I have a number of FC4 boxes set up as servers hooked up to a KVM switch. Every once in a while when I go to use them at the machine the mouse is messed up. It moves sporadically and acts as though I am clicking on things that I am not.
Is there any way to reset the mouse from the command line without rebooting the machine? Thanks for your help! Doug
Hi
Could it be that the keyboard gets connected to the mouse?
When I was connecting a KVM with two boxes, I put the keyb out of A to the mouse in of a pc, and vice versa. Then when typing, I get the same result as you described.
Check:
1. Follow MOUSE out from each out of the kvm to verify that it is connected to mouse in on the pc. 2. Same thing for keyboard out 3. Check that keyboard in on kvm is really keyboard and mouse in is really mouse.
I do not want to offend you with these points, even though they seem obvious. Having 15 wires connected to a little box and four pcs is hell to untangle. So best after you verify each wire, label it on both sides.
4. Is your KVM a digital one that simulates the keyb, mouse, monitor when it is not selected? Say you have it on A, it will simulate that there is a mouse/keyb/monitor on B,C,D,E so that the system doesn't think it's crippled? If that's the case, maybe its getting time to change the box. 5. In case it's a manual switch, make sure the switch doesn't stay between two positions. You usually notice this on the screen as it will have an impact on brightness and colors.
HTH
Andy
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 15:10, Doug Coats wrote:
I have a number of FC4 boxes set up as servers hooked up to a KVM switch. Every once in a while when I go to use them at the machine the mouse is messed up. It moves sporadically and acts as though I am clicking on things that I am not.
Is there any way to reset the mouse from the command line without rebooting the machine? Thanks for your help! Doug
I have checked the cables and they are fine. As I eluded if I reboot then it comes up just fine. It is only after it sits for a while and I come back the boxes do I occasionally have problems.
I just checked the switch (8 ports) that has multiple OS's hooked up to it and here is the current status.
P1: FC2 - Fine P2: FC4 - Mouse not functioning correctly P3: FC4 - Mouse not functioning correctly P4: Win2003 - Fine P5: Win2003 - Fine P6: FC4 - Fine P7: Empty P8: XP Pro - Fine
This summer I upgraded the To FC4 on the 3 different boxes and that is when the trouble started. I usually SSH into them and do everything from the command line but sometimes you need to access the box directly. Other people are using these servers so I just can't reboot them every time the mouse decides to act up.
The KVM switch does send a signal to the machines so that they think there is a mouse, keyboard, and monitor there all of the time. I really thing this a FC4 issue from my months of experience with it.
How do I, from the command line, tell it to refresh the mouse?
On 11/22/05, Andy Pieters mailings@vlaamse-kern.com wrote:
Hi
Could it be that the keyboard gets connected to the mouse?
- Is your KVM a digital one that simulates the keyb, mouse, monitor when it
is not selected? Say you have it on A, it will simulate that there is a mouse/keyb/monitor on B,C,D,E so that the system doesn't think it's crippled? If that's the case, maybe its getting time to change the box. 5. In case it's a manual switch, make sure the switch doesn't stay between two positions. You usually notice this on the screen as it will have an impact on brightness and colors.
I don't know how to refresh the mouse from the commandline, but why not try , since you are already near the box, to remove the mousecable that runs to the box and plug it back in?
HTH
Andy
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 16:29, Doug Coats wrote:
I have checked the cables and they are fine. As I eluded if I reboot then it comes up just fine. It is only after it sits for a while and I come back the boxes do I occasionally have problems.
I just checked the switch (8 ports) that has multiple OS's hooked up to it and here is the current status.
P1: FC2 - Fine P2: FC4 - Mouse not functioning correctly P3: FC4 - Mouse not functioning correctly P4: Win2003 - Fine P5: Win2003 - Fine P6: FC4 - Fine P7: Empty P8: XP Pro - Fine
This summer I upgraded the To FC4 on the 3 different boxes and that is when the trouble started. I usually SSH into them and do everything from the command line but sometimes you need to access the box directly. Other people are using these servers so I just can't reboot them every time the mouse decides to act up.
The KVM switch does send a signal to the machines so that they think there is a mouse, keyboard, and monitor there all of the time. I really thing this a FC4 issue from my months of experience with it.
How do I, from the command line, tell it to refresh the mouse?
On 11/22/05, Andy Pieters mailings@vlaamse-kern.com wrote:
Hi
Could it be that the keyboard gets connected to the mouse?
- Is your KVM a digital one that simulates the keyb, mouse, monitor when
it is not selected? Say you have it on A, it will simulate that there is a mouse/keyb/monitor on B,C,D,E so that the system doesn't think it's crippled? If that's the case, maybe its getting time to change the box. 5. In case it's a manual switch, make sure the switch doesn't stay between two positions. You usually notice this on the screen as it will have an impact on brightness and colors.
Interestingly enough, this worked - sort of.
I had to do it on each of the affected ports but it started working again. Unfortunately it also caused my Win XP Pro box to stop recognizing the keyboard or the mouse. It is still running but is now inaccessible from the KVM switch.
