Ok, I got pissed off at Red Hat because the programs it uses are strange (gcc2.96 can't compile XMAME ) so I ditched it for Debian.
It looks great, apt rules and it gives me full control of everything installed.
I used a (3.0/woody/testing) minimal Net Install CD image and quickly set it to get Unstable so I have the latest everything...
Had some problems installing the new kernel but it's going alright now.
But both before and after I changed to unstable the mouse would not work. I use a Logitech Mouseman iFeel USB with 3 normal buttons + clickable wheel...
I also tried a MS Intellimouse PS2, some crap 2 button PS2 mouse and a MS Mouse 1.0 serial, none of those worked either (I did change the X drivers to the right ones when I changed mice)
I went to www.linux-usb.org as suggested by the package info of Debian's usbmgr daemon thingy, and the HID installation guide didn't help.
It told me to add a /dev/input/mice with some command, which I did, and it doesn't do anything (cat /dev/input/mouse returns nothing)
lsmod does display the hid, mousedev, and input modules that site said I need, in addition to "usbcore"
cat /proc/bus/usb/devices also returns nothing so it's not detecting my mouse, I guess...
but the interesting thing is, when I go into lbreakout (a game, which is currently using aalib :P) moving my mouse causes a gpm-type cursor to do random things.
So I know the input from my mouse is doing SOMETHING. But I don't know how to fix it to do what it is SUPPOSED to.
Extra info: I have Debian's kernel 2.4.17-K7. Motherboard is an MSI K7T Turbo of some sort with a KT133 chipset (I think. The one without DDR.) with a Tbird 1.4ghz
I don't think anything else matters about my hardware, but just in case I have a WD 7200rpm 40GB HD of some sort, an MSI Geforce2MX, an original SBLive, and a 3c905 Fast Etherlink III NIC that is working great, or else I wouldn't be posting this.
I'd really like any help you can give, since I'm not a Lynx fan. I'm really not liking having to page through links.
Any strangeness in formatting of the above should be blamed on Lynx, not me. I am perfect. It's Lynx that isn't. Yeah.

Try this. "/etc/init.d/gpm stop" . If your mouse works after that, then type "rm /etc/rc3.d/S20gpm. I had the same problem with my USB Logitech mouse. This help quite a bit. I'm a n00b, but I thought I would try to help. :P

FYI, you could have fixed your RH problem by downgrading to 2.9.5 or upgrading to 3.0.3 ...

As far as the mouse is concerned - assuming your USB modules are installed correct... type ' dmesg ' from the console and see if the system is recongnizing a USB device (mouse). You must also have USB mouse support installed into the kernel in addition to basic USB support. I can give you a 2.4.17 config if you need one.

Once you have "confirmed" that the system is detecting your mouse by running ' dmesg ' (this is updated on-the-fly, so if you unplug/plug the mouse, the log will change. It should read something like this:

hub.c: USB new device connect on bus1/1, assigned device number 3
input0: USB HID v1.00 Mouse [0461:4d09] on usb1:3.0


After you have confirmed that it is detected by the kernel - you need to change the mouse input section in your /etc/X11/XFree86 config file to read something similar to this:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "ZAxismapping" "4 5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "off"


This configuration works with about 10 different wheel mice that I have... including all MS Mice, both optical and ball, IBM Optical Explorer, Logitech Wheels, etc. You MAY need to add:

Option "Buttons" "5"

for a 3 button mouse with a wheel and modified the pointer map - which some people suggest on here, but I've personally never had to do this with any 3-7 button mice. They all work right off the bat.

If your USB sub-system and USB mouse driver aren't loading, your /dev/input/mice probably won't show up. But if they ARE showing up and it's still not adding it for some reason - try entering:

mknod --mode=600 /dev/input/mice c 13 63

Do this from root of course... forgive me if you know that - some do not.

If none of this fixes it - I would encourage you to post your dmesg output related to USB, any errors or infomation in your kernel logs located in /var/log and your /etc/modules.conf along with an output from ' lsmod ' ..... I personally build all of this into my kernel and don't use modules for these devices, unless you have a reason for putting them into modules.

Hope this helps