NAME

mdetect - mouse device autodetection tool

SYNOPSIS

mdetect [option ...]

OPTIONS

mdetect may be run without arguments.

-h: display a help message and exit
-n: do not search for PnP (Plug 'n' Play) mice
-r: [not yet implemented]
-v: be verbose; this option may be specified multiple times for increasing levels of verbosity
-o: produce output appropriate for XFree86 3.x configuration
-x: produce output appropriate for XFree86 4.x configuration

DESCRIPTION

mdetect is a tool for autoconfiguring mice and compatible pointing devices; it is typically used as the backend to some user-friendly frontend code that, for example, asks the user to move the mouse for a moment. mdetect is then run while user is producing input on the mouse device. While mouse motion during detection is sometimes unnecessary, it is seldom problematic.

mdetect writes the autodetected mouse device and protocol to standard output. Unless either of the -o or -x options is given, mdetect produces output appropriate for configuring the gpm(1) program. Alternatively, output appropriate for an XFree86 X server configuration file is produced. If the -v option is given, some information about the program's status is also written to standard output, but this is largely unimplemented at this writing.

If mdetect is unable to find a mouse device, it exits after a few seconds of searching.

NOTES

Detection of serial and PS/2 devices is often aided by moving the mouse while mdetect runs.

Terminals connected to serial ports may display a small amount of garbage to the screen while mdetect probes them, but this a harmless side-effect; the terminal's line settings are restored after the port has been probed.

DIAGNOSTICS

mdetect's exit status is used to communicate information.

0: mdetect found a mouse and exited normally.
1: An error occurred while attempting to read from the mouse device.
2: mdetect timed out and gave up searching for a mouse device; this indicates either that no mouse device is attached to the computer, or that a mouse device exists which mdetect knows nothing about. This also happens if your only mouse device(s) are already open and in use; for instance, by gpm or an X Window System server.
3: An error occurred while trying to set up mdetect's signal handler.

BUGS

Please report bugs in mdetect to <submit@bugs.debian.org>. The current bug list may be viewed at <http://bugs.debian.org/mdetect>.

AUTHORS

mdetect is copyright 1999 Caldera Systems, Inc. The actual authors are unknown. Branden Robinson of Progeny Linux Systems, Inc. and the Debian Project added several enhancements, including the XFree86-aware code and this manual page. Richard Hirst wrote code to save and restore serial port settings.

LICENSING

The mdetect source code is licensed under the Q Public License (QPL); see <http://www.trolltech.com/products/download/freelicense/license.html>.

This manual page is licensed under the GNU General Public License.