Laptop Puppy: touchpad but no mouse

Using applications, configuring, problems
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Walt H
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Laptop Puppy: touchpad but no mouse

#1 Post by Walt H »

Now that I can make my modem dialup and my printer print, I'd like to make my mouse . . . eat cheese? :lol: Actually, I'd like my mouse to fully respond. I have Puppy running on a laptop with a touchpad and a PS/2 mouse connected. When going through the setup, I selected PS/2 mouse and it almost works. (The touchpad works fine.)

When I move the mouse, the cursor moves, but clicking any buttons has no effect. I searched the forums and found a suggestion to hit Control > Alt > Backspace, type 'rm /etc/mousedvice', then type 'xwin' (I think typing 'startx' was also suggested) to re-run the mouse configuration wizard. Will doing that solve my problem? Or is there a file I can edit somewhere/somehow? I have a Logitech three-button mouse that plugs into the PS/2 port. Thanks.
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

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Lobster
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Re: mouse problem

#2 Post by Lobster »

Hi Walt hope this helps:
:)

Typing :
Control + Alt + Backspace - takes you to the command prompt

type rm /etc/mousedevice - removes your current mouse setup

so when you type xwin or startx (equivalent commands)
it runs through the mouse config wizard again before entering the normal
Puppy GUI Interface
Last edited by Lobster on Thu 02 Jun 2005, 04:56, edited 2 times in total.

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Walt H
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#3 Post by Walt H »

I'll try the Control > Alt > Backspace method and see what happens.

In every other distribution I've tried, the touchpad and mouse have both worked, including Feather which, like Puppy I believe, uses XVesa (and XFramebuffer) instead of XFree or XOrg's version of X.

I don't have any documentation for disabling the touchpad. I can always unplug the mouse :)
Walt

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Walt H
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#4 Post by Walt H »

Unfortunately, this tip only returned me to the same situation: fully functioning touchpad and a mouse that I can move the cursor with but not click to launch anything with. Odd, as I've had both working at the same time before with other distributions (Mandrake, Libranet, Vector, ELX, Feather, SLAX, etc.).

Is there any file I can edit somehow (?) to get my mouse working?
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

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BarryK
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#5 Post by BarryK »

So how does it go with just the mouse, touchpad unplugged?

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Walt H
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#6 Post by Walt H »

I'm not quite sure how to go about doing that, as the touchpad is built into the computer. (I'm running Puppy from an old laptop.) Puppy recognizes the touchpad and acts like it recognizes the mouse (as a line goes by on bootup indicating it sees that my mouse has three buttons, which it does, while the touchpad has only two).

I can certainly work with just the touchpad, but I'd prefer to use the mouse, as it just feels more comfortable to me. It's a bit odd, as in the past I've had the mouse recognized and configured properly, and the touchpad worked as well. If I get the chance (and the time), I'll download the regular Puppy and see if the situation is the same. I expect it will be, but you never know. :)
Walt

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danleff
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#7 Post by danleff »

You may already have done this, but is the PS/2 support enabled in the bios?

Some lappys, like my Thinkpad require that this support be activated in the bios to use a PS/2 mouse in addition to the touchpad.
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Walt H
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#8 Post by Walt H »

I'm guessing it must be, as both the touchpad and mouse work in Feather (my currently installed distribution). Plus, in Puppy I can move the cursor with the mouse (as well as with the touchpad), but clicking the mouse buttons does nothing. To click on anything, I have to use the buttons on the touchpad. So, it's as if the mouse is 25-50% operational. It's like having a car with no tires; you might be able to start it, but you won't be able to drive it anywhere :)
Walt

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danleff
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#9 Post by danleff »

I'm going to have to guess that it's a function of how the kernel reads the bios and the firmware design of the laptop.

Is Feather using the 2.4 kernel or 2.6?

What X system does Feather use?
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Walt H
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#10 Post by Walt H »

danleff wrote:I'm going to have to guess that it's a function of how the kernel reads the bios and the firmware design of the laptop.
Seems odd, especially since it works in other distros I've tried, but I don't know that much about such things.
danleff wrote:Is Feather using the 2.4 kernel or 2.6?
It looks like Feather uses 2.4.26 in the version I have installed (Feather 0.5.9 - its latest and probably last version upgraded to 2.4.27).
danleff wrote:What X system does Feather use?
Feather gives the user the choice of Xvesa and framebuffer (I guess that's what it's called).
Walt

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#11 Post by danleff »

I never did ask what version of Puppy that you are using.

If it is version 1.0.2, then this version uses the newer kernel. This will tell the folks who work on Puppy something.

If this is the case, if you have the older Puppy, version 1.0.1 on CD, you can try this and see of both or either the touchpad and/or PS/2 mouse work.

If both the touchpad and external mouse work, post it as a bug, so that it can be looked at.

If Feather is using the older kernel, this makes sense. It's been around for a while, so the bugs have been worked out. This is the first Puppy release with the 2.6 series kernel, so there are bound to be some issues.

In any case, if I am off base on this, perhaps someone will have an answer. I keep saying to myself that I need to try Puppy again on my Thinkpad and this would be a good reason to do so. Hmm..maybe this weekend or next week.

The older versions did not work, related to the onboard video on my Thinpad. Laptops have always been difficult for Linux in general. Too many hardware, firmware and bios related issues.

Let's see if someone has some more helpful input for you.
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Walt H
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#12 Post by Walt H »

I think you may be on to something, but I don't know. I am using the current version of Puppy (1.0.2 - the Opera version). I don't know what kernel it has, but I have tried a couple of distros with the 2.6 kernel - with mixed success, I might add.

BeatrIX, which I think uses the 2.6.7 kernel, worked fine mouse-wise but wasn't my cup of tea. After an initial look, I yanked it and did not see whether everything could be made to work.

SLAX 5.0.4, which I believe uses a 2.6 kernel worked fine, except I couldn't get printing up and running under CUPS (a problem I've always had, must be me :) ).

Ubuntu 4.10 (also a 2.6 kernel) wouldn't boot from the live CD. Neither would GoblinX (also a 2.6 kernel). Feather, Damn Small Linux, an earlier version of Puppy, Mandrake 8.2, Vector SOHO 3.2, and ELX 1.0 all worked fine with regard to the mouse. Puppy (dialup), Vector and ELX (making zip drive and printer worked together on a shared parallel port) had problems.

My notebook (a Pro-Star 3500, Celeron 400) works fine in most cases.
Walt

Now that you point it out to me, the answer seems painfully obvious.

bikeridercz
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Re: mouse problem

#13 Post by bikeridercz »

Lobster wrote:Hi Walt hope this helps:
:)

Typing :
Control + Alt + Backspace - takes you to the command prompt

type rm /etc/mousedevice - removes your current mouse setup

so when you type xwin or startx (equivalent commands)
it runs through the mouse config wizard again before entering the normal
Puppy GUI Interface
... yes it worked, but one additional thing was needed in my case (Toshiba Tecra 8100) - I had to reboot with mouse connected to ps2 port. Then I configured a new mouse ... and that's it - both mouse and touchpad was working well.

Except mouse wheel that does not work :-(, so now I have a usb port free and can use my 1GB usb storage to exchange the files :-)

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