mouse-driver(4) - Linux man page

Name

mouse - Mouse input driver

Synopsis

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

Description

mouse is an Xorg 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/lib/X11/doc/, or online at http://www.x.org/current/mouse.html.

Configuration Details

Please refer to xorg.conf(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, ValuMouseScroll, AceCad, PS/2, ImPS/2, ExplorerPS/2, ThinkingMousePS/2, MouseManPlusPS/2, GlidePointPS/2, NetMousePS/2, NetScrollPS/2, BusMouse, SysMouse, WSMouse, USB, VUID, 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. The maximum number is 24.
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: 10.
Option EmulateWheelTimeout integer: Specifies the time in milliseconds the EmulateWheelButton must be pressed before wheel emulation is started. If the EmulateWheelButton is released before this timeout, the original button press/release event is sent. Default: 200.
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: no mapping.
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. Note that the protocols for mice with one and two wheels can be different and the driver may not be able to autodetect it. Default: "4 5".
Option ButtonMapping N1 N2 [...]: Specifies how physical mouse buttons are mapped to logical buttons. Physcial button 1 is mapped to logical button N1, physical button 2 to N2, and so forth. This enables the use of physical buttons that are obscured by ZAxisMapping. Default: "1 2 3 8 9 10 ...".
Option FlipXY boolean: Enable/disable swapping the X and Y axes. This transformation is applied after the InvX, InvY and AngleOffset transformations. Default: off.
Option InvX boolean: Invert the X axis. Default: off.
Option InvY boolean: Invert the Y axis. Default: off.
Option AngleOffset integer: Specify a clockwise angular offset (in degrees) to apply to the pointer motion. This transformation is applied before the FlipXY, InvX and InvY transformations. Default: 0.
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 DragLockButtons L1 B2 L3 B4: Sets drag lock buttons that simulate holding a button down, so that low dexterity people do not have to hold a button down at the same time they move a mouse cursor. Button numbers occur in pairs, with the lock button number occurring first, followed by the button number that is the target of the lock button.
Option DragLockButtons M1: Sets a master drag lock button that acts as a Meta Key indicating that the next button pressed is to be drag locked.
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.