serial mouse problem after upgrading to ubuntu 9.04

[trldp]

I just upgraded from ubuntu 8.10 to 9.04. After the upgrade my serial mouse doesn't work, anymore. Even 'cat /dev/ttyS0' doesn't give any output. Is there anything I can do to make it work again?

[KhurramM]

First things First:

Is your Mouse working? Check cables.

If OK. Then on the gdm just try unplug mouse for 10 sec , and the re-plug it back.

Hope this works.

[tute]

I'm having exactly the same problem.

Before I could make serial mice work doing either:

1. In /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
   
   

   Section "Input Device"
          Identifier "Configured Mouse"
          Driver "mouse"
          Option "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
          Option "Protocol" "Microsoft"
   EndSection

1. (From http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-mini/...-Mouse.html#s3):
   

   ln -s /dev/ttyS0 /dev/mouse

No one works now. The weird part is that the link ttyS0 -> mouse diesn't show up when I reboot.

Also lost in here...
Regards.

[trldp]

Is your Mouse working? Check cables.

My mouse works perfect on my debian and my (old) kubuntu 8.10 system. Only on my Ubuntu 9.04 it doesn't work. The cables are OK

If OK. Then on the gdm just try unplug mouse for 10 sec , and the re-plug it back.

No, doesn't work either

[noirwrit]

I've tried a slight variation on your method two above and it works for me:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "Mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
Option "Protocol" "Auto"
EndSection

This is from a fresh install on a 32-bit Intel machine. The mouse doesn't work during the login screens and there's a slight pause after the appearance for the desktop before it becomes active, but it works just fine afterwards.

I had two issues I couldn't resolve on my 64-bit AMD machine after upgrading and so I started over from scratch on that one. They were: 1) The sound quit working even with PulseAudio removed (interestingly, it always worked when tested, just not inside other software). and 2) "Hey, your index is corrupted! Wanna, re-index? It might take a while." "Sure." "Hey, your index is corrupted! . . ."

[tute]

Wow, it worked!
Didn't work with Protocol Auto, but with your lines and "Protocol Microsoft" it got working!
Thanks, now I can use my computer!

[knoid]

I had the same problem but enabling the lines I was using in xorg.conf didn't work for me.

With the help of a friend I was able to fix it by creating a text file named '10-mouse.fdi' in /etc/hal/fdi/policy/ and putting the following in it:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<deviceinfo version='0.2'>
  <device>
    <match key='info.capabilities' contains='input.mouse'>
      <merge key='input.x11_driver' type='string'>mouse</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Device" type="string">/dev/ttyS0</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Protocol" type="string">ThinkingMouse</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Emulate3Buttons" type="string">false</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.CorePointer" type="string">On</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Buttons" type="string">4</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.ButtonMapping" type="string">1 2 3 4</merge>
    </match>
  </device>
</deviceinfo>

The crucial line seems to be

<merge key='input.x11_driver' type='string'>mouse</merge>

It wouldn't work until I got that line in there.

[Coburn]

I'm using 9.04 on an old A31 Thinkpad. Following the community docs HowTo plus a tweak or two I've gotten a serial mouse to work as a second pointer -- until I close the lid. Then I have to use inputattach. Using your fix makes inputattach not work any more for me. I tried modifying it to match my xorg.conf, too. Except I have two pointers configured, one with CorePointer and another with SendCoreEvents; I think the XML is merging things incorrectly. How do I target the operation to put things where they belong?

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"auto"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
Option "Protocol" "Microsoft"
Option "Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
EndSection

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<deviceinfo version='0.2'>
  <device>
    <match key='info.capabilities' contains='input.mouse'>
      <merge key='input.x11_driver' type='string'>mouse</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Device" type="string">/dev/input/mice</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Protocol" type="string">auto</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.CorePointer" type="string">On</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Buttons" type="string">4</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.ButtonMapping" type="string">1 2 3 4</merge>
      <merge key='input.x11_driver' type='string'>mouse</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Device" type="string">/dev/ttyS0</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Protocol" type="string">Microsoft</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.Emulate3Buttons" type="string">true</merge>
      <merge key="input.x11_options.SendCoreEvents" type="string">true</merge>
    </match>
  </device>
</deviceinfo>

[Fitch]

I'm a complete newbie to Linux in any form.
I have a Pentium 2 that I thought I'd learn on.
So far, I've learnt that Ubuntu doesn't work on it.
I have a Genius EasyTrak "tracker ball" type with 3 buttons, needless to say
it's a serial rodent, and again, needless to say, it doesn't work.
I've tried the xorg.conf and the various differences listed, to no avail.
I even tried typing in the 10-mouse.fdi, but I apparently don't have permission to save it.
The internet doesn't work either by the way, so I'm using another computer (Windows XP) to tell you about it.
I have a router (192.168.1.1) which is the gateway to the internet, but I have no idea how to tell Ubuntu, and certainly don't have a clue without the mouse.

So I have 3 problems in all:
no mouse
no internet
no file permission.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Yours in anticipation
Fitch.

[agharbeia]

You need to be running the editor in the root context, i.e. using sudo or gksudo, in order to be able to save to a system directory.
So try something like "sudo nano"