Hi,
what would be the device for a Kensington Slimblade which is connected to a PS/2 port with an USB-->PS/2 adapter? The device doesn`t seem to appear anywhere when connected like that.
And what are virtual keyboards for, and why do I supposedly have two power buttons?
,---- | ~ $ xinput --list | ⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)] | ⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)] | ⎜ ↳ Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball id=8 [slave pointer (2)] | ⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)] | ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)] | ↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)] | ↳ Power Button id=7 [slave keyboard (3)] | ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=9 [slave keyboard (3)] | ~ $ `----
There is only one power button, and it is not at the keyboard.
On Sat, May 24, 2014 at 06:18:58PM +0200, lee wrote:
Hi,
what would be the device for a Kensington Slimblade which is connected to a PS/2 port with an USB-->PS/2 adapter? The device doesn`t seem to appear anywhere when connected like that.
And what are virtual keyboards for, and why do I supposedly have two power buttons?
There is only one power button, and it is not at the keyboard.
Please see: http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/HID_KENSINGTON.html
HTH.
Lee
On Sat, May 24, 2014 at 9:18 AM, lee lee@yun.yagibdah.de wrote:
what would be the device for a Kensington Slimblade which is connected to a PS/2 port with an USB-->PS/2 adapter? The device doesn`t seem to appear anywhere when connected like that.
It should appear like any other PS/2 mouse. If it does not appear, your mouse does not support the PS/2 protocol.
Most USB-to-PS/2 adapters are passive converters, and require the device itself to speak the PS/2 protocol. Many keyboards and mice were (and some still are) designed to speak both the PS/2 and USB HID protocols so they can be used with such passive converters. Most new ones (e.g. this decade) only speak USB.
If you really must use the PS/2 port, they do make _active_ adapters that work with any sort of device.
And what are virtual keyboards for, and why do I supposedly have two power buttons?
The XTEST devices allow for the X server to be tested/used without real hardware: http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.7/doc/libXtst/xtestlib.html (While the interface may have been built for testing purposes, I wouldn't be surprised if it is used for other reasons these days, like virtual desktop software.)
Power buttons are implemented as "keyboards" because X has no better way to let your desktop environment know you've pressed it, seeing as how it dates back to the days where most computers had actual switches that really cut power immediately.
As for why you have two, some motherboards have two plugs for them, or a special little internal power buttons on the motherboards themselves, or are just poorly engineered and say they have two when they really have one. :-)
-T.C.
ny6p01@gmail.com writes:
On Sat, May 24, 2014 at 06:18:58PM +0200, lee wrote:
Hi,
what would be the device for a Kensington Slimblade which is connected to a PS/2 port with an USB-->PS/2 adapter? The device doesn`t seem to appear anywhere when connected like that.
And what are virtual keyboards for, and why do I supposedly have two power buttons?
There is only one power button, and it is not at the keyboard.
Please see: http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/HID_KENSINGTON.html
Thanks, I didn`t know that there is a module for it. This module doesn`t seem to be available with Fedora kernels, though. Does someone know why? Should I make a bug report about it missing?
The device works fine without this module when connected to an USB port. I`m trying to get it to work when it`s connected to PS/2 with an adapter.
"T.C. Hollingsworth" tchollingsworth@gmail.com writes:
On Sat, May 24, 2014 at 9:18 AM, lee lee@yun.yagibdah.de wrote:
what would be the device for a Kensington Slimblade which is connected to a PS/2 port with an USB-->PS/2 adapter? The device doesn`t seem to appear anywhere when connected like that.
It should appear like any other PS/2 mouse. If it does not appear, your mouse does not support the PS/2 protocol.
Most USB-to-PS/2 adapters are passive converters, and require the device itself to speak the PS/2 protocol. Many keyboards and mice were (and some still are) designed to speak both the PS/2 and USB HID protocols so they can be used with such passive converters. Most new ones (e.g. this decade) only speak USB.
If you really must use the PS/2 port, they do make _active_ adapters that work with any sort of device.
Oh, ok, that`s probably the problem I have! I need a different adapter ...
I knew there are "active" adapters but I didn`t find out what that actually means and thought it might have to do with supplying power to the device.
I don`t /have/ to use PS/2, but I /want/ to use PS/2. USB devices must be polled, which makes them slow. Using USB for this has only disadvantages, with the only exception that the devices can be hotplugged.
And what are virtual keyboards for, and why do I supposedly have two power buttons?
The XTEST devices allow for the X server to be tested/used without real hardware: http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.7/doc/libXtst/xtestlib.html (While the interface may have been built for testing purposes, I wouldn't be surprised if it is used for other reasons these days, like virtual desktop software.)
Some software like vnc seems to require it ... I`ll have to see what happens what I disable all the testing extensions; there doesn`t seem to be an easy way to disable only XTEST.
Power buttons are implemented as "keyboards" because X has no better way to let your desktop environment know you've pressed it, seeing as how it dates back to the days where most computers had actual switches that really cut power immediately.
As for why you have two, some motherboards have two plugs for them, or a special little internal power buttons on the motherboards themselves, or are just poorly engineered and say they have two when they really have one. :-)
Ah, yes, my board has a power button on it. I never use that and forgot about it ...
Thank you for all your explanations, that was really helpful! :)
On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 3:58 AM, lee lee@yun.yagibdah.de wrote:
I don`t /have/ to use PS/2, but I /want/ to use PS/2. USB devices must be polled, which makes them slow. Using USB for this has only disadvantages, with the only exception that the devices can be hotplugged.
You can adjust the USB mouse polling rate if it's bothering you: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mouse_Polling_Rate
-T.C.
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lee -
Lee -
T.C. Hollingsworth