On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 12:57:11PM -0700, Stephen Powell wrote: > Per the suggestion of J?r?my Bobbio when he closed Bug > # 481514 against installation-reports, I am posting > this item to the debian-devel mailing list. > > The Debian installer needs some improvement when it > comes to mouse configuration. Currently, if the user > requests a "standard system" and a "desktop > environment" in the Debian installer, the X Window > System will be installed in such a way that it drives > the mouse directly, rather than going through gpm; and > gpm is not installed. I recommend that gpm be > installed whenever a mouse is detected on the system; > and if the X server is also installed, it should > always be configured to get mouse events from the gpm > daemon rather than drive the mouse directly. > > This will allow the use of the mouse both in a virtual > console and in X. Not only that, but "hot swapping" > the mouse will be far less disruptive for X users. > When the X server drives a standard PS/2 mouse > directly, if the user unplugs the mouse and plugs in > another one while the system is running, he must stop > and restart the X server, losing all of his X > applications in the process, in order to regain the > use of the mouse. But when using gpm, all he must do > is stop and re-start the gpm daemon to make the mouse > work again. The X server is unaffected and the X > applications are unaffected. > > With this recommendation, you should also move gpm to > CD-ROM number 1.
With current kernels, if you use /dev/input/mice, the port can be shared by gpm and X at the same time, and all mice you connect (no matter what) show up in that device. Of course PS/2 mice can not be connected while the system is on, since the hardware simply is not designed for that (I believe it can actually be damaged by trying although I have no seen it happen.). On a few systems it seems to work if you plug in a ps/2 mouse on the fly, but on the vast majority it does not work until you reset the system. USB mice of course are hot plug and hence much simpler. I like gpm, and use it, but I no longer point X at it like I used to now that the kernel allows mouse sharing at all times (as long as you don't try to use the obsolete /dev/psaux device to access the mouse). gpm would also be on the first CD already, if lots of people used it. Apparently they do not. -- Len Sorensen -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]