[gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto]

Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
wake up at seemingly random times.

One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.

Another solution would be to buy another mouse, but this would cost
money and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
again in the future, with this or another computer).

So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
but I see no clue.

Anybody knows?

-- 
Software is like sex: it is better when it is free - Linus Torvalds

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Albert Hopkins]

On Sat, 2008-11-15 at 18:55 -0200, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
> Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
> forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
> second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
> wake up at seemingly random times.
> 
> One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
> it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
> lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.
> 
> Another solution would be to buy another mouse, but this would cost
> money and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
> again in the future, with this or another computer).
> 
> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
> but I see no clue.
> 
> Anybody knows?
> 
Yes.  What you need to do is write your own mouse driver.  Call it
'crappydrv'.  In this driver, you detect events sent by the mouse, but
then simply ignore them.

HTH,
-a

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto]

On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 7:15 PM, Albert Hopkins <marduk@letterboxes.org> wrote:
> On Sat, 2008-11-15 at 18:55 -0200, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
>> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
>> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
>> Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
>> forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
>> second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
>> wake up at seemingly random times.
>>
>> One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
>> it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
>> lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.
>>
>> Another solution would be to buy another mouse, but this would cost
>> money and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
>> again in the future, with this or another computer).
>>
>> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
>> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
>> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
>> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
>> but I see no clue.
>>
>> Anybody knows?
>>
> Yes.  What you need to do is write your own mouse driver.  Call it
> 'crappydrv'.  In this driver, you detect events sent by the mouse, but
> then simply ignore them.
I don't know how to write my own driver, and what I want is to
dynamically shut up the mouse at runtime, and free it when I come
back. Or, ideally, just make X ignore mouse movement for idle time
calculations.

But you were probably joking anyway...

-- 
Software is like sex: it is better when it is free - Linus Torvalds

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Alan McKinnon]

On Saturday 15 November 2008 22:55:06 Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
> Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
> forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
> second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
> wake up at seemingly random times.
>
> One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
> it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
> lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.
>
> Another solution would be to buy another mouse

Yes, this is the best and only thing you could do

> , but this would cost 
> money

So? mouses are cheap. I can buy mouses for the price of a packet of smokes or 
two beers...

> and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest 
> again in the future, with this or another computer).

So how you gonna fix this? You have a broken mouse, it sends broken signals to 
the machine and the machine reponds brokenly. Here's the only lesson you 
should learn (becuase this can't be fixed):

This mouse is broken. It doesn't do what mouses should do. Mouse, meet 
dustbin.

-- 
alan dot mckinnon at gmail dot com

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Daniel Pielmeier]

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Albert Hopkins schrieb am 15.11.2008 22:15:
> Yes.  What you need to do is write your own mouse driver.  Call it
> 'crappydrv'.  In this driver, you detect events sent by the mouse, but
> then simply ignore them.
> 
> HTH,
> -a
> 

:D


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Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 15 November 2008, Alan McKinnon wrote:
> On Saturday 15 November 2008 22:55:06 Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> > Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> > the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
> > Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
> > forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
> > second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
> > wake up at seemingly random times.
> >
> > One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
> > it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
> > lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.
> >
> > Another solution would be to buy another mouse
>
> Yes, this is the best and only thing you could do
>
> > , but this would cost
> > money
>
> So? mouses are cheap. I can buy mouses for the price of a packet of smokes
> or two beers...
>
> > and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
> > again in the future, with this or another computer).
>
> So how you gonna fix this? You have a broken mouse, it sends broken signals
> to the machine and the machine reponds brokenly. Here's the only lesson you
> should learn (becuase this can't be fixed):
>
> This mouse is broken. It doesn't do what mouses should do. Mouse, meet
> dustbin.

not dustbin! Its  switches might be usefull to repair another mouse. But yeah 
- a new mouse is the best solution.

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 15 November 2008, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 7:15 PM, Albert Hopkins <marduk@letterboxes.org> 
wrote:
> > On Sat, 2008-11-15 at 18:55 -0200, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> >> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> >> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
> >> Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
> >> forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
> >> second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
> >> wake up at seemingly random times.
> >>
> >> One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
> >> it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
> >> lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.
> >>
> >> Another solution would be to buy another mouse, but this would cost
> >> money and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
> >> again in the future, with this or another computer).
> >>
> >> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
> >> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
> >> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
> >> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
> >> but I see no clue.
> >>
> >> Anybody knows?
> >
> > Yes.  What you need to do is write your own mouse driver.  Call it
> > 'crappydrv'.  In this driver, you detect events sent by the mouse, but
> > then simply ignore them.
>
> I don't know how to write my own driver, and what I want is to
> dynamically shut up the mouse at runtime, and free it when I come
> back. Or, ideally, just make X ignore mouse movement for idle time
> calculations.
>
> But you were probably joking anyway...

if it is a usb mouse, disconnect it. Or unload the driver.

