MOUSED(8)

NAME
moused - pass mouse data to the console driver

SYNOPSIS
moused [-3DPRcdfs] [-I file] [-F rate] [-r resolution] [-S baudrate] [-C threshold] [-m N=M] [-z target] [-t mousetype] -p port

moused [-Pd] -p port -i info

DESCRIPTION
The mouse daemon moused and the console driver work together to support mouse operation in the text console and user programs. They virtualize the mouse and provide user programs with mouse data in the standard format (see sysmouse(4)).

The mouse daemon listens to the specified port for mouse data, interprets and then passes it via ioctls to the console driver. The mouse daemon reports translation movement, button press/release events and movement of the roller or the wheel if available. The roller/wheel movement is reported as ``Z'' axis movement.

The console driver will display the mouse pointer on the screen and provide cut and paste functions if the mouse pointer is enabled in the virtual console via vidcontrol(4). If sysmouse(4) is opened by the user program, the console driver also passes the mouse data to the device so that the user program will see it.

If the mouse daemon receives the signal SIGHUP, it will reopen the mouse port and reinitializes itself. Useful if the mouse is attached/detached while the system is suspended.

The following options are available:

-3  Emulate the third (middle) button for 2-button mice. It is emulated by pressing the left and right physical buttons simultaneously.

-C threshold
    Set double click speed as the maximum interval in msec between button clicks. Without this option, the default value of 500 msec will be assumed. This option will have effect only on the cut and paste operations in the text mode console. The user program which is reading mouse data via sysmouse(4) won't be affected.

-D  Lower DTR on the serial port. This option is valid only if mousesystems is selected as the protocol type. The DTR line may need to be dropped for a 3-button mouse to operate in the mousesystems mode.

-F rate
    Set the report rate (reports/sec) of the device if supported.

-I file
    Write the process id of the moused daemon in the specified file. Without this option, the process id will be stored in /var/run/moused.pid.

-P  Do not start the Plug and Play COM device enumeration procedure when identifying the serial mouse. If this option is given together with the -i option, the moused command won't be able to print useful information for the serial mouse.

-R  Lower RTS on the serial port. This option is valid only if mousesystems is selected as the protocol type by the -t option below. It is often used with the -D option above. Both RTS and DTR lines