Serial Mouse Problem and XFree86.dsl

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Serial Mouse Problem and XFree86.dsl
started by: FaIIen

Posted by FaIIen on Sep. 02 2005,11:38

hello

First i want to say i'm totally new at this ...meaning linux.

Yesterday I managed to install the last version of DSL to my old P133 (40mb RAM, 3gb HD). The installation performed well without any glitches. However when i entered the GUI the mouse didn't work, i tried to navigate with keys only to find out later that Fluxbox doesn't support keyboard shortcuts (well only for 2 things but anyway). So in other words i can't do anything if i don't have a mouse working properly. I searched the forums and found that i have to install xfree86.dsl and setup my mouse through that and not xsetup.sh. I downloaded the file ..but i'm not sure what to do with it. I suppose i have to install and run it somehow. I found somewhere in here the exact steps for installing and configuring xfree86.dsl when in Fluxbox environment which seemed rather easy, but what happens if i want to install it from command prompt ? Can someone give me some step by step instructions ?

Cheers

Posted by hawki on Sep. 02 2005,13:00

Hi
You should not need to install XFree86 to use a serial mouse. They usually work very well with the default X environment. All you have to do is tell the system to use it. A quick search of the forum for serial and mouse bought up this link.

< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....d+mouse >

good luck

Posted by FaIIen on Sep. 02 2005,13:26

I already followed the xsetup.sh procedure more than once, trying my mouse on both com1 and com2 with no result.

Posted by hawki on Sep. 02 2005,13:29

Hi
Is there any chance that the bios has the com ports or the com interrupts disabled?

Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Sep. 02 2005,13:40

I have quite a few old Compaqs that use a serial mouse, and they work fine.

In xsetup.sh, choose your X server, say no to IMPS/2, and choose 2 button and then select your port. Usually the mouse is at ttyS0, butmight be another port for some strange reason. Try all the listed serial devices there and I'm sure you will find your mouse.

-J.P.