Keyboard trackball erratic

© July 2003 Perry M. Noble

I don't know if there was a final solution to this issue but I had a similar problem that vexed me for about a week... (yes, I'm probably a little slow on the uptake!).

Anyway, I moved a server into a rack cabinet that had a compaq KVM switch with one of those nifty keyboard/mouseball units to control all the hardware... Well, the mouse was all over the place and I tried every variation I could think of based on the information in the document on your web site... I knew I was in the right area but just couldn't work it out... The solution was this...

There is a parameter in /etc/conf/pack.d/kbmouse/space.c which reads as follows

/* Control kbmouse wheel capability init and test */
int kbm_wheeltst = 0;   /* 0=init+test, 1=no init,force off, 2=init+force
on */
 

This is the default setting (I believe).

Technically speaking the keyboard/mouseball doesn't have a "wheel".

I decided to play with this setting and changed to a value of 1 and relinked...

The little trackball in the keyboard now works like a champ!!

I could not find any reference to this setting in any documentation / web site / man page etc...

Got something to add? Send me email.

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