Mouse stalls (was Re: [Gllug] Controversial Joel Spolsky article)

[Ian Norton]

On Mon, Dec 22, 2003 at 10:06:44AM +0000, Chris Bell wrote:
> On Tue 16 Dec, Christopher Currie wrote:
> > But the bad news is that since about October the SuSe Linux has 
> > developed a randomly freezing mouse cursor; 
> > the problem seems to be with the Xserver rather than the
> > desktop (I've tried several, all of which display it); and reformatting
> > the Linux partitions and reinstalling a bare-bones Suse 8.1 system 
> > in November failed to cure it, so it's not due to any new software 
> > installation.  I have tried all the config changes suggested by the help
> > system without effect.
> > 
> > My children, who'd become quite pro Linux, are now very hostile to it -
> > they see it, rightly in this case, as just as unreliable as Windows.
> > 
> > Although I suspect that the cause is some hardware fault new in
> > October, I have no idea which board or chip might be responsible. 
> > The logs give me no obvious clue. And Windows doesn't display this 
> > particular fault, despite its others. If I call in a techie friend he'll
> > be a Windoze buff with no interest in solving the Linux problem.
> > 
> > [The mouse is a Microsoft Intellimouse with 2 buttons & hamster wheel, and
> > the graphics card is an Nvidia Geoforce that Suse don't support,
> > so I use Suse's dummy driver ( using the correct Nvidia driver did not
> > solve the fault and eventually disabled the Xwindows system completely)].
> > 
>    The usual problem is caused by greasy deposits transferred from the mouse
> ball to the rollers. Remove and clean the ball, and scrape off any debris
> stuck to the three rollers inside the housing, often seen as a thin line
> just where they contact the ball. Do not leave traces of washing up liquid,
> and allow time to dry completely.
> 

I have had a similar problem and only noticed it recently, not sure why,

here is how i solved it,

install gpm (the console mouse cursor thing)

set gpm up 'using gpmconfig' as follows.

device /dev/whatevveryourmouseison
type imps2
repeat_type imps2


once you have done this, open your XF86Config file and tell X to use
/dev/gpmdata instead of the normal port, 

then restart some services and X and everything should be better,

Ian


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