FreeBSD Man Pages

moused(8)

NAME

     moused -- pass mouse data to the console driver

SYNOPSIS

     moused [-DPRacdfs] [-I file] [-F rate] [-r resolution] [-S baudrate]
	    [-V [-U distance]] [-a X[,Y]] [-C threshold] [-m N=M] [-w N]
	    [-z target] [-t mousetype] [-l level] [-3 [-E timeout]] -p port

     moused [-Pd] -p port -i info

DESCRIPTION

     The moused utility and the console driver work together to support mouse
     operation in the text console and user programs.  They virtualize the
     mouse and provide user programs with mouse data in the standard format
     (see sysmouse(4)).

     The mouse daemon listens to the specified port for mouse data, interprets
     and then passes it via ioctls to the console driver.  The mouse daemon
     reports translation movement, button press/release events and movement of
     the roller or the wheel if available.  The roller/wheel movement is
     reported as ``Z'' axis movement.

     The console driver will display the mouse pointer on the screen and pro-
     vide cut and paste functions if the mouse pointer is enabled in the vir-
     tual console via vidcontrol(1).  If sysmouse(4) is opened by the user
     program, the console driver also passes the mouse data to the device so
     that the user program will see it.

     If the mouse daemon receives the signal SIGHUP, it will reopen the mouse
     port and reinitialize itself.  Useful if the mouse is attached/detached
     while the system is suspended.

     The following options are available:

     -3      Emulate the third (middle) button for 2-button mice.  It is emu-
	     lated by pressing the left and right physical buttons simultane-
	     ously.

     -C threshold
	     Set double click speed as the maximum interval in msec between
	     button clicks.  Without this option, the default value of 500
	     msec will be assumed.  This option will have effect only on the
	     cut and paste operations in the text mode console.  The user pro-
	     gram which is reading mouse data via sysmouse(4) will not be
	     affected.

     -D      Lower DTR on the serial port.  This option is valid only if
	     mousesystems is selected as the protocol type.  The DTR line may
	     need to be dropped for a 3-button mouse to operate in the
	     mousesystems mode.

     -E timeout
	     When the third button emulation is enabled (see above), the
	     moused utility waits timeout msec at most before deciding whether
	     two buttons are being pressed simultaneously.  The default time-
	     out is 100 msec.

     -P      Do not start the Plug and Play COM device enumeration procedure
	     when identifying the serial mouse.  If this option is given
	     together with the -i option, the moused utility will not be able
	     to print useful information for the serial mouse.

     -R      Lower RTS on the serial port.  This option is valid only if
	     mousesystems is selected as the protocol type by the -t option
	     below.  It is often used with the -D option above.  Both RTS and
	     DTR lines may need to be dropped for a 3-button mouse to operate
	     in the mousesystems mode.

     -S baudrate
	     Select the baudrate for the serial port (1200 to 9600).  Not all
	     serial mice support this option.

     -V      Enable ``Virtual Scrolling'', with this option set, holding the
	     middle mouse button down will cause motion to be interpreted as
	     scrolling.  Use the -U option to set the distance the mouse must
	     move before the scrolling mode is activated.

     -a X[,Y]
	     Accelerate or decelerate the mouse input.	This is a linear
	     acceleration only.  Values less than 1.0 slow down movement, val-
	     ues greater than 1.0 speed it up.	Specifying only one value sets
	     the acceleration for both axes.

     -c      Some mice report middle button down events as if the left and
	     right buttons are being pressed.  This option handles this.

     -d      Enable debugging messages.

     -f      Do not become a daemon and instead run as a foreground process.
	     Useful for testing and debugging.

     -i info
	     Print specified information and quit.  Available pieces of infor-
	     mation are:

	     port      Port (device file) name, i.e. /dev/cuaa0, /dev/mse0 and
		       /dev/psm0.
	     if        Interface type: serial, bus, inport or ps/2.
	     type      Protocol type.  It is one of the types listed under the
		       -t option below or sysmouse if the driver supports the
		       sysmouse data format standard.
	     model     Mouse model.  The moused utility may not always be able
		       to identify the model.
	     all       All of the above items.	Print port, interface, type
		       and model in this order in one line.

	     If the moused utility cannot determine the requested information,
	     it prints ``unknown'' or ``generic''.

     -l level
	     Specifies at which level moused should operate the mouse driver.
	     Refer to Operation Levels in psm(4) for more information on this.

     -m N=M  Assign the physical button M to the logical button N.  You may
	     specify as many instances of this option as you like.  More than

     -r resolution
	     Set the resolution of the device; in Dots Per Inch, or low,
	     medium-low, medium-high or high.  This option may not be sup-
	     ported by all the device.

     -s      Select a baudrate of 9600 for the serial line.  Not all serial
	     mice support this option.

     -t type
	     Specify the protocol type of the mouse attached to the port.  You
	     may explicitly specify a type listed below, or use auto to let
	     the moused utility automatically select an appropriate protocol
	     for the given mouse.  If you entirely omit this option in the
	     command line, -t auto is assumed.	Under normal circumstances,
	     you need to use this option only if the moused utility is not
	     able to detect the protocol automatically (see Configuring Mouse
	     Daemon).

