X (core input device) probs under Debian unstable

Some new problems have cropped up since I dist-upgraded my Debian unstable
install. Odd that they did not show up immediately after the dist-upgrade,
but only now after having rebooted several times. The most recent reboot
was necessitated by a momentary power failure.

So, here's the problem: X won't start. It has a problem finding a core
input device--the mouse. I haven't touched XFConfig-4 for a couple of
months, which deepens the mystery. Here is some relevant output from
/var/log/XFree86.0.log:

XFree86 Version 4.3.0.1 (Debian 4.3.0.dfsg.1-14 20050601051219 fabbione@fabbione.net)

(II) Keyboard "Generic Keyboard" handled by legacy driver
(**) Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
(**) Configured Mouse: Protocol: "PS/2"
(**) Option "CorePointer"
(**) Configured Mouse: Core Pointer
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
(EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/psaux
No such file or directory.
(EE) Configured Mouse: cannot open input device
(EE) PreInit failed for input device "Configured Mouse"
(II) UnloadModule: "mouse"
(WW) No core pointer registered
No core pointer

Fatal server error:
failed to initialize core devices

This newly-discovered failure seems to have to do with the 2.6.x kernels,
and possibly udev. I say this because, in order to get a working gui, I've
had to boot using an older 2.4.27 kernel I have on the system. When I boot
using that kernel, everything works fine: no failure of core input devices
or X refusing to start. But when I try booting with either of the other
two 2.6.x kernels (2.6.10 or 2.6.12), I get the failure message above.

For further reference, let me include an excerpt from my XF86Config-4
file:

# XF86Config-4 (XFree86 X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the XF86Config-4 manual page.
# (Type "man XF86Config-4" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xfree86 package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xfree86
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following commands as root:
#
# cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.custom
# md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 >/var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum
# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86


Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Rage 3D"
Driver "ati"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "MAG 765"
HorizSync 63.98
VertRefresh 60.02
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Rage 3D"
Monitor "MAG 765"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Any ideas what I might do to get this situation rectified? The mouse is a
ps2 for sure. It's a little unusual--sort of a mini-trackball type thing.
But I've never before had any problem with it when specifying it as a
generic ps2 mouse. It's worked fine for a few months on this same machine
prior to the dist-upgrade mentioned. When I took Chuck Gelm's advice and
used smartd to look for problematic hard drive output, I did see some
output related to the mouse. I can't recall the specifics, unfortunately.

Input geared toward resolving this problem will be appreciated.

James
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Re: X (core input device) probs under Debian unstable

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Hi James!
On Thursday, 18. August 2005 18:13 James Miller wrote:
> [...]
> This newly-discovered failure seems to have to do with the 2.6.x
> kernels, and possibly udev. I say this because, in order to get a
> working gui, I've had to boot using an older 2.4.27 kernel I have
> on the system. When I boot using that kernel, everything works
> fine: no failure of core input devices or X refusing to start. But
> when I try booting with either of the other two 2.6.x kernels
> (2.6.10 or 2.6.12), I get the failure message above.
> [...]
Maybe the 2.6 kernels don't have the
Device Drivers -> Input Device Support -> Event interface option not=20
enabled.
I've got a similar problem with my touchpad without this option.
Tobias


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Registered Linux-Machine #262062
http://counter.li.org
Diese E-Mail wurde mit einer fortgeschrittenen elektronischen
Signatur nach §2 2. d) SigG signiert.

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X (core input device) probs under Debian unstable; solution?

I finally got around to trying more earnestly to tackle this problem.
The motivation was that I lost CD burning capability by reverting to the
2.4.27 kernel (the kernel that actually gave me a working mouse and thus a
working X) and I finally needed to get it back. Searching the internet I
was able to find some information that got the mouse, and thus the gui,
working again.

Before searching the 'net, I actually decided I might try upgrading the
xserver to xorg. I did that, and ran dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, trying
various mouse options, but the core pointer still was not found and the
gui wouldn't start. That's when I started searching the 'net.

I found a message on the debian-users list that mentioned modprobing or
adding to /etc/modules psmouse and mousedev. I tried modprobing them in
that order and then running startx and, sure enough, the gui fired up and
I had a working mouse. I decided to add mousedev to /etc/modules and
reboot to see if that would do the trick. Having done that, the gui
started but the mouse wasn't working (cursor did not respond to mouse
movements). So I added psmouse before mousedev in /etc/modules and
rebooted. After this, the gui fired up fine plus I had a responsive mouse
cursor. So, the problem I had is pretty much solved (for now, at least).

