MOUSE(4) manual page

Table of Contents

## Name

mouse - Mouse input driver

## Synopsis

    Section "InputDevice"
      Identifier "idevname"
      Driver "mouse"
      Option "Protocol" "protoname"
      Option "Device"   "devpath"
      ...
    EndSection

## Description

mouse is an XFree86 input driver for mice. The driver supports most available mouse types and interfaces. USB mice are only supported on some OSs, and the level of support for PS/2 mice depends on the OS.

The mouse driver functions as a pointer input device, and may be used as the X server's core pointer. Multiple mice are supported by multiple instances of this driver.

## Supported Hardware

There is a detailed list of hardware that the mouse driver supports in the README.mouse document. This can be found in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/doc/, or online at http://www.xfree86.org/current/mouse.html.

## Configuration Details

Please refer to XF86Config(5x) for general configuration details and for options that can be used with all input drivers. This section only covers configuration details specific to this driver.

The driver can auto-detect the mouse type on some platforms On some platforms this is limited to plug and play serial mice, and on some the auto-detection works for any mouse that the OS's kernel driver supports. On others, it is always necessary to specify the mouse protocol in the config file. The README.mouse document contains some detailed information about this.

The following driver Options are supported:

Option "Protocol" "string"
  Specify the mouse protocol. Valid protocol types include:

> Auto, Microsoft, MouseSystems, MMSeries, Logitech, MouseMan, MMHitTab, GlidePoint, IntelliMouse, ThinkingMouse, AceCad, PS/2, ImPS/2, ExplorerPS/2, ThinkingMousePS/2, MouseManPlusPS/2, GlidePointPS/2, NetMousePS/2, NetScrollPS/2, BusMouse, SysMouse, WSMouse, USB, Xqueue.

> Not all protocols are supported on all platforms. The "Auto" platform specifies that protocol auto-detection should be attempted. There is no default protocol setting, and specifying this option is mandatory.

Option "Device" "string"
  Specifies the device through which the mouse can be accessed. A common setting is "/dev/mouse", which is often a symbolic link to the real device. This option is mandatory, and there is no default setting.
Option "Buttons" "integer"
  Specifies the number of mouse buttons. In cases where the number of buttons cannot be auto-detected, the default value is 3.
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "boolean"
  Enable/disable the emulation of the third (middle) mouse button for mice which only have two physical buttons. The third button is emulated by pressing both buttons simultaneously. Default: off
Option "Emulate3Timeout" "integer"
  Sets the timeout (in milliseconds) that the driver waits before deciding if two buttons where pressed "simultaneously" when 3 button emulation is enabled. Default: 50.
Option "ChordMiddle" "boolean"
  Enable/disable handling of mice that send left+right events when the middle button is used. Default: off.
Option "EmulateWheel" "boolean"
  Enable/disable "wheel" emulation. Wheel emulation means emulating button press/release events when the mouse is moved while a specific real button is pressed. Wheel button events (typically buttons 4 and 5) are usually used for scrolling. Wheel emulation is useful for getting wheel-like behaviour with trackballs. It can also be useful for mice with 4 or more buttons but no wheel. See the description of the EmulateWheelButton, EmulateWheelInertia, XAxisMapping, and YAxisMapping options below. Default: off.
Option "EmulateWheelButton" "integer"
  Specifies which button must be held down to enable wheel emulation mode. While this button is down, X and/or Y pointer movement will generate button press/release events as specified for the XAxisMapping and YAxisMapping settings. Default: 4.
Option "EmulateWheelInertia" "integer"
  Specifies how far (in pixels) the pointer must move to generate button press/release events in wheel emulation mode. Default: 50.
Option "XAxisMapping" "N1 N2"
  Specifies which buttons are mapped to motion in the X direction in wheel emulation mode. Button number N1 is mapped to the negative X axis motion and button number N2 is mapped to the positive X axis motion. Default: no mapping.
Option "YAxisMapping" "N1 N2"
  Specifies which buttons are mapped to motion in the Y direction in wheel emulation mode. Button number N1 is mapped to the negative Y axis motion and button number N2 is mapped to the positive Y axis motion. Default: "4 5".
Option "ZAxisMapping" "X"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "Y"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "N1 N2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "N1 N2 N3 N4"
  Set the mapping for the Z axis (wheel) motion to buttons or another axis (X or Y). Button number N1 is mapped to the negative Z axis motion and button number N2 is mapped to the positive Z axis motion. For mice with two wheels, four button numbers can be specified, with the negative and positive motion of the second wheel mapped respectively to buttons number N3 and N4. Default: no mapping.
Option "FlipXY" "boolean"
  Enable/disable swapping the X and Y axes. Default: off.
Option "SampleRate" "integer"
  Sets the number of motion/button events the mouse sends per second. Setting this is only supported for some mice, including some Logitech mice and some PS/2 mice on some platforms. Default: whatever the mouse is already set to.
Option "Resolution" "integer"
  Sets the resolution of the device in counts per inch. Setting this is only supported for some mice, including some PS/2 mice on some platforms. Default: whatever the mouse is already set to.
Option "ClearDTR" "boolean"
  Enable/disable clearing the DTR line on the serial port used by the mouse. Some dual-protocol mice require the DTR line to be cleared to operate in the non-default protocol. This option is for serial mice only. Default: off.
Option "ClearRTS" "boolean"
  Enable/disable clearing the RTS line on the serial port used by the mouse. Some dual-protocol mice require the RTS line to be cleared to operate in the non-default protocol. This option is for serial mice only. Default: off.
Option "BaudRate" "integer"
  Set the baud rate to use for communicating with a serial mouse. This option should rarely be required because the default is correct for almost all situations. Valid values include: 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200. Default: 1200.

There are some other options that may be used to control various parameters for serial port communication, but they are not documented here because the driver sets them correctly for each mouse protocol type.

## See Also

XFree86(1) , XF86Config(5x) , xf86config(1) , Xserver(1) , X(7) , README.mouse.

Table of Contents

- Name
- Synopsis
- Description
- Supported Hardware
- Configuration Details
- See Also