Thanks for the tip.
Still looking.....
On 11/22/05, Andy Pieters mailings@vlaamse-kern.com wrote:
I don't know how to refresh the mouse from the commandline, but why not try , since you are already near the box, to remove the mousecable that runs to the box and plug it back in?
Have to admit its kind of a mess... I remember having this problem with win 95 though.
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 16:57, Doug Coats wrote:
Interestingly enough, this worked - sort of.
I had to do it on each of the affected ports but it started working again. Unfortunately it also caused my Win XP Pro box to stop recognizing the keyboard or the mouse. It is still running but is now inaccessible from the KVM switch.
Thanks for the tip.
Still looking.....
On 11/22/05, Andy Pieters mailings@vlaamse-kern.com wrote:
I don't know how to refresh the mouse from the commandline, but why not try , since you are already near the box, to remove the mousecable that runs to the box and plug it back in?
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 9:10 am, Doug Coats wrote:
I have a number of FC4 boxes set up as servers hooked up to a KVM switch. Every once in a while when I go to use them at the machine the mouse is messed up. It moves sporadically and acts as though I am clicking on things that I am not.
Is there any way to reset the mouse from the command line without rebooting the machine? Thanks for your help!
This subject has been discussed a lot on this list. One question - is your KVM a Belkin?
I searched the list after I posted the question and you are right that this has been discussed before. Sorry.
Yes, it is a Belkim switch but I didn't have any trouble with FC1-FC3 with the same switch so I thought this might be something new.
This subject has been discussed a lot on this list. One question - is your KVM a Belkin?
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 12:43 pm, Doug Coats wrote:
I searched the list after I posted the question and you are right that this has been discussed before. Sorry.
Yes, it is a Belkim switch but I didn't have any trouble with FC1-FC3 with the same switch so I thought this might be something new.
This subject has been discussed a lot on this list. One question - is your KVM a Belkin?
NO chastisement intended... I tried every one of the various 'workarounds' for this over 3-4 months. None are very satisfactory. The lines you can append to your boot line will disable the wheel. I never got any of the recovery methods to work, though some reported success. My suggestion is get rid of the Belkin - get a Trendnet or Iogear - others have been recommended as well - but, get rid of the Belkin. It will just be a source of aggravation till you do.
NO flame war intended..
Why should I get rid of a piece of hardware that other (Fedora and Windows) OS's seem to work just fine with. Doesn't it make more sense to discover the problem in FC4 (although others have reported this problem in of FC's I have not experienced them).
The attitude of replacing hardware to fix a software issue seems extreme and wasteful.
My suggestion is get rid of the Belkin - get a Trendnet or Iogear - others have been recommended as well
- but, get rid of the Belkin. It will just be a source of aggravation till
you do.
On Tue, 22 Nov 2005, Doug Coats wrote:
NO flame war intended..
Why should I get rid of a piece of hardware that other (Fedora and Windows) OS's seem to work just fine with. Doesn't it make more sense to discover the problem in FC4 (although others have reported this problem in of FC's I have not experienced them).
my belkin soho usb kvm was a piece of junk on windows as well... The root problem with this thing was that instead of simply connecting the keyboard and mouse through the usb hub to the computer it is actually emulating a keyboard and mouse inside the kvm, then doing some translation between the actual mouse/keyboard and the emulated (ps/2 kvms do the same thing). The end result being that all the extra functionality of my logitech wireless desktop never worked. on linux or windows or my mac.
The attitude of replacing hardware to fix a software issue seems extreme and wasteful.
The problems with the belkin soho go well beyond software, though the fact that the firmware on the kvm is upgradeable sort of adds insult to injury, because they could fix it). I decided that keyboard switching of machines wasn't necessary and went with a usb kvm that didn't try and fake what was connected to it, and I'm much happier.
My suggestion is get rid of the Belkin - get a Trendnet or Iogear - others have been recommended as well
- but, get rid of the Belkin. It will just be a source of aggravation till
you do.
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 2:12 pm, Doug Coats wrote:
The attitude of replacing hardware to fix a software issue seems extreme and wasteful.
Doug: First off, if you want to get along with the folks on this list, post your responses at the bottom of the message, not the top. I don't get real worked up about it, but some do, and I can understand their point of view. You'll find that some of the most helpful folks here will just tend to ignore you if you don't adhere to this 'netiquette' - your call...
As to your response, if you want to try and solve the problem, have at it. Especially if your time lost is not 'expensive'...time wasted is money wasted to some. In googling this issue a couple of years ago, it was stated in a couple of places that the issue with Belkin was hardware related - the circuitry design that syncs the mouse up to the next device is the problem - it can't lock in. I suspect there's some truth to that - the device works in some situations, and not others, because the circuit design is marginal, but adequate to lower common denominator applications. I'm in the video world, and sync problems are a fact of life in my life.
Adding psmouse.proto=bare to the grub kernel line, as suggested by someone else in the thread, does work, by the way. If you have a wheel mouse, it will disable the wheel.