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto]

> if it is a usb mouse, disconnect it. Or unload the driver.
It is PS/2. And if I compile the driver as a module (presently it is
built-in) and unload it while X is running, wouldn't the module refuse
to unload (as it is being used)?

-- 
Software is like sex: it is better when it is free - Linus Torvalds

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Mark Kirkwood]

Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
>
>   

If the mouse not brand new, then it may be full of dust and dirt - 
assuming it has moving parts at all (i.e it's not a laser or led model) 
dismantling it and cleaning may help.

> Another solution would be to buy another mouse, but this would cost
> money and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
> again in the future, with this or another computer).
>
>   

Unless the problem is dirt as above, I serious doubt you are going to 
learn anything (technical) - simply replacing the mouse will be the best 
solution. I guess the thing to learn is that some computer hardware is 
so poorly made that it is useless!

Cheers

Mark

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 15 November 2008, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> > if it is a usb mouse, disconnect it. Or unload the driver.
>
> It is PS/2. And if I compile the driver as a module (presently it is
> built-in) and unload it while X is running, wouldn't the module refuse
> to unload (as it is being used)?

I don't know, I use usb mice - and removing the usb driver works well.

So get a new mouse.

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

On Saturday 15 November 2008, 21:55, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:

> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
> but I see no clue.
>
> Anybody knows?

Did you try reducing mouse sensitivity? See man xset.

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Johám-Luís Miguéns Vila]

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"Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto" <please.no.spam.here@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
> Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
> forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
> second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
> wake up at seemingly random times.
>
> [ ... ]
>
> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
> but I see no clue.
>
> Anybody knows?

Maybe unclutter could do for you...

* x11-misc/unclutter
    gentoo:                  8-r1 {:0} 
    installed:               8-r1* {:0} 
    Description:             Hides mouse pointer while not in use.
    Homepage:
    http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/X11/contrib/utilities/unclutter-8.README
    License:                 public-domain

Cheers.
-- 
<spyderous> kurt needs to allow sudo /usr/bin/nano
<seemant> talk to him then :P
<spyderous> i tried =P
<spyderous> he said, be a man
<seemant> HA!
 - This message may be digitally signed: GPG KeyID:0x9D2FD6C8 || FNMT SSL cert

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Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto]

On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 9:58 AM, Etaoin Shrdlu <shrdlu@unlimitedmail.org> wrote:
> On Saturday 15 November 2008, 21:55, Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
>
>> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
>> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
>> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
>> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
>> but I see no clue.
>>
>> Anybody knows?
>
> Did you try reducing mouse sensitivity? See man xset.
>
I know about xset, but its man page does not contain the word
"sensitivity".  I have, though, reduced the resolution of the mouse
through the kernel parameter psmouse.resolution=100.
It seems to have solved the problem. To have the mouse in a good
speed, I have increased acceleration from 2 to 4 and decreased
threshold from 4 to 3. This is with a xset mouse 4 3 command that is
called when Xfce starts.

Two comments:
1) xorg.conf does have a "Resolution" option, but setting is has no
effect. I do have to pass the resolution as a kernel parameter.
2) There should be a way to set acceleration and threshold in xorg.conf.

Regards,
    Jorge Peixoto

-- 
Software is like sex: it is better when it is free - Linus Torvalds

Re: [gentoo-user] How to stop mouse motion

[Allan Arguelles]

I have this problem with my pc too. I have a razer copperhead, so its
not a cheap/crappy mouse problem for me. Best *quick* solution I found
was to turn the mouse over when I'm not using it.

Jorge Peixoto de Morais Neto wrote:
> Hi. I have a crappy mouse made in China. One of its problems is that
> the mouse pointer sometimes moves even while the mouse is not moving.
> Usually this manifests by the pointer "shaking", moving back and
> forward one or two pixels very fast (it looks like some 5 times per
> second).  The worst problem caused by this is that the monitor can
> wake up at seemingly random times.
>
> One solution would be to switch off the monitor every time I won't use
> it for a few minutes, but (AFAIK) this would waste energy and reduce
> lifetime. I want the DPMS modes of standby, suspend, off.
>
> Another solution would be to buy another mouse, but this would cost
> money and would not teach me the solution (this problem can manifest
> again in the future, with this or another computer).
>
> So I want a way to tell the kernel or X11 to ignore mouse motion.
> Either to shut down mouse motion completely, or to allow it but to
> ignore it for the effect considering the computer as idle. I have
> performed a quick read of kernel code and of the xorg.conf man page
> but I see no clue.
>
> Anybody knows?
>
>