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Topic: How to Install DSL with no mouse on a HD-Partition

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Ramik

Group: Members
Posts: 53
Joined: Nov. 2006

Posted: Nov. 13 2006,13:27

How to Install DSL with no mouse on a HD-Partition:

A semi-advanced How-To on installing xf86 and using accessx for mouse control, all without a mouse.

A word of warning:
This Guide is meant for those how are experienced with Linux and DSL, you will need to work in the command line and have some experience with xf86config.

This Guide is the result of this forum thread:
http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....82;st=0

Thanks to:
"JB4x4" for compiling accessx and figuring how to configure accessx.
"Winter Knight" for suggestion accessx.

The Steps:

0. Make a DSL Boot-USB.
1. Add to the DSL Boot-USB the following:

http://isa.umh.es/temas/linux/DSL/mydsl/system/XFree86.dsl
http://isa.umh.es/temas/linux/DSL/mydsl/system/xf86config.dsl
http://www.jb4x4.com/linux/accessx.dsl

2. Boot DSl.
3. When asked for the mouse you may choose PS2 mouse (since you won't be using this it doesn't matter)
3. When you reach the X Ctrl+Alt+BackSpace to exit the shell.
4. Use dsl-hdinstall to install.
5. Reboot DSL.

*** At this point you should have DSL on your chosen partition and a boot-loader (grub\lilo) to load DSL from.

6. Again, exit to shell.
7. Mount the USB.
8. "mydsl-load XFree86.dsl"
9. "mydsl-load xf86config.dsl"
10. "mydsl-load accessx.dsl"
11. "cd /etc/X11"
12. "sudo xf86config" : With this script you should produce /etc/X11/XF86Config-4, you may also copy some of the example scripts that reside in /home/dsl/XFree86_config_files, XF86Config-4_vesa and should work on most if not all PCs.
**. If you made a new XF86Config-4, you will need to add in 'Section "ServerFlags"' the line "AllowMouseOpenFail", this will make xf86 ignore the absence of a mouse.
13. rename /home/dsl/.xserverrc to /home/dsl/.xserverrc.old
14. copy "/home/dsl/XFree86_config_files/.xserverrc_for_XF86" as a new "/home/dsl/.xserverrc".
15. copy /home/dsl/.xinitrc as /home/dsl/.xinitrc.old
16. "sudo nano /home/dsl/.xinitrc"
17. open a new line under"torsmo 2>/dev/null &" (use Ctrl+W for search) and enter "xterm -e ax +mousekeys -timeout", Ctrl+O to save and Ctrl+X to exit.

Done, you can now "exit" or "startx" to run xfree86, use the numpad to move the pointer, more details in : http://www.disability.uiuc.edu/accessx/overview.html

A little bug: NumPad 9 won't move the pointer Right-UP...

By RamiK

jgombos

Group: Members
Posts: 39
Joined: Nov. 2006

Posted: Nov. 13 2006,16:20

That's nuts. Is that the only way? Isn't there a keyboard shortcut to bring up the fluxbox menu?

Ramik

Group: Members
Posts: 53
Joined: Nov. 2006

Posted: Nov. 13 2006,18:19

Quote (jgombos @ Nov. 13 2006,11:20)

That's nuts. Is that the only way? Isn't there a keyboard shortcut to bring up the fluxbox menu?

It is a rather difficult install process for the average user,

It can't be in the original DSL because XFree86 = 10MB and is slower then the Xserver that is used by DSL.

Nevertheless, I see no reason why this can't be a combo package that combines XFree86(10MB)+xf86config(330kb)+accessx(10kb) so that steps 6-17 will be reduced to one script file.

IMHO a person that installs a 10mb Xserver wouldn't mind the extra 340kb, but since I'm not a packager...

So for the time being, I work with what I got...

P.S: Also under /mnt/hdd1/home/dsl/.fluxbox/keys you will find the keybindings, but MouseKeys is the lesser evil when it comes to working with the keyboard in X (imagine web browsing on flash sites, programs with no TabStops, and more...).

jgombos

Group: Members
Posts: 39
Joined: Nov. 2006

Posted: Nov. 14 2006,03:36

It's frustrating to not have a good set of documented shortcuts, and no way to get the menu is particularly annoying. I could not see the keys file you mentioned while looking at a desktop with no recognizable mouse (apparently serial mice are not found automagically). I had to power off without doing a proper shutdown, and now I'm trying to recover the broken inodes it caused.

BTW, I did a mouseless HD install, but opted to not use the GUI at all. Booting into runmode 2 (using the cheatcode "dsl 2") got me a prompt, where I could run fdisk, mkfs, and dslinstall.