

[Milan P. Stanic]

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 01:53:09PM -0600, Andrew B. Cramer wrote:
> 	The mouse I have is a M/S Ballpoint. It does support both serial and 
> PS/2 modes. The problem is I cannot just put an adapter cable on the 
> other end past the Belken KVM. It does not work. The KVM buffers all 
> lines and maintains serial states. It does not put the connection 
> directly through. Since that doesn't work, I'd like to be able to 
> change the PS/2 driver to Serial on the fly. I would do this without 
> having X11 running, just the base system. I tried changing the mouse 
> symbolic link, but since the serial has not been initialized to the 
> mouse, that does not seem to work either. (hrumpf).

I don't know anything about "Belken KVM" (and what is that) but I have
on my old notebook (Compaq armada) serial and PS/2 (PS/2 is built-in
trackball) both configured and they both works in the same time. So,
it is possible to use two mouse simultaneously with xfree 4.x.x.

Milan

Re: Mouse support Q

[Andrew B. Cramer]

Hi,
	Yes, I agree, if I use an external PS/2 mouse at the same time as 
the internal pointer on my TP-600e, they both work. The problem is 
getting a Serial mouse to work at the same time, instead of the 
external PS/2.

On 20 Feb 2003 at 23:15, Milan P. Stanic wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 01:53:09PM -0600, Andrew B. Cramer wrote:
> > 	The mouse I have is a M/S Ballpoint. It does support both serial and 
> > PS/2 modes. The problem is I cannot just put an adapter cable on the 
> > other end past the Belken KVM. It does not work. The KVM buffers all 
> > lines and maintains serial states. It does not put the connection 
> > directly through. Since that doesn't work, I'd like to be able to 
> > change the PS/2 driver to Serial on the fly. I would do this without 
> > having X11 running, just the base system. I tried changing the mouse 
> > symbolic link, but since the serial has not been initialized to the 
> > mouse, that does not seem to work either. (hrumpf).
> 
> I don't know anything about "Belken KVM" (and what is that) but I have
> on my old notebook (Compaq armada) serial and PS/2 (PS/2 is built-in
> trackball) both configured and they both works in the same time. So,
> it is possible to use two mouse simultaneously with xfree 4.x.x.
> 
> Milan
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: Mouse support Q

[Milan P. Stanic]

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 04:53:38PM -0600, Andrew B. Cramer wrote:
> 	Yes, I agree, if I use an external PS/2 mouse at the same time as 
> the internal pointer on my TP-600e, they both work. The problem is 
> getting a Serial mouse to work at the same time, instead of the 
> external PS/2.

I can try to connect external PS/2 mouse to see if it would work, but
tomorrow. It's midnight right now here ;)

Milan

Re: Mouse support Q

[terry white]

... ciao:

on "2-20-2003" "Milan P. Stanic" writ:

: >     'radio shack' has been known to carry a 'PS2 to DB-9' adapter ...

: In my experience that works only if the mouse (PS/2 one) support
: serial mouse protocol. And small number of these mouses do that.

    i do not think "PS2" is a protocol, but rather an interface standard.

    i can say for a fact, that 'logiteck roller/marble' mice do ...


-- 
... i'm a man, but i can change,
    if i have to , i guess ...

Re: Mouse support Q

[terry white]

... ciao:

on "2-20-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:

: I tried changing the mouse symbolic link, but since the serial has not
: been initialized to the mouse, that does not seem to work either.
: (hrumpf).

    as has been suggested , twice , you're going to have to modify your
start-up script(s).  right of the top on my head, i envision two methods.
the first in which the system "checks" to see which 'mouse' device
active, and the other, the system "asks", and responds accordingly ...


-- 
... i'm a man, but i can change,
    if i have to , i guess ...

Re: Mouse support Q

[Andrew B. Cramer]

That is a good thought, but not really applicable for me. I need to 
use the internal PS/2 mouse, but when I switch the KVM, I want it to 
use the Serial mouse. Unless I can unload the PS/2 drivers, and load 
Serial drivers, I can't think of any other solution, other than 
purchasing a different KVM that does PS/2 only.