Why did this happen? My guess is that since the mouse module wasn't
getting loaded, no device node was created for it. Just a guess: I'm not
techie enough to say for sure. But one of the tests I ran when I was
searching out this problem, which involved running od -tx1 /dev/psaux and
od -tx1 /dev/input/mice, did indicate that these device nodes were
non-existent. Maybe more experienced brains than mine on this list can
figure out why this happened. At least I've found a solution.

James

On Thu, 18 Aug 2005, James Miller wrote:

> Some new problems have cropped up since I dist-upgraded my Debian unstable
> install. Odd that they did not show up immediately after the dist-upgrade,
> but only now after having rebooted several times. The most recent reboot was
> necessitated by a momentary power failure.
>
> So, here's the problem: X won't start. It has a problem finding a core input
> device--the mouse. I haven't touched XFConfig-4 for a couple of months, which
> deepens the mystery. Here is some relevant output from
> /var/log/XFree86.0.log:
>
> XFree86 Version 4.3.0.1 (Debian 4.3.0.dfsg.1-14 20050601051219
> fabbione@fabbione.net)
>
> (II) Keyboard "Generic Keyboard" handled by legacy driver
> (**) Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
> (**) Configured Mouse: Protocol: "PS/2"
> (**) Option "CorePointer"
> (**) Configured Mouse: Core Pointer
> (**) Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
> (EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/psaux
> No such file or directory.
> (EE) Configured Mouse: cannot open input device
> (EE) PreInit failed for input device "Configured Mouse"
> (II) UnloadModule: "mouse"
> (WW) No core pointer registered
> No core pointer
>
> Fatal server error:
> failed to initialize core devices
>
> This newly-discovered failure seems to have to do with the 2.6.x kernels, and
> possibly udev. I say this because, in order to get a working gui, I've had to
> boot using an older 2.4.27 kernel I have on the system. When I boot using
> that kernel, everything works fine: no failure of core input devices or X
> refusing to start. But when I try booting with either of the other two 2.6.x
> kernels (2.6.10 or 2.6.12), I get the failure message above.
>
> For further reference, let me include an excerpt from my XF86Config-4 file:
>
> # XF86Config-4 (XFree86 X Window System server configuration file)
> #
> # This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
> # values from the debconf database.
> #
> # Edit this file with caution, and see the XF86Config-4 manual page.
> # (Type "man XF86Config-4" at the shell prompt.)
> #
> # This file is automatically updated on xserver-xfree86 package upgrades
> *only*
> # if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xfree86
> # package.
> #
> # If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
> # again, run the following commands as root:
> #
> # cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.custom
> # md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 >/var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum
> # dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86
>
>
> Section "InputDevice"
> Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
> Driver "keyboard"
> Option "CoreKeyboard"
> Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
> Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
> Option "XkbLayout" "us"
> EndSection
>
> Section "InputDevice"
> Identifier "Configured Mouse"
> Driver "mouse"
> Option "CorePointer"
> Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
> Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
> Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
> Identifier "ATI Rage 3D"
> Driver "ati"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
> Identifier "MAG 765"
> HorizSync 63.98
> VertRefresh 60.02
> Option "DPMS"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Screen"
> Identifier "Default Screen"
> Device "ATI Rage 3D"
> Monitor "MAG 765"
> DefaultDepth 24
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 1
> Modes "1280x1024"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 4
> Modes "1280x1024"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 8
> Modes "1280x1024"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 15
> Modes "1280x1024"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 16
> Modes "1280x1024"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 24
> Modes "1280x1024"
> EndSubSection
> EndSection
>
> Section "ServerLayout"
> Identifier "Default Layout"
> Screen "Default Screen"
> InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
> InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
> EndSection
>
> Section "DRI"
> Mode 0666
> EndSection
>
> Any ideas what I might do to get this situation rectified? The mouse is a ps2
> for sure. It's a little unusual--sort of a mini-trackball type thing. But
> I've never before had any problem with it when specifying it as a generic ps2
> mouse. It's worked fine for a few months on this same machine prior to the
> dist-upgrade mentioned. When I took Chuck Gelm's advice and used smartd to
> look for problematic hard drive output, I did see some output related to the
> mouse. I can't recall the specifics, unfortunately.
>
> Input geared toward resolving this problem will be appreciated.
>
> James
-
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the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
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