This manual page describes what pointer types (mice,
tablets, etc) are currently managed by gpm.
The information below is extracted from the texinfo file,
which is the preferred source of information.
DESCRIPTION
This manpage describes the various pointer types currently
available in gpm. If you look at the source code, you'll
find that pointer-specific code is confined to `mice.c'
(while it used to only include mouse decoders, gpm now
supports tablets and touchscreens as well).
The mouse type is specified on command line with the `-t'
option. The option takes an argument, which represents the
name of a mouse type. Each type can be associated to dif
ferent names. For old mouse types, one name is the old
selection-compatible name, and another is the XFree name.
After version 1.18.1 of gpm, the number of synonyms was
made arbitrary and the actual name being used is made
available to the function responsible for mouse initial
ization. Therefore it is possible for a mouse decoder to
behave slightly differently according to the name being
used for the device (if this feature was already present,
we wouldn't have for example ms+ and ms+lr as different
mouse types).
The initialization procedure of each mouse type can also
receive extra option, by means of the -o command line
option. Since interpretation of the option string is
decoder-specific, the allowed options are described in
association to each mouse type. When no description of
option strings is provided, that means the option string
is unused for that mouse type and specifying one generates
an error. When the document refer to ``standard serial
options'' it means that one of -o dtr, -o rts, -o both can
be specified to toggle the control lines of the serial
port.
The following mouse type are corrently recognized:
bare Microsoft
The Microsoft protocol, without any extension. It
only reports two buttons. If your device has three,
you should either try running the mman decoder or
msc. In the latter case, you need to tell the mouse
to talk msc protocol by toggling the DTR and RTS
lines (with one of -o drt, -o rts or -o both) or
invoking `gpm -t msc' while keeping the middle but
ton pressed. Very annoying, indeed. This mouse
decoder accepts standard serial options, although
ms This is the original Microsoft protocol, with a
middle-button extension. Some old two-button
devices send some spurious packets which can be
misunderstood as middle-button events. If this is
your case, use the `bare' mouse type. Some new
two-button devices are ``plug and play'', and they
don't play fair at all; in this case try -t pnp.
Many (most) three-button devices that use the
microsoft protocol fail to report some middle-but
ton events during mouse motion. Since the protocol
does not distinguish between the middle button
going up and the middle button going down it would
be liable to get out of step, so this decoder
declares the middle button to be up whenever the
mouse moves. This prevents dragging with the middle
button, so you should probably use `-t ms+lr'
instead of this decoder, especially if you want to
use X. This mouse decoder accepts standard serial
options, although they should not be needed.
ms+ This is the same as `-t ms' except that the middle
button is not reset during mouse motion. So you can
drag with the middle button. However, if your mouse
exhibits the usual buggy behaviour the decoder is
likely to get out of step with reality, thinking
the middle button is up when it's down and vice
versa. You should probably use `-t ms+lr' instead
of this decoder. This mouse decoder accepts stan
dard serial options, although they should not be
needed.
ms+lr This is the same as `-t ms+' except that there is
an additional facility to reset the state of the
middle button by pressing the other two buttons
together. Do this when the decoder gets into a con
fused state where it thinks the middle button is up
when it's down and vice versa. (If you get sick of
having to do this, please don't blame gpm; blame
your buggy mouse! Note that most three-button mice
that do the microsoft protocol can be made to do
the MouseSystems protocol instead. The ``3 Button
Serial Mouse mini-HOWTO'' has information about
this.) This mouse decoder accepts standard serial
options, although they should not be needed.
msc MouseSystems
This is the standard protocol for three-button
serial devices. Some of such devices only enter
MouseSystem mode if the RTS, DTR or both lines are
pushed low. Thus, you may try -t msc associated
with -o rts, -o dtr or -o both.
The protocol used by the new Logitech devices with
three buttons. It is backward compatible with the
Microsoft protocol, so if your mouse has three but
tons and works with -t ms or similar decoders you
may try -t mman instead to use the middle button.