	     Note that if a protocol type is specified with this option, the
	     -P option above is implied and Plug and Play COM device enumera-
	     tion procedure will be disabled.

	     Also note that if your mouse is attached to the PS/2 mouse port,
	     you should always choose auto or ps/2, regardless of the brand
	     and model of the mouse.  Likewise, if your mouse is attached to
	     the bus mouse port, choose auto or busmouse.  Serial mouse proto-
	     cols will not work with these mice.

	     For the USB mouse, the protocol must be auto.  No other protocol
	     will work with the USB mouse.

	     Valid types for this option are listed below.

	     For the serial mouse:
	     microsoft	      Microsoft serial mouse protocol.	Most 2-button
			      serial mice use this protocol.
	     intellimouse     Microsoft IntelliMouse protocol.	Genius Net-
			      Mouse, ASCII Mie Mouse, Logitech MouseMan+ and
			      FirstMouse+ use this protocol too.  Other mice
			      with a roller/wheel may be compatible with this
			      protocol.
	     mousesystems     MouseSystems 5-byte protocol.  3-button mice may
			      use this protocol.
	     mmseries	      MM Series mouse protocol.
	     logitech	      Logitech mouse protocol.	Note that this is for
			      old Logitech models.  mouseman or intellimouse
			      should be specified for newer models.
	     mouseman	      Logitech MouseMan and TrackMan protocol.	Some
			      3-button mice may be compatible with this proto-
			      col.  Note that MouseMan+ and FirstMouse+ use
			      intellimouse protocol rather than this one.
	     glidepoint       ALPS GlidePoint protocol.
	     thinkingmouse    Kensington ThinkingMouse protocol.
	     mmhitab	      Hitachi tablet protocol.
	     x10mouseremote   X10 MouseRemote.
	     kidspad	      Genius Kidspad and Easypad protocol.
	     versapad	      Interlink VersaPad protocol.

			      PS/2 mouse and should be specified for any PS/2
			      mice, regardless of the brand.

	     For the USB mouse, auto is the only protocol type available for
	     the USB mouse and should be specified for any USB mice, regard-
	     less of the brand.

     -w N    Make the physical button N act as the wheel mode button.  While
	     this button is pressed, X and Y axis movement is reported to be
	     zero and the Y axis movement is mapped to Z axis.	You may fur-
	     ther map the Z axis movement to virtual buttons by the -z option
	     below.

     -z target
	     Map Z axis (roller/wheel) movement to another axis or to virtual
	     buttons.  Valid target maybe:
	     x
	     y	  X or Y axis movement will be reported when the Z axis move-
		  ment is detected.
	     N	  Report down events for the virtual buttons N and N+1 respec-
		  tively when negative and positive Z axis movement is
		  detected.  There do not need to be physical buttons N and
		  N+1.	Note that mapping to logical buttons is carried out
		  after mapping from the Z axis movement to the virtual but-
		  tons is done.
	     N1 N2
		  Report down events for the virtual buttons N1 and N2 respec-
		  tively when negative and positive Z axis movement is
		  detected.
	     N1 N2 N3 N4
		  This is useful for the mouse with two wheels of which the
		  second wheel is used to generate horizontal scroll action,
		  and for the mouse which has a knob or a stick which can
		  detect the horizontal force applied by the user.

		  The motion of the second wheel will be mapped to the buttons
		  N3, for the negative direction, and N4, for the positive
		  direction.  If the buttons N3 and N4 actually exist in this
		  mouse, their actions will not be detected.

		  Note that horizontal movement or second roller/wheel move-
		  ment may not always be detected, because there appears to be
		  no accepted standard as to how it is encoded.

		  Note also that some mice think left is the negative horizon-
		  tal direction; others may think otherwise.  Moreover, there
		  are some mice whose two wheels are both mounted vertically,
		  and the direction of the second vertical wheel does not
		  match the first one.

   Configuring Mouse Daemon
     The first thing you need to know is the interface type of the mouse you
     are going to use.	It can be determined by looking at the connector of
     the mouse.  The serial mouse has a D-Sub female 9- or 25-pin connector.
     The bus and InPort mice have either a D-Sub male 9-pin connector or a
     round DIN 9-pin connector.  The PS/2 mouse is equipped with a small,
     round DIN 6-pin connector.  Some mice come with adapters with which the
     connector can be converted to another.  If you are to use such an
     /dev/cuaa0 to the mouse.  You can attach multiple USB mice to your system
     or to your USB hub.  They are accessible as /dev/ums0, /dev/ums1, and so
     on.  ~ You may want to create a symbolic link /dev/mouse pointing to the
     real port to which the mouse is connected, so that you can easily distin-
     guish which is your ``mouse'' port later.

     The next step is to guess the appropriate protocol type for the mouse.
     The moused utility may be able to automatically determine the protocol
     type.  Run the moused utility with the -i option and see what it says.
     If the command can identify the protocol type, no further investigation
     is necessary on your part.  You may start the daemon without explicitly
     specifying a protocol type (see EXAMPLES).

