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<!-- $Id: busmouse.tutorial.sgml,v 1.3 1994/08/01 13:25:28 mike Exp mike $ -->
<!doctype linuxdoc system>

<article>

<title>The Linux Busmouse Howto
<author>Mike Battersby, <tt/[e-mail]/
<date>v1.2, 2 August 1994

<toc>

<sect>Introduction.
<p>
This document is a guide to getting your busmouse working with
Linux.  I've written this in the hope that the ten people a week
who post ``how do I get my busmouse to work'' questions in the
comp.os.linux.* newsgroups will read it first, though I won't be
holding my breath.

<p>
Busmouse support has been in the kernel for as long as I can
remember, and hasn't changed in a long time, so this document
should be relevant to any version of Linux you're likely to have.

<sect1>Disclaimer.
<p>
The information in this document is correct to the best of my
knowledge, but there's a always a chance I've made some mistakes,
so don't follow everything too blindly, especially if it seems wrong.
Nothing here should have a detrimental effect on your computer, but
just in case I take no responsibility for any damages incurred from
the use of the information contained herein.

<tt>Microsoft(R) is a Trademark of Microsoft Corporation.</tt>

[ trademark notices for other mice, anyone? --- Mike ]

<sect1>Feedback.
<p>
If you find any mistakes in this document, have any comments about
its contents or an update or addition, send them to me at the
address listed at the top of this howto.

<sect1>Acknowledgements.
<p>
This howto has been, in the spirit of Linux, a community effort.
Many thanks go to Johan Myreen for the sections on the PS/2 mice,
Robert T. Harris for help on the ATI-XL sections and Reuben Sumner
for miscellaneous info and constructive criticism.

<p>
Thanks also to the multitudes of people who have sent me mouse
information, fixes or words of encouragement.

<sect>Determining your mouse type.
<p>
There are two separate but important characteristics you will need
to know about your mouse before you go on: what interface it uses
and what protocol it uses.  The interface is the hardware aspect
of the mouse, taking into account things like which i/o ports it
uses and how to check if it is installed.  This is the part which
the kernel is concerned with, so that it knows how to read data
from the mouse.  The protocol is the software aspect of the mouse.
Applications need to know the protocol to interpret the raw mouse
data they receive from the kernel.

<sect1>Mouse interfaces.
<p>
The Linux kernel currently supports four different kinds of bus
mouse interface : Inport (Microsoft), Logitech, PS/2 and ATI-XL.
The majority of bus mice have Inport interfaces, although lately
PS/2 interfaces are becoming more popular.  There is no surefire
way of determining your mouse interface --- mouse developers generally
do their own thing when it comes to standards.  The following
sections may help, otherwise you'll just have to make it up.

<sect1>Inport mice.
<p>
This includes most of the old style Microsoft mice which are
shaped like a bar of dove soap.  U.S. users who have purchased
Gateway computers should note that the mice that come with them
are not Inport mice but PS/2 mice (see below).  Inport mice
generally connect to an interface card which plugs into the bus
on your motherboard.  If the plug which connects your mouse cord
to the interface card is round, has 9 pins, and a notch in one
side you likely have an Inport mouse.

<p>
As far as I can tell, apart from the ATI-XL, all ATI mice
(such as those on the Graphics Ultra cards) are plain Inport
mice.

<sect1>Logitech mice.
<p>
Logitech mice in general appear almost exactly the same as Inport
mice.  They too connect to an interface card via a 9 pin mini-din
connector.  Hopefully, it will have come in a Logitech box or
have ``Logitech'' printed on the connector card so that you can
tell it actually is a Logitech mouse.

<p>
There are also some truly ancient Microsoft mice (ones with
ball bearings on the bottom as well as the mouse ball and
a DB9 connector) which also use the Logitech protocol.

<sect1>PS/2 mice.
<p>
PS/2 mice aren't really bus mice at all.  The PS/2 mouse
interface is not on an expansion card, the mouse is connected
to the PS/2 Auxiliary Device port on the keyboard controller.
A PS/2 mouse port uses a 6-pin mini DIN connector, similar to
the keyboard connector.  Many laptops also use this kind of
interface to their trackballs --- except for the connector, of
course.

<sect1>ATI-XL mice.
<p>
ATI-XL mice are a variant of Inport mice, with some slight
differences.  They come on the ATI-XL combined video adaptor/mouse
card.  Unless you know you have an ATI-XL card (and thus an ATI-XL
mouse), you probably don't have one of these. It is possible for
ATI-XL mice to use either the ATI-XL or Inport kernel drivers,
although the ATI-XL driver should give better results.

