[kde-linux] Extra Mouse buttons

[Duncan]

James Tyrer posted on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:33:39 -0700 as excerpted:

> I was considering purchase of a new mouse -- wireless since the
> extension cable really takes a beating.  The USB cord's female connector
> doesn't take stepping on it very well and I just destroyed my next to
> last USB to PS/2 adapter (using the only one that still works) --
> although I have to say that the PS/2 extension cable holds up better
> than the USB one.
> 
> IAC, I was looking at a Logitech m510 which has 4 extra navigation
> "buttons".  IIUC, the X11 mouse driver now recognizes the extra buttons
> when using "/dev/input/mice".  What I wondered was if KDE-4.7.4 supports
> the scroll left & right and the page up and down directly or how to set
> it up.

FWIW, the dollar stores (at least the 99.99 cent chain and the dollar 
tree chain stores) around here have USB extension cables.  Of course at 
that price they're not really shielded, so they aren't really appropriate 
for plugging thumb-drives or the like, but they work reasonably well for 
mouse and keyboard extenders.

Between udev and the generic device-class xorg configuration (usually 
found in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d as 10-evdev.conf, part of the xorg-
server package, here), most mice, particularly USB, are plug-N-play 
today, multiple buttons detected, the correct ones assigned to the wheels 
(both vertical and horizontal), etc.  It's only when you get into the 
exotic stuff, customizing speed, or programming the button functions 
beyond seven (left/right/center/whl-up/whl-dn/whl-lft/whl/rht) that you 
need to start customizing things.

So horizontal-scroll shouldn't be an issue.  I'm not sure on buttons 
beyond that, I think they're detected these days, but how kde treats 
them, I haven't the foggiest.

FWIW here, I use a logitech wireless desktop pro keyboard (ergonomic 
split/tilted main keyboard, plus "extra" media and inet keys, udev and 
evdev detects and configures the extra keys automatically), which comes 
with a wireless mouse too, but I don't use it.  Instead, I bought a 
logitech trackman optical, one of those right-handed ones with the ball 
under the thumb.  Trackballs work better for me since they're stationary, 
only the ball moves.  But it's an older model with only the traditional 
five buttons (left/right/center/whl-up/whl-dn), tho I see they have a 
similar one with extra buttons, now.  Both keyboard and trackball work 
with the same receiver, so I only have one of those to plug in. =:^)  But 
I don't have horizontal scroll or additional mouse buttons I can program. 
=:(  So I don't know what the system does with buttons beyond horizontal-
scroll.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman