Install/Mouse problem with RedHat 6.2

[Kevin Buettner]

On May 9,  9:32am, Rodney Mort wrote:

> I just started getting into Linux and it has been a very bad experiance.
> I put together a new system for the sole purpose of Linux RedHat 6.2
> and Caldera ?.?.  I have installed RH6.2 at least six times using four 
> different mice.  I have tried Generic 2 button serial and PS/2 mice.
> I am determined to get this darned thing to work but I need a little help 
> here.  TIA.

What kind of mouse do you have?

Are you trying to get the mouse to work on the console or in X?
Or both?  (Personally, I see very little point to getting the
mouse to work on the console.  But it is critical that it work
in X.)

In either case, you'll make more efficient use of your time if
you install once and then fix the problem with the mouse after
the install.

Take a look in /etc/X11/XF86Config.  Look for lines similar to
the following:

Section "Pointer"
    Protocol    "PS/2"
    Device      "/dev/mouse"

You may have to adjust these lines somewhat, but for the time being
these seem like safe settings.  Here's a portion from "man XF86Config"
to help you out:

       The  Pointer section is used to specify the pointer device
       and parameters.  The entries available  for  this  section
       are:

       Protocol "protocol-type"
               specifies  the  pointer device protocol type.  The
               protocol types available are:

                    Auto
                    BusMouse
                    GlidePoint
                    GlidePointPS/2
                    IntelliMouse
                    IMPS/2
                    Logitech
                    Microsoft
                    MMHitTab
                    MMSeries
                    Mouseman
                    MouseManPlusPS/2
                    MouseSystems
                    NetMousePS/2
                    NetScrollPS/2
                    OSMouse
                    PS/2
                    SysMouse
                    ThinkingMouse
                    ThinkingMousePS/2
                    Xqueue

               One should specify BusMouse for the  Logitech  bus
               mouse  and  bus  or InPort mice from Microsoft and
               ATI.  The Logitech  protocol  is  for  old  serial
               mouse  models  from Logitech.  Many newer Logitech
               serial mice use either the Microsoft  or  MouseMan
               protocol.   Xqueue  should be specified here if it
               was used in the Keyboard section.  OSMouse  refers
               to  the  event-driver mouse interface available on
               SCO's SVR3, and the mouse interface  provided  for
               OS/2.  This may optionally be followed by a number
               specifying the number of buttons  the  mouse  has.
               SysMouse   refers  to  the  system  mouse  device,
               /dev/sysmouse, in FreeBSD.

               The PS/2 and other XXXXPS/2 protocol types are for
               PS/2  mice.  PS/2 should always work with any PS/2
               mouse regardless of the model of the  PS/2  mouse.
               The  other  XXXXPS/2 protocol types may or may not
               be supported by your OS.

               The rest of the  protocol  types  are  for  serial
               mice.  If your serial mouse is of a relatively new
               model, you may specify Auto,  then  the  X  server
               will  try  to  select an appropriate protocol type
               automatically.  The Auto protocol  type  may  also
               work for the PS/2 and bus mice on some OSs.

       Device "pointer-dev"
               specifies  the  device  the server should open for
               pointer input (eg, /dev/tty00 or  /dev/mouse).   A
               device  should  not  be  specified  when using the
               Xqueue or OSMouse protocols.

There are other options which may be needed particularly if you
have a serial mouse.

If you're using /dev/mouse as your device, you should check
/dev to make sure that there's an appropriate symbolic link.
I.e, you should see something like the following:

    saguaro:kev$ ls -l /dev/mouse
    lrwxrwxrwx   1 root     root            5 Jul 23  1999 /dev/mouse -> psaux
    saguaro:kev$ ls -l /dev/psaux
    crw-rw-r--   1 root     root      10,   1 May  9 18:37 /dev/psaux
     
If you don't, you may want to create a suitable symbolic link.  The
trick is knowing what to link /dev/mouse to.  If you really do have
a PS/2 mouse, then a link as shown above is probably appropriate.
OTOH, if you have a serial mouse, you'd probably want to link /dev/mouse
to one of /dev/cua0, /dev/cua1, etc.  In any event, you'd accomplish
this by:

    rm -f /dev/mouse; ln -s cua0 /dev/mouse

or

    rm -f /dev/mouse; ln -s psaux /dev/mouse

There's probably some neat whiz-bang configuration tool you could use
to do all of this, but I try not to use such things myself...

Kevin