Patric - I’m sorry I didn’t find this earlier but, meanwhile, here’s where I’ve got to so far:
To begin with, it is probably worth saying that the Quick Introduction Guide to this product says that
Quote:
“Linux opensource drivers are included in Linux kernels 2.6.11 & later. They support the Prolific 2303 & recognize the Plugable adapter”
First, I had been asked by Plugable for the manufacturer of my trackball (mouse). It is wholly unbranded but, by the magic of never throwing anything away, I was able to find the original manual which tells me that the Model. No: is 3000 & that it can be run in either 2 button “Microsoft” or 3 button “PC Mouse” mode.
- went into YaST, searched on ‘mouse’ & found I had:
Quote:
xf86-input-mouse Mouse input driver for the Xorg X server |
installed which is described thus:
Quote:
mouse is an Xorg input driver for mice. The driver supports most available mouse types and interfaces, though the level of support for types of mice depends on the OS.
- Hunting for something on my system the only xf86-input-mouse files I could find were in /usr/share/doc/packages/ and the only useful one was xf86-input-mouse/README and this has a whole section (Ln 403 to the end) covering the Serial mouse. Both the Microsoft & the PC Mouse are supported:
Quote:
3. 3-button serial mice may work with the “Mousesystems”
protocol. If it doesn’t, it may work instead with the
“Microsoft” protocol although the third (middle) button won’t
function. 3-button serial mice may also work with the
“Mouseman” protocol under which the third button may function
as expected.
- 3-button serial mice may have a small switch at the bottom of
the mouse to choose between ‘‘MS’’ and ‘‘PC’’, or ‘‘2’’ and
‘‘3’’. ‘‘MS’’ or ‘‘2’’ usually mean the “Microsoft”
protocol. ‘‘PC’’ or ‘‘3’’ will choose the “MouseSystems”
protocol.
- A Global Moderator from SuSE (Deano_ferrari) suggested that I could create a .conf file in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/, and add the required configuration there. He pointed me to man xorg.conf.d.
Finally, I ran ls /dev > dev-out.txt with the extension not plugged in & ls /dev > dev-in.txt with it plugged in. I then ran:
Quote:
Bash - 4.2.45 : diff dev-out.txt dev-in.txt
> serial/
> ttyUSB0at
and here is the file ‘TrackBall.conf’ up with which I came:
Quote:
Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “TrackBall”
Driver “Microsoft”
Option “Floating” “true”
Option “Device” “/dev/ttyUSB0”
#Bus 002 Device 004: ID 067b:2303 Prolific Technology, Inc. PL2303 Serial Port
Option “Protocol” “auto”
Option “ZAxisMapping” “4 5”
EndSection
However, this doesnt work.
I may be wrong but there are 3 .conf files which I suspect are causing the problem:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf
Quote:
7 Section “InputClass”
8 Identifier “evdev pointer catchall”
9 MatchIsPointer “on”
10 MatchDevicePath “/dev/input/event*”
11 Driver “evdev”
12 EndSection
21 Section “InputClass”
22 Identifier “evdev touchpad catchall”
23 MatchIsTouchpad “on”
24 MatchDevicePath “/dev/input/event*”
25 Driver “evdev”
26 EndSection
and (particularly):
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/11-evdev.conf
Quote:
Section “InputClass”
Novell Bugs #597214, #780626, #843333
Identifier “IBM TPPS/2 TrackPoint|ThinkPad USB Keyboard with
TrackPoint”
MatchProhduct “TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint”
MatchIsPointer “on”
Driver “evdev”
Option “EmulateWheel” “on”
Option “EmulateWheelButton” “2”
EndSection
but also:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf
I’m sure the answer is (relatively) simple but I’m completely stuck. Am I nowhere but somewhere - or, in the words of Jeff Beck - “Everywhere but nowhere”? (although I would never have worn a hippy hat; I always prided myself on being the last of the Beat Generation)
(and if you want a blow by blow account, these may be the places:
ions/showthread.php?p=5211004#post5211004
showthread.php/499840-Antique-9-pin-serial-trackball-thru-Plugable-USB-to-RS-232-DB9-Serial-Adapter?p=2656351#post2656351