[SlugBug] [HELP] dead debian X mouse

[Paul Arzul]

On Fri 15-Aug-2003 at 11:50:14AM +0100, Alex Hudson wrote:
> Okay, it can see the device but either it isn't supported or something
> else has the mouse. I would be on the latter - are you sure you aren't
> using something else like gpm concurrently? 

bruno recommended nuking gpm, and i tried that. before then, x wouldn't
load (crash screen, three fingered handwave the only option -- even
ctrl-alt-backspace was useless).

with gpm uninstalled, x loads, but if you dare move the mouse -- it
locks the system hard (cold reset needed).

what else could be grabbing the mouse?


> Try booting to single user mode and running mdetect - that will ensure 
> nothing else has dibs on the mouse device. Otherwise, it's probably a
> driver issue and you should try a different kernel (make sure you follow
> the inevitable initrd instruction).

i don't know how much more voodoo i'm going to perform. anyone care to
recommend a bsd flavour for a painless install? :)

my main woody gripes are hardware detection/setup. it failed on:

- my supported soundcard (hoontech digital xg, a yamaha 754 chipset). i
  had to download/compile alsa. thank the penguin alsa is now in the
  2.5+ tree. (knoppix didn't find it either, although it found the silly
  onboard chip.)
  
  also ridiculous was figuring out how to save/restore mixer settings
  on reboot. oh, and never mind the bizarre hunt to get a game working
  that needed the environment variable "SDL_DSP_NOSELECT" set.

- the dvd drive. trying to grok choppy playback and i found out that
  ultra conservative debian doesn't have dma set on *any* drive (yes, i
  know they have to support legacy hardware and 11 platforms!). and so
  the adventure into hdparm land began...

that probably sounds a bit harsh -- so here are some kinder words...

we're all running redhat at work, except me, and the main debian success
story is that my workstation is the only one that can reach the office
postscript printer. (it's cups printing via a windows share.)

- p