Eratic Cursor Behavior

[Aubrey Barnard]

> > From: "Harold Hallikainen" <harold at hallikainen.com>
> To: "Getting started with Red Hat Linux"
> <redhat-install-list at redhat.com>
> Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 13:30:44 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Re: Eratic Cursor Behavior
> 
> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: karlp at ourldsfamily.com [mailto:karlp at ourldsfamily.com]
> >> Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2005 09:15 PM
> >> To: redhat-install-list at redhat.com
> >> Subject: Eratic Cursor Behavior
> >>
> >> FC4
> >> KDE
> >>
> >> Occasionally, and I can't replicate it so know this is a stretch to
> >> ask..., when I am using my mouse to raise windows (mouseover mode,
> not
> >> click), or even when playing a game, any game, the cursor will
> disappear
> >> from before my eyes and appear in a corner of the screen. Not having
> the
> >> best of eyes, sometimes it takes a moment longer than is comfortable
> to
> >> locate the cursor so I can get back to entertaining myself...
> >>
> >> What types of things should/could I look for? Could it be a poor, or
> >> mismatched driver in XF86Config?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Karl Pearson
> >> Senior Consulting Sys/DB Analyst
> >> http://consulting.ourldsfamily.com
> >> ---
> >>
> >
> > I've seen this before as well.  I'm not entirely sure what causes it,
> but
> > I've seen it both on Linux (several distros) and Windows (several
> > versions).  The only commonality I can seem to find is that everytime
> it
> > happens to me I'm using an optical mouse.  Bad driver?  Spurious
> signal
> > from the optical device itself?  I haven't a clue, and I feel your
> pain.
> > Working late at night or at the end of a long day is not the time for
> > mouse pointers to be pulling practical jokes ;)
> >
> > -Mike
> 
> 
> Running FC4-64 on my new HP laptop, the touchpad has a tendency to
> decide
> I've clicked something. It mostly tends to run Firefox back several
> pages.
> What config file do I modify to disable this "feature?"
> 
> THANKS!
> 
> Harold

I have experienced similar problems. The touchpad generates events that I
did not knowingly cause. I have only seen this happen when running
Firefox, and Firefox turns it into a request to go back a page. This
problem is not specific to any location on the touchpad, and it doesn't
just happen when the finger is lifted or applied (which is when mistaken
clicks often happen). What I don't understand is how Firefox interprets
this as a request to go back a page, when a regular single- or
double-click would not result in that behavior. The context menu contains
a command to go back a page, but I don't know how the left-click-based
touchpad would trigger that command.

I am using FC4 on a Dell Inspiron 5000e laptop. It has a Synaptics
touchpad which seems to work just fine for everything else. I would guess
this is a problem with Firefox, but since the laptop is not my main
machine (I set it up for my parents.), I did not pursue it (e.g. bug
report, forum/list submission). My solution was to use a USB mouse, which
my parents preferred anyway. I hope this thread exhibits the critical mass
needed to get this problem investigated.

Perhaps restricting the touchpad to cursor movement only (no clicking
ability) would prevent this problem.

Aubrey Barnard


		
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