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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