On Tue, 2005-11-22 at 14:55 -0500, Claude Jones wrote:
On Tuesday 22 November 2005 2:12 pm, Doug Coats wrote:
The attitude of replacing hardware to fix a software issue seems extreme and wasteful.
Doug: First off, if you want to get along with the folks on this list, post your responses at the bottom of the message, not the top. I don't get real worked up about it, but some do, and I can understand their point of view. You'll find that some of the most helpful folks here will just tend to ignore you if you don't adhere to this 'netiquette' - your call...
As to your response, if you want to try and solve the problem, have at it. Especially if your time lost is not 'expensive'...time wasted is money wasted to some. In googling this issue a couple of years ago, it was stated in a couple of places that the issue with Belkin was hardware related - the circuitry design that syncs the mouse up to the next device is the problem - it can't lock in. I suspect there's some truth to that - the device works in some situations, and not others, because the circuit design is marginal, but adequate to lower common denominator applications. I'm in the video world, and sync problems are a fact of life in my life.
Adding psmouse.proto=bare to the grub kernel line, as suggested by someone else in the thread, does work, by the way. If you have a wheel mouse, it will disable the wheel.
---- indeed this is sage advice.
I live without mouse wheel cuz I am too cheap I guess to switch kvm switches.
Belkin KVM switches just don't work well with RHEL/Fedora and haven't for a long time.
Craig
Doug Coats writes:
I have a number of FC4 boxes set up as servers hooked up to a KVM switch. Every once in a while when I go to use them at the machine the mouse is messed up. It moves sporadically and acts as though I am clicking on things that I am not.
Is there any way to reset the mouse from the command line without rebooting the machine? Thanks for your help!
This is happening here too, and all I have is a garden-variety PS/2 mouse.
This is likely to be some obscure race condition, or some timing issue with some chipsets, somewhere in the PS/2 mouse kernel or xorg support.
When the mouse goes bonkers, let it go and wait about ten seconds without moving or touching the mouse or the keyboard. It should be fine again.
On Tue November 22 2005 6:38 pm, Sam Varshavchik wrote:
This is happening here too, and all I have is a garden-variety PS/2 mouse.
This is likely to be some obscure race condition, or some timing issue with some chipsets, somewhere in the PS/2 mouse kernel or xorg support.
When the mouse goes bonkers, let it go and wait about ten seconds without moving or touching the mouse or the keyboard. It should be fine again.
Glad that works for you. It didn't for me - I let the thing sit for very long periods on several occasions, and it would never return.
Doug Coats:
I have a number of FC4 boxes set up as servers hooked up to a KVM switch. Every once in a while when I go to use them at the machine the mouse is messed up. It moves sporadically and acts as though I am clicking on things that I am not.
Sam Varshavchik:
This is happening here too, and all I have is a garden-variety PS/2 mouse.
This is likely to be some obscure race condition, or some timing issue with some chipsets, somewhere in the PS/2 mouse kernel or xorg support.
When the mouse goes bonkers, let it go and wait about ten seconds without moving or touching the mouse or the keyboard. It should be fine again.
I see the same thing with PS/2 and USB mice that are directly connected to the PC (several different mice, and several different PCs). It really does seem that Linux has some problem with using mice properly.
I've seen nothing that will stop a mouse going berserk, other than ripping out the lead, hopefully before the random whizzing about and clicking on things kills something off. If you just leave it and wait, you stand a good chance of something getting deleted off the desktop.
Tim wrote:
I've seen nothing that will stop a mouse going berserk, other than ripping out the lead, hopefully before the random whizzing about and clicking on things kills something off. If you just leave it and wait, you stand a good chance of something getting deleted off the desktop.
Just a quick note on that - as nobody's mentioned it before.
I realise the Fedora box cannot be rebooted as you've mentioned.
However.
In the past I have had some luck with this particular problem just by restarting the X session (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace).
In my case it seemed to reset the mouse.
You may want to try?
Ed.
Tim wrote:
I've seen nothing that will stop a mouse going berserk, other than ripping out the lead, hopefully before the random whizzing about and clicking on things kills something off. If you just leave it and wait, you stand a good chance of something getting deleted off the desktop.
Edward Dekkers:
Just a quick note on that - as nobody's mentioned it before.
I realise the Fedora box cannot be rebooted as you've mentioned.
However.
In the past I have had some luck with this particular problem just by restarting the X session (Ctrl-Alt-Backspace).
In my case it seemed to reset the mouse.
You may want to try?
Which preclude the notion of not breaking up something that you're doing. You might well be in the middle of unsaved work, and you don't want to break any programs. Because the mouse has gone nuts, you've lost keyboard control of your program (i.e. you can't CTRL S to save files). Ripping the cord out is preferable to rebooting or restarting X.
There is definitely something screwy with how Linux handles mice. Different mice, different motherboards, all of which work fine with other OSs exhibit this fault. At times you might only touch your mouse enough to move a couple of pixels worth on your screen, but it will race wildly about.
-
Andy Pieters -
Claude Jones -
Craig White -
Doug Coats -
Edward Dekkers -
Joel Jaeggli -
Sam Varshavchik -
Tim