<sect1>Mouse protocols.
<p>
The PC world is full of different and conflicting mouse protocols.
Fortunately, the choice for bus mice is considerable smaller than
that for serial mice.  Most Inport, Logitech and ATI-XL mice use
the ``BusMouse'' protocol, although there are some ancient Logitech
mice which use the ``MouseSystems'' protocol, and some even older
Microsoft mice which use the Logitech protocol.  PS/2 mice use
the ``PS/2'' protocol.

<sect>Getting your mouse working.
<p>
Once you have figured out your mouse interface and protocol types,
you're ready to proceed.

<sect1><label id="interrupt">Setting the mouse interrupt.
<p>
Now, you'll need to know which interrupt number your mouse is
using, and make sure it doesn't conflict with any other
peripherals you have installed.

<p>
You should make sure that your mouse is not trying to use the same
interrupt as any of your other devices --- it is not possible for
the mouse to share an interrupt under Linux, even though it may
work fine under other operating systems.  Check the documentation
for all your peripherals to see which interrupt they use.  In most
cases IRQ4 is used for the first serial port (<tt>/dev/ttyS0</tt>),
IRQ3 for the second (<tt>/dev/ttyS1</tt>) (these are assuming you
actually have such devices --- if you don't you can happily use
their IRQ's), and IRQ5 for some SCSI adaptors.

<p>
Note that for ATI-XL, Inport and Logitech mice the kernel
default is to use IRQ5, so if you are stuck with a pre-compiled
kernel (eg, CD-ROM users) you will have to use that.

<sect1>Inport and Logitech mice.
<p>
If you open up your computer's case and look at the card which
your mouse plugs into, you should notice a block of jumpers
on the card (hopefully labeled ``INTERRUPT'') with positions
for interrupt (otherwise known as IRQ) numbers 2,3,4 and 5.
To change the interrupt simply move the jumper from its current
position onto the correct pair of pins.

<tscreen>
<verb>
***************************************************
***     MAKE SURE YOUR COMPUTER IS TURNED OFF   ***
***     BEFORE CHANGING THE JUMPERS AROUND.     ***
***************************************************
</verb>
</tscreen>


<sect1>ATI-XL mice.
<p>
ATI-XL busmice have a software selectable IRQ - you should have
received with your mouse a MS-DOS program (<tt>VSETUP.EXE</tt>) to set the
IRQ.  In order to do so you must (temporarily) boot MS-DOS and run
this program.  Note that the VSETUP program takes an optional
parameter ``/70'' to increase the vertical refresh rate (which results
in less flicker).  The VSETUP program also allows you to select
either the primary or secondary mouse address - you should set
this to the primary address or the kernel will not be able to
detect your mouse.

<p>
Once VSETUP has been run you must perform a hard reset for the new
configuration to take effect.


<sect1>PS/2 mice.
<p>
The PS/2 mouse always uses IRQ12 -- there is no way of changing
this (except with a soldering gun.)  In the rare case that some
other device is using IRQ12, you'll have to rejumper that
peripheral to use another IRQ number.

<sect1>Compiling the kernel.
<p>
In order for your busmouse to operate correctly you will need
to recompile your kernel with the busmouse support compiled in.

<p>
Change to your kernel directory (here assumed to be (<tt>/usr/src/linux</tt>)
and do a
<tscreen>
<verb>
make config
</verb>
</tscreen>

<p>
If you are unsure as to your mouse type, the first time you
recompile the kernel you may wish to enable all of the busmouse
options in the hope that the kernel will autodetect your mouse
properly.  People have mixed sucess with this: it doesn't
always work, but on the other hand it might save you any
further compiles.

<sect2>Inport, Logitech and ATI-XL mice.
<p>
Answer ``y'' to the question pertaining to your type of busmouse
interface and ``n'' to all the other busmouse questions.  For
example, if you have an Inport mouse you should answer ``y'' to
<tscreen>
Microsoft busmouse support
</tscreen>
and ``n'' to all other busmouse questions.  Answer the non-mouse
related questions as you usually would.

<p>
If you have a Logitech or Inport mouse, edit the file
<tt>/usr/src/linux/include/linux/busmouse.h</tt> and change the line
which says
<tscreen>
<tt>#define MOUSE_IRQ               5</tt>
</tscreen>
to reflect the interrupt number for your mouse (see section
<ref id="interrupt" name="setting the mouse interrupt">
for details on finding your interrupt number).

