Thinkpad Trackpoint?

Forum: Laptops
Topic: Thinkpad Trackpoint?
started by: dallas7

Posted by dallas7 on May 23 2004,02:45

Well, after trying several Linux live distros, I've finally decided that DSL is gonna be The One for this old IBM 570E. Knoppix 3.2 worked great but had so much stuff that I'll never use. (3.3 and 3.4, and kernal 2.6 in the latter case, just did not play well on this thing; a real lockup box.)

This P3/500 had plenty of horsepower for DSL and it just cooks along even tho it's only got 192MB RAM and a 4800 RPM drive with 256KB cache. It was fine with Win2K and awful with WinXP. And it's just not worth the $150-200 it'd need to up the RAM and liven things up a bit with a 7200 RPM drive with 8 or 16MB cache.

So, anyhow, I can't to save my life remember if the Trackpoint "mouse" ever worked on this thing with DSL. I've had several distros on here installed one way or the other and some worked and some didn't. Some even let me switch on-the-fly. But, DSL? I just can't remember...

Since I installed this latest .7 version onto the HD while with an external USB mouse attached, it's possible the config is now "locked" as such. I suspect such since a PS/2 mouse doesn't work either, even if I reboot.

If the Trackpoint is supported, how do I switch between it and an external mouse? Or even between USB and PS/2 mousies?

Thanks!

Posted by cbagger01 on May 23 2004,04:40

Delete your .xserverrc file and run xsetup.sh to re-create your settings with "USB Mouse = No" for a choice.

The .xserverrc file is located in your home directory. For example: /home/damnsmall/.xserverrc

A more detailed set of instructions:

Boot your computer.
Press CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to exit Xwindows and return to the text only command prompt.
Type the following at the command prompt:

rm .xserverrc
xsetup.sh

Then answer the XSetup questions. You will then be returned to the command prompt again.

Then type:

startx

to return to Xwindows with your new settings.

Posted by dallas7 on May 29 2004,02:48

Thanks for the help.

I had a .xserverrc in /root as well as /home/damnsmall and I deleted them both and ran xsetup.sh and then startx.

The USB mouse was still active and the Trackpoint not until I rebooted. I now have the Trackpoint back and I can plug in a PS/2 mouse, too. No scroll wheel, tho (but I knew that).

However, I hate the Trackpoint and I'm going to look into a cordless USB mouse that's targeted to the laptop market.

In the meantime, it seems I don't have a .xserverrc file at all anymore, in either directory. And when I select Full Enhanced Desktop from the desktop menu, the icons flash for a second and then... gone. Doh!

Any more you can suggest? Thanks again.

Posted by cbagger01 on May 29 2004,06:40

After you finish running xsetup.sh, it should create a new .xserverrc file in the home directory of the currently active user. Maybe you ran the .xserverrc file from a different directory? For example, if you are logged in as user 'damnsmall', try doing the following before running xsetup.sh:

cd /home/damnsmall

Then check for a new file after the xsetup.sh is finished.

As for the desktop icons, you will usually get that error if you have an icon link that points to a nonexistant program or a nonexistant icon picture file.

Go to your .xtdesktop directory (for example, /home/damnsmall/.xtdesktop) and look for a *.lnk file that is not paired up with a matching picture file (for example scite.gif).

If you find one, the solution is to either:

Delete the offending *.lnk file or temporarily move it to another place like your /tmp directory.

Copy the appropriate picture file into your .xtdesktop directory and make sure that the filename matches up exactly with the description inside the *.lnk file (Look at the *.lnk file inside Scite or another text editor).

Choose "No Icons" from the Fluxbox Menu.

Choose "Ehanced with Icons" from the Fluxbox Menu.

Good Luck.