[TriLUG] Question on mouse problems with a kvm and X

[Marty Ferguson (marty.ferguson@pobox.com)]

Hi,

You know, that's what you get for buying microsoft products.
They don't stop with "extending standards and features" for 
software, they do it for hardware, too.  Not being a windows
weenie, I'm not sure of all of the details, but M$ mice require
the host computer to communicate with them, i.e., they are IO 
devices, not just input devices as most standard mice are considered
to be.  

When training Linux classes in various training centers, I would
on occasion run into the M$ mouse problem.  You can oft times rectify
the problem by unplugging the mouse and plugging it back in.  Probably,
because you have a KVM switch, the mouse will need to be "re-initialized"
each time you switch back to the Linux system...

Perhaps starting and stopping the console mouse daemon (perhaps with
some experimental switches)  could rectify the problem, so give this
a try for kicks:

CTRL-ALT-F1 for a console
log in as root
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/gpm start
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/gpm stop

CTRL-ALT-F7 back into X and see if the mouse daemon wiggled the
right IO lines on your intelli-mouse.

Marty