I finally got around to trying more earnestly to tackle this problem.
The motivation was that I lost CD burning capability by reverting to the
2.4.27 kernel (the kernel that actually gave me a working mouse and thus a
working X) and I finally needed to get it back. Searching the internet I
was able to find some information that got the mouse, and thus the gui,
working again.
Before searching the 'net, I actually decided I might try upgrading the
xserver to xorg. I did that, and ran dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, trying
various mouse options, but the core pointer still was not found and the
gui wouldn't start. That's when I started searching the 'net.
I found a message on the debian-users list that mentioned modprobing or
adding to /etc/modules psmouse and mousedev. I tried modprobing them in
that order and then running startx and, sure enough, the gui fired up and
I had a working mouse. I decided to add mousedev to /etc/modules and
reboot to see if that would do the trick. Having done that, the gui
started but the mouse wasn't working (cursor did not respond to mouse
movements). So I added psmouse before mousedev in /etc/modules and
rebooted. After this, the gui fired up fine plus I had a responsive mouse
cursor. So, the problem I had is pretty much solved (for now, at least).
Why did this happen? My guess is that since the mouse module wasn't
getting loaded, no device node was created for it. Just a guess: I'm not
techie enough to say for sure. But one of the tests I ran when I was
searching out this problem, which involved running od -tx1 /dev/psaux and
od -tx1 /dev/input/mice, did indicate that these device nodes were
non-existent. Maybe more experienced brains than mine on this list can
figure out why this happened. At least I've found a solution.
James
On Thu, 18 Aug 2005, James Miller wrote:
Some new problems have cropped up since I dist-upgraded my Debian unstable
install. Odd that they did not show up immediately after the dist-upgrade,
but only now after having rebooted several times. The most recent reboot was
necessitated by a momentary power failure.
So, here's the problem: X won't start. It has a problem finding a core input
device--the mouse. I haven't touched XFConfig-4 for a couple of months, which
deepens the mystery. Here is some relevant output from
/var/log/XFree86.0.log:
XFree86 Version 4.3.0.1 (Debian 4.3.0.dfsg.1-14 20050601051219
[EMAIL PROTECTED])
<snip>
(II) Keyboard "Generic Keyboard" handled by legacy driver
(**) Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
(**) Configured Mouse: Protocol: "PS/2"
(**) Option "CorePointer"
(**) Configured Mouse: Core Pointer
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
(EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/psaux
No such file or directory.
(EE) Configured Mouse: cannot open input device
(EE) PreInit failed for input device "Configured Mouse"
(II) UnloadModule: "mouse"
(WW) No core pointer registered
No core pointer
Fatal server error:
failed to initialize core devices
This newly-discovered failure seems to have to do with the 2.6.x kernels, and
possibly udev. I say this because, in order to get a working gui, I've had to
boot using an older 2.4.27 kernel I have on the system. When I boot using
that kernel, everything works fine: no failure of core input devices or X
refusing to start. But when I try booting with either of the other two 2.6.x
kernels (2.6.10 or 2.6.12), I get the failure message above.
For further reference, let me include an excerpt from my XF86Config-4 file:
# XF86Config-4 (XFree86 X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the XF86Config-4 manual page.
# (Type "man XF86Config-4" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xfree86 package upgrades
*only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xfree86
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands as root:
#
# cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.custom
# md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 >/var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
<snip>
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Rage 3D"
Driver "ati"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "MAG 765"
HorizSync 63.98
VertRefresh 60.02
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Rage 3D"
Monitor "MAG 765"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection
Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection
Any ideas what I might do to get this situation rectified? The mouse is a ps2
for sure. It's a little unusual--sort of a mini-trackball type thing. But
I've never before had any problem with it when specifying it as a generic ps2
mouse. It's worked fine for a few months on this same machine prior to the
dist-upgrade mentioned. When I took Chuck Gelm's advice and used smartd to
look for problematic hard drive output, I did see some output related to the
mouse. I can't recall the specifics, unfortunately.
Input geared toward resolving this problem will be appreciated.
James
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