PS/2 Mouse Scroll Wheel Inop

[OldBob]

I now have a copy of PCLOS-2007 & the same "brand name" mouse on both my desktop and Thinkpad computers.

On the desktop [where the scroll wheel works] the file
/etc/X11/xorg.conf reads -

Section "Input device"
Identifier "mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
End Section

On the Thinkpad notebook [where scroll wheel is inop] it reads

Section "Input device"
Identifier "mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
End Section

The obvious fix is to change IM to Explorer, BUT since I don't know what I'm doing [and I don't want to "kill the mouse"] can I get some confirmation ?

[Roxoff]

As nobody has chipped in here, I'll give you some general advice - but I've no idea if this will fix your mouse problem or not.

If you're going to change your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, there are ways that you can avoid some of the headaches of a broken x config. The easiest way is to back up the file before you start, that way you can always revert to your original config (i.e. do 'cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.orig' before you touch it).

If you break things in the file, you can then always copy the original over your modified version. I often end up with several different xorg.conf files on some of my computers, this happens a lot when I've been tweaking things to find what works the best.

[Chris H]

Try putting this line in the xorg.conf section you posted

Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

Then restart x or reboot. Always worked for me.

* I'm assuming the mouse on the ThinkPad works except for the scroll wheel. *

[OldBob]

Thanks for responses.

I'm finding out that Linux is harder to edit because of "permissions", but then it has stopped some of my mistakes.

[oz]

You have to have root user permissions to edit the xorg.conf file.

You can get those by running the following command from a terminal:

kdesu kwrite /etc/X11/xorg.conf

That should open the kwrite text editor with the xorg.conf file loaded and ready to edit.

Be careful, because as stated above, you might render your system inoperable if you make errors in this file.

If you'd rather edit the file directly from the command line, let us know and we can show you how to do that, too.

[OldBob]

ozar,

Thanks for kwrite procedure, I may try a USB mouse before I try editing.

I "wiped out" a Red Hat mouse just by making the wrong selection in Control Center.