This mouse decoder accepts standard serial options,
although they should not be needed.
sun The protocol used on Sparc computers and a few oth
ers. This mouse decoder accepts standard serial
options, although they should not be needed.
mm MMSeries
Title says it all. This mouse decoder accepts
standard serial options, although they should not
be needed.
logi Logitech
This is the protocol used by old serial Logitech
mice.
bm BusMouse
Some bus devices use this protocol, including those
produced by Logitech.
ps2 PS/2
The protocol used by most busmice.
ncr This `type' is able to decode the pointing pen
found on some laptops (the NCR 3125 pen)
wacom The protocol used by the Wacom tablet. Since ver
sion 1.18.1 we have a new Wacom decoder, as the old
one was not working with new tablets. This decoder
was tested with Ultrapad, PenPartner, and Graphire
tablets. Options: -o relative (default) for rela
tive mode, -o absolute for absolute mode.
genitizer
The This mouse decoder accepts standard serial
options, although they should not be needed.
logim Used to turn Logitech mice into Mouse-Systems-Com
patible. Obviously, it only works with some of the
pnp This decoder works with the new mice produces by
our friend Bill, and maybe with the old ones as
well. The Pnp protocol is hardwired at 1200 baud
and is upset by normal initialization, so this is a
-t bare decoder with no initialization at all.
This mouse decoder accepts standard serial options,
although they should not be needed.
ms3 A decoder for the new serial IntelliMouse devices,
the ones with three buttons and a protocol incom
patible with older ones. The wheel is currently
unused.
imps2 ``IntelliMouse'' on the ps/2 port. For serial
``IntelliMouse'' devices, use the ``ms3'' decoder.
netmouse
Decodes the ``Genius NetMouse'' type of devices on
the ps/2 port. For serial ``Netmouse'' devices,
use the ``ms3'' decoder.
cal A decoder of the ``Calcomp UltraSlate device.
calr Same as above, but in relative mode.
twid Support for the twiddler keyboard. As of gpm-1.14
this decoder includes a char generator for the text
console, but doesn't yet support X keycodes. If
used with `-R', `gpm' will anyway repeat mouse
events to the X server. More information about
twiddler support can be found in `README.twiddler',
in the gpm distribution.
syn synaptics
A decoder for the Synaptics TouchPad connected to
the serial port. This mouse decoder accepts stan
dard serial options, although they should not be
needed.
synps2 synaptics_ps2
Same as above, but for the devices attached to the
ps2 port.
buttons and a wheel. This mouse decoder accepts
standard serial options, although they should not
be needed.
js Joystick
This mouse type uses the joystick device to gener
ate mouse events. It is only available if the
header `linux/joystick.h' is found at compile time.
The header (and the device as well) has been intro
duced only during 2.1 development, and is not pre
sent in version 2.0 of the kernel.
summa This is a decode for the Symmagraphics of Genius
tablet, run in absolute mode. A repeater is associ
ated to this decoder, so it can -R summa can be
used to generate X events even for other absolute-
pointing devices, like touchscreens. To use the
repeated data from X, you need a modified
xf86Summa.o module.
mtouch A decoder for the MicroTouch touch screen. Please
refer to the file `README.microtouch' in the source
tree of gpm for further information. In the near
future, anyways, I plan to fold back to this docu
mentation the content of that file.
gunze A decoder for the gunze touch screen. Please refer
to the file `README.gunze' in the source tree of
gpm for further information. In the near future,
anyways, I plan to fold back to this documentation
the content of that file. The decoder accepts the
following options: smooth=, debounce=. An higher
smoothness results in slower motion as well; a
smaller smoothness gives faster motion but, obvi
ously, less smooth. The default smoothness is 9.
The debounce time is express in milliseconds and is
the minimum duration of an up-down event to be
taken as a tap. Smaller bounces are ignored.
acecad The Acecad tablet in absolute mode.
wp wizardpad
Genius WizardPad tablet
/dev/mouse The default mouse device
mice.c The source file for pointer decoders
SEE ALSO
gpm(8) The General Purpose Mouse server
The info file about `gpm', which gives more complete
information and explains how to write a gpm client.
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