     The command may print sysmouse if the mouse driver supports this protocol
     type.

     Note that the type and model printed by the -i option do not necessarily
     match the product name of the pointing device in question, but they may
     give the name of the device with which it is compatible.

     If the -i option yields nothing, you need to specify a protocol type to
     the moused utility by the -t option.  You have to make a guess and try.
     There is rule of thumb:

     1.   The bus and InPort mice always use busmouse protocol regardless of
	  the brand of the mouse.
     2.   The ps/2 protocol should always be specified for the PS/2 mouse
	  regardless of the brand of the mouse.
     3.   You must specify the auto protocol for the USB mouse.
     4.   Most 2-button serial mice support the microsoft protocol.
     5.   3-button serial mice may work with the mousesystems protocol.  If it
	  does not, it may work with the microsoft protocol although the third
	  (middle) button will not function.  3-button serial mice may also
	  work with the mouseman protocol under which the third button may
	  function as expected.
     6.   3-button serial mice may have a small switch to choose between
	  ``MS'' and ``PC'', or ``2'' and ``3''.  ``MS'' or ``2'' usually mean
	  the microsoft protocol.  ``PC'' or ``3'' will choose the
	  mousesystems protocol.
     7.   If the mouse has a roller or a wheel, it may be compatible with the
	  intellimouse protocol.

     To test if the selected protocol type is correct for the given mouse,
     enable the mouse pointer in the current virtual console,

	   vidcontrol -m on

     start the mouse daemon in the foreground mode,

	   moused -f -p _selected_port_ -t _selected_protocol_

     and see if the mouse pointer travels correctly according to the mouse
     movement.	Then try cut & paste features by clicking the left, right and
     middle buttons.  Type ^C to stop the command.

   Multiple Mice
     As many instances of the mouse daemon as the number of mice attached to
     the system may be run simultaneously; one instance for each mouse.  This
     the daemon for the PS/2 mouse.  In contrast when both mice are attached
     and both of them are moved at the same time in this configuration, the
     mouse pointer will travel across the screen just as if movement of the
     mice is combined all together.

FILES

     /dev/consolectl  device to control the console
     /dev/mse%d       bus and InPort mouse driver
     /dev/psm%d       PS/2 mouse driver
     /dev/sysmouse    virtualized mouse driver
     /dev/ttyv%d      virtual consoles
     /dev/ums%d       USB mouse driver
     /var/run/moused.pid
		      process id of the currently running moused utility
     /var/run/MouseRemote
		      UNIX-domain stream socket for X10 MouseRemote events

EXAMPLES

	   moused -p /dev/cuaa0 -i type

     Let the moused utility determine the protocol type of the mouse at the
     serial port /dev/cuaa0.  If successful, the command will print the type,
     otherwise it will say ``unknown''.

	   moused -p /dev/cuaa0
	   vidcontrol -m on

     If the moused utility is able to identify the protocol type of the mouse
     at the specified port automatically, you can start the daemon without the
     -t option and enable the mouse pointer in the text console as above.

	   moused -p /dev/mouse -t microsoft
	   vidcontrol -m on

     Start the mouse daemon on the serial port /dev/mouse.  The protocol type
     microsoft is explicitly specified by the -t option.

	   moused -p /dev/mouse -m 1=3 -m 3=1

     Assign the physical button 3 (right button) to the logical button 1 (log-
     ical left) and the physical button 1 (left) to the logical button 3 (log-
     ical right).  This will effectively swap the left and right buttons.

	   moused -p /dev/mouse -t intellimouse -z 4

     Report negative Z axis movement (i.e., mouse wheel) as the button 4
     pressed and positive Z axis movement (i.e., mouse wheel) as the button 5
     pressed.

CAVEATS

     The moused utility does not currently work with the alternative console
     driver pcvt(4).

     Many pad devices behave as if the first (left) button were pressed if the
     user `taps' the surface of the pad.  In contrast, some ALPS GlidePoint
     and Interlink VersaPad models treat the tapping action as fourth button
     events.  Use the option ``-m 1=4'' for these models to obtain the same
     effect as the other pad devices.
     emulate the middle button, or use the -m option to assign the physical
     right button to the logical middle button: ``-m 2=3''.

SEE ALSO

     kill(1), vidcontrol(1), keyboard(4), mse(4), pcvt(4), psm(4), screen(4),
     sysmouse(4), ums(4)

STANDARDS

     The moused utility partially supports ``Plug and Play External COM Device
     Specification'' in order to support PnP serial mice.  However, due to
     various degrees of conformance to the specification by existing serial
     mice, it does not strictly follow the version 1.0 of the standard.  Even
     with this less strict approach, it may not always determine an appropri-
     ate protocol type for the given serial mouse.

AUTHORS

     The moused utility was written by Michael Smith <msmith@FreeBSD.org>.
     This manual page was written by Mike Pritchard <mpp@FreeBSD.org>.	The
     command and manual page have since been updated by Kazutaka Yokota
     <yokota@FreeBSD.org>.

HISTORY

     The moused utility first appeared in FreeBSD 2.2.

FreeBSD 5.4			 April 1, 2000			   FreeBSD 5.4

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