<p>
If you have an ATI-XL mouse, edit the file
<tt>/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/atixlmouse.c</tt> and change the line
which says
<tscreen>
#define ATIXL_MOUSE_IRQ         5
</tscreen>
to reflect your mouse's interrupt number.

<p>
Due to the
vagaries of the PC architecture, if you have set your mouse to
use interrupt 2, you must set the #define to use interrupt 9.

<p>
Examples

<p>
For a mouse on interrupt 3, you should change the line to read
<tscreen>
#define MOUSE_IRQ               3
</tscreen>

<p>
For a mouse on interrupt 2, you should change the line to read
<tscreen>
#define MOUSE_IRQ               9
</tscreen>

<p>
Next, compile your kernel as per the instructions which come
with it, and boot from the new kernel.  You should now have
the busmouse support correctly compiled in.

<sect2>PS/2 mice.
<p>
To compile the kernel with PS/2 mouse support answer ``y'' to
the question.
<tscreen>
PS/2 mouse (aka &dquot;auxiliary device&dquot;) support
</tscreen>

<p>
The PS/2 mouse driver actually supports two kinds of devices:
the standard PS/2 Auxiliary Device controller and a special
PS/2 mouse interface chip from Chips & Technologies which is
used in the Texas Instruments Travelmate and Gateway Nomad
laptops.  To compile in support for the trackballs on these
computers, answer ``y'' to the
<tscreen>
C&T 82C710 mouse port support (as on TI Travelmate)
</tscreen>
question.  Note that you will still have to answer ``y'' to the
question about the standard PS/2 driver to even get a chance to
answer this question, since the 82C710 driver is actually an
add-on to the standard PS/2 mouse driver.

<p>
When configured both for a standard PS/2 mouse device and the
82C710 device, the driver first tries to locate a 82C710 chip
at boot time.  Failing this, the standard driver is used
instead, so using a kernel configured for both types of
interface on a machine with a standard PS/2 mouse port should
work too.  However, there has been one report of a falsely
detected 82C710 chip, so to be on the safe side do not
configure in support for the 82C710 if you don't need it.

<p>
Compile your new kernel and boot from it as you normally would.

<sect2>Selection.
<p>
Regardless of your mouse type you should answer ``y'' to the
<tscreen>
Selection (cut and paste for virtual consoles)
</tscreen>
question if you wish to run the selection program (see section
<ref id="selection" name="selection"> for more details).


<sect1>The mouse devices.
<p>
Mice under Linux are accessed via the devices in the <tt>/dev</tt>
directory. The following table gives a list of interface types
and which device you should use.

<tscreen>
<verb>
INTERFACE        DEVICE        MAJOR    MINOR
---------------------------------------------
Logitech        /dev/logibm      10       0
PS/2            /dev/psaux       10       1
Inport          /dev/inportbm    10       2
ATI-XL          /dev/atibm       10       3

    Table 1.  Mouse devices.
</verb>
</tscreen>

<descrip>
<tag/Note:/ If you are using your ATI-XL mouse with the Inport driver,
you should use the <tt>/dev/inportbm</tt> device, not the <tt>/dev/atibm</tt>
device.
</descrip>

<p>
The major and minor entries are the device numbers for that
particular device.

<p>
If you find that you do not have these devices, you should
create them first.  To do so, execute the following as root.
<tscreen>
<verb>
mknod /dev/logibm   c 10 0
mknod /dev/psaux    c 10 1
mknod /dev/inportbm c 10 2
mknod /dev/atibm    c 10 3
</verb>
</tscreen>

<descrip>
<tag/Note:/ Some time in the (progressively less) recent history of
Linux the names for
the busmouse devices have changed.  The following device names
have been superceded by those above and should be removed:
<tt>bmousems, bmouseps2, bmouseatixl, bmouselogitech</tt>.
</descrip>

<p>
Many people like to create a symbolic link from their mouse
device to <tt>/dev/mouse</tt> so that they don't have to remember which
device they need to be using.  If you have one of the current
Linux distributions you will almost certainly find that you have
such a link.  If you have such a link, or create one, you should
make sure that it is pointing to the correct device for your
mouse.


<sect1>Testing your mouse.
<p>
Get the file <tt>selection-1.6.tar.gz</tt> from your local Linux ftp
site and compile the program ``test-mouse'' within it, according
to the instructions (all you should need to do is type
``make~test-mouse'').  Run the program like this
<tscreen>
test-mouse -t <mouse arg> -m <mouse dev>
</tscreen>
where <mouse arg> is ``bm'' (without the quotes) if you use the
BusMouse protocol, or ``ps2'' if you use the PS/2 protocol, and
<mouse dev> is your mouse device name from table 1.