On 20 Feb 2003 at 15:30, terry white wrote:

> ... ciao:
> 
> on "2-20-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:
> 
> : I tried changing the mouse symbolic link, but since the serial has not
> : been initialized to the mouse, that does not seem to work either.
> : (hrumpf).
> 
>     as has been suggested , twice , you're going to have to modify your
> start-up script(s).  right of the top on my head, i envision two methods.
> the first in which the system "checks" to see which 'mouse' device
> active, and the other, the system "asks", and responds accordingly ...
> 
> 
> -- 
> ... i'm a man, but i can change,
>     if i have to , i guess ...
> 
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: Mouse support Q

[terry white]

... ciao:

on "2-20-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:

: That is a good thought, but not really applicable for me. I need to
: use the internal PS/2 mouse, but when I switch the KVM, I want it to
: use the Serial mouse. Unless I can unload the PS/2 drivers, and load
: Serial drivers, I can't think of any other solution, other than
: purchasing a different KVM that does PS/2 only.

    it just occured to me, the topology your're setting up considerably
different than mine.  here, i've got four linux boxes, one monitor, a
keyboard, and marble mouse.  with no real understanding of yours, i'm at
a total loss, hardware wise.

    however.  if you use 'gpm' you could restart it with the appropriate
parameters, EVERY time you switched.  i consider that a hideous solution.

    you say you "NEED" to use the internal mouse, that to me implies your
also using the companion keyboard.  had you thought of using "JUST" the
'video' switching function of the KVM ...


-- 
... i'm a man, but i can change,
    if i have to , i guess ...

Re: Mouse support Q

[Andrew B. Cramer]

Hi,
	Using the KVM as just a KV works fine, and both monitors & keyboards 
work ok. It's awkward using two mice in this situation, I grab the 
wrong one. <grin> I guess for now that's all I can do.

Thanks - Andrew

On 20 Feb 2003 at 18:15, terry white wrote:

> ... ciao:
> 
> on "2-20-2003" "Andrew B. Cramer" writ:
> 
> : That is a good thought, but not really applicable for me. I need to
> : use the internal PS/2 mouse, but when I switch the KVM, I want it to
> : use the Serial mouse. Unless I can unload the PS/2 drivers, and load
> : Serial drivers, I can't think of any other solution, other than
> : purchasing a different KVM that does PS/2 only.
> 
>     it just occured to me, the topology your're setting up considerably
> different than mine.  here, i've got four linux boxes, one monitor, a
> keyboard, and marble mouse.  with no real understanding of yours, i'm at
> a total loss, hardware wise.
> 
>     however.  if you use 'gpm' you could restart it with the appropriate
> parameters, EVERY time you switched.  i consider that a hideous solution.
> 
>     you say you "NEED" to use the internal mouse, that to me implies your
> also using the companion keyboard.  had you thought of using "JUST" the
> 'video' switching function of the KVM ...
> 
> 
> -- 
> ... i'm a man, but i can change,
>     if i have to , i guess ...
> 
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-admin" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> 

Re: Mouse support Q

[Milan P. Stanic]

On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 03:19:15PM -0800, terry white wrote:
>     i do not think "PS2" is a protocol, but rather an interface standard.
> 
>     i can say for a fact, that 'logiteck roller/marble' mice do ...

I have 'logitech roller' but it does not work over PS/2 to serial
(DB9) adapter. I think I've read somewhere that the PS/2 mouse must
detect that it is connected to serial port to work in that mode. And
many PS/2 mouses can't do that because they aren't designed (made) to
do that. Actually I can be wrong.

Milan

Re: Mouse support Q

[Milan P. Stanic]

On Fri, Feb 21, 2003 at 12:08:21AM +0100, Milan P. Stanic wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 20, 2003 at 04:53:38PM -0600, Andrew B. Cramer wrote:
> > 	Yes, I agree, if I use an external PS/2 mouse at the same time as 
> > the internal pointer on my TP-600e, they both work. The problem is 
> > getting a Serial mouse to work at the same time, instead of the 
> > external PS/2.
> 
> I can try to connect external PS/2 mouse to see if it would work, but
> tomorrow. It's midnight right now here ;)

I did that as I promised. It works. I connected serial mouse to
/dev/ttyS0, PS/2 mouse to external PS/2 port, and built-in PS/2
trackball is on the notebook. All three devices works simultaneously.
I tested it only on the (my old) Compaq Armada notebook.

Milan