Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

I am trying to set up the use of mousekeys, which would let me use the 
number pad arrow keys instead of a physical mouse.  It is part of the 
accessx part of XKB, which is disabled in Steven's XF86Config (I remarked
out the 'XkbDisabe' line).

For BL2 (glibc 2.2.5) I compiled an accessx package (binary file ax, 
configuration file in /root) and also xkbset, both of which I think are 
frontends to make it easier to use features already included in X.  The 
former needs libstcd++*.so.3 and libXext and both need libm.so.6 libc.so.6 
libX11.so.6. (Perl was needed to compile but not use xkbset).

ax can be run from cli but does not actually do anything (mousekeys remain 
unset0.  Go into X first.

With Xvesa or xfbdev X servers ax seems to work (with no results) but 
xkbset complains 'Nonexistent XKB server' so I used the SVGA server (which 
crashes ATI Rage so badly you need to reboot and run e2fsck, but works 
with Matrox Millenium though it exits abruptly if you switch terminals).

With SVGA X xkbset says:

XKB not supported for display :0.0

And pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del-Numlock (which is supposed to toggle the 
mousekeys on but perhaps that is for some other program) does nothing but 
beep and add a few char after the prompt.

If I exit X SVGA on the RAGE it crashes so I can't tell if XKB got loaded.

Other people had trouble with the 3D Rage video even in VGA.  Xvesa works 
for X but not for XKB and mousekeys.


-------------------
On another computer with Matrox and SVGA server:

Instead of installing xlib.tgz I selected out the basic files which I 
think are needed to run it with us/pc and accessx and mousekeys setups
(I added every file it complained of not finding, such as xfree86 and pc)
but it is still not loading XKB -

XKB not supported for display :0.0

And on exit from X (SVGA):

The XKEYBOARD keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports: 'Can't find file 
"unknown" for geometry include.  Abandoning geometry file "default"

and it did not load XKB but did load X anyway.

Do I need /usr/X11R6/include/X11/bitmaps to run XKB - this would make 
sense since it says it is a compiler.  If so do I need ALL of it?  There 
is no file "unknown".

I do not want all of xlib - it is full of Japanese keyboard layouts, twm, 
locale, rstart, xdm, x11perfcomp, lbxproxy...


---------
I have copied over and linked that one libstdc++ so library (from another
computer, originally from SW8.1 C++ library package).  That seems to work.
---------

The summary is that I know XKB is not getting loaded with my minimal setup 
(I am probably missing something) and I get the same error message with 
the full setup and the RAGE card (which should not be used with SVGA 
server) - does this mean XKB did not work with the RAGE?  Or does the 'not 
supported for display :0.0' mean something else.


I can try Trident and Trio64 on the first computer that I know work with 
SVGA or S3 servers (though Opera is not happy with the SVGA server).


Could someone using bl2 with a regular X server (not Xvesa) and full 
xlib.tgz and libstdc++ please try this out?  Go into X, type 'ax 
+mousekeys', confirm mousekeys are loaded with 'ax status' (or use xkbset 
+m to load mousekeys, I included the binary and a man page), then try to 
get the arrow keys actually working.

Make sure XkbDisable is remarked out in /etc/XF86Config.

Ctrtl-Alt-Shift-Numlock is supposed to toggle mousekeys on and off but 
perhaps that is only for some desktop or some other linux, as it is not 
mentioned in the documentation for these programs.

And on exit from X, check whether XKB got loaded.

I have posted this very small package (half of which is documentation):

http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/accessxkb.tgz

It should take maybe 5 minutes to download, install, and test.

The accessx stuff also lets you adjust how long you have to hold down a 
key and other things useful to mobility impaired people.  stickykeys, 
bouncekeys, acceleration.

I have poor aim with a mouse and better aim with arrow mouse (as used in 
Arachne) and therefore avoid X.  (I don't throw balls well either). We are 
supporting another friend who is not good with the mouse or trackball and 
is willing to use linux/opera instead of Win98.  I also want to make the 
mouse pointer larger for him.  When I use a red CLI cursor, it carries 
over to a red mouse pointer, which is nice.  Do I use XKB to change the 
mouse pointer?


Re mice:  Microsoft Ballpoint mouse works as a Microsoft serial mouse but 
to use the right button you need to depress it, let go, then touch the 
ball.  It works in DOS with Win98 mouse.com, but not with drmouse or 
ctmouse.

Alps glidepoint mini trackball for laptops works normally in X.

A serial glidepoint (you scratch on it and it has 2 buttons) works fine in 
linux but not with drmouse or ctmouse in our DOS CAD program (works 
otherwise in DOS).  We have one other that came with special software for 
Windows but works anyway with regular mouse driver.




keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org