<p>
If your mouse is working correctly, you should be able to
paint on the screen by holding down the right or left mouse
button and dragging the mouse.  Push the left and right mouse
buttons simultaneously to exit the program.

<sect>Using your mouse.

<sect1><label id="selection">Selection.
<p>
Selection is a program which allows you to do mouse based 'cut-
and-paste' between virtual consoles under Linux.  Selection can
be found as the file <tt>selection-1.6.tar.gz</tt> at your friendly
Linux FTP site (such as <tt>sunsite.unc.edu</tt>), and contains instructions
for getting it compiled.  Some Linux distributions, such as
Slackware, come with a precompiled selection binary.

<p>
When invoking selection, use the -t switch to selection to indicate
which protocol your mouse is using and the -m option to indicate
which mouse device you are using.  The default is to use the
<tt>/dev/mouse</tt> device, so you can omit the -m option if you have the
appropriate symbolic link. For example, if you use the BusMouse
protocol, selection should be run like this:
<tscreen>
selection -t bm
</tscreen>
or if you use the PS/2 protocol:
<tscreen>
selection -t ps2
</tscreen>

<p>
You should then be able to cut and paste text between virtual
consoles using the mouse buttons.  Read the documentation with
selection, or do a ``man selection'' for more information on how
to operate it.

<P>
There have been a couple of reports of selection not working
correctly with certain laptop trackballs (under the PS/2
interface).  Replacing the line
<tscreen>
<verb>
{ 0xcc,   0x00,   0x00,   0x00,   3       }   /* PS/2 */
</verb>
</tscreen>
in selection's mouse.c file with the line
<tscreen>
<verb>
{ 0xcc,   0x08,   0x00,   0x00,   3       }   /* PS/2 */
</verb>
</tscreen>
may help if you are having problems and can't track it
down to anything else.

<sect1>XFree86.
<p>
To use your busmouse under XFree86, you will need to set your
mouse protocol type in your Xconfig file. If you have a BusMouse
protocol mouse, your Xconfig should contain (including the quotes)
<tscreen>
<verb>
Busmouse        "/dev/mouse"
</verb>
</tscreen>

<p>
For PS/2 mice it should have
<tscreen>
<verb>
ps/2        "/dev/mouse"
</verb>
</tscreen>

<p>
If you have a two button mouse, it should also contain the line
<tscreen>
<verb>
Emulate3Buttons
</verb>
</tscreen>
which will allow you to emulate the use of the middle mouse button
by pressing both mouse buttons simultaneously.
All other mouse related lines, such as ``BaudRate'' and ``SampleRate''
should be commented out, as these have no effect on bus mice.

<sect1>XFree86 and selection.
<p>
Unlike serial mice, you cannot share busmice between processes.
This means you will have to kill any copies of ``selection'' (see
section <ref id="selection" name="selection">) you have running before
you start
up Xfree86.  If you try to run X with selection running, you will
get errors like the following
<tscreen>
<verb>
Fatal server error:
Cannot open mouse (Device or resource busy)
</verb>
</tscreen>

<p>
Version 1.6 of selection allows you to terminate running copies of
selection by executing
<tscreen>
selection -k
</tscreen>
This should be done before starting up X11.  You may wish to add a
line containing the above command to the top of your <tt>startx</tt>
script so that the mouse is shut down automatically.  If you have an
older version of selection which does not support the <tt>-k</tt>
switch you will have to kill selection by hand.

<sect>Still can't get your mouse going?
<p>
So you've read through this howto a dozen times, done everything
exactly as you think you should have, and your mouse still doesn't
work?  The best advice I can give you is this: experiment.  Sure,
it's a pain in the posterior, but in the end the only way to find
out what is going to work with your mouse is to try all of the
alternatives until you have success.

<p>
As always, if there is something you don't understand, try reading
the manual page first and see if that helps.  If you have a specific
question, or a problem you think I might be able to help with, feel
free to contact me at the address listed at the top of this howto,
and I'll see if I can help you out or point you to someone who can.

<p>
The <tt>comp.os.linux.help</tt> newsgroup is the appropriate forum for
discussion and/or questions regarding mice --- please don't post
questions to other groups, and especially don't crosspost
questions to two or more of the Linux groups, they are more than
cluttered enough as it is!  When posting, you will get a much
better response (and much fewer flames) if you use appropriate
Subject: and Keywords: lines.  For example:
<tscreen>
<verb>
Subject: BUSMICE - Gateway 2000 mouse wont work.
Keywords: mouse busmouse gateway
</verb>
</tscreen>

</article>