[ltp] Setting up the trackpoint

[Richard Neill]

Torsten Wolf wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> When trying to follow the instructions in
> http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_configure_the_TrackPoint I noticed,
> that the the configuration files are located in 
> /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/serio2 only after a fresh boot of the
> system. After a suspend to disk (with a reboot), the last directory
> changes to serio3, i.e. the number increases with each std-cycle.
> Suspending to ram does not affect the location (as there is no reboot?).
> Does anybody else experience this behaviour? I just saw that 2.6.15 has
> finally been released, so I'll check whether this is 2.6.15-rc5 related.

No idea - but do tell us if you get it fixed.

> The reason why I'm bothered is that I'd finally like to set up the
> trackpoint correctly. At the moment I have a simple script that searches
> for the configuration files in /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0 and
> then modifies the values e.g. via "echo -n 1 >/sys/.../press_to_select".
> So here comes my first dumb question. Do the configuration files appear
> when the xserver is starting? I ask this because once I failed setting
> the values via an init-script during bootup.

I think that they are from by the kernel device driver, and independent
of X. You might need to modprobe the correct module.

> 
> My next attempt was to invoke the script when starting the windowmanager
> (.xsession or fluxbox/startup). In this scenario the script is executed
> by the user owning  the X session. But an ordinary user seems to lack
> the proper permissions; every "echo -n..." returns "Permission denied".
> Altering the suid bit had no success.

Use sudo?
If, like me, you are the only user of the laptop, you could set up sudo
to allow certain commands to be executed without the password.
[You might even allow "sudo su"]

> 
> Now, my last idea is to write an udev-rule, giving me an
> /dev/input/trackpoint, no matter where the serio resides  and setup the
> trackpoint in the xorg.conf file. But can all settings be accessed from
> the X configuration?

iirc, *none* of the trackpoint-specific settings
(sensitivity,press-to-select) can be configured in X.

/dev/input/trackpoint is a good idea but for a different reason. It
allows you to have multiple mice (if desired), or perhaps a graphics
tablet - and then you don't have to care about weirdness from
/dev/input/mice.

> 
> Hmm, these questions seem a bit dumb to me, but I'm stuck at this point,
> so every hint is greatly appreciated.

It's rather a shame that the old tp4d  doesn't work with kernel 2.6.
That was, in my view, nicer.  Good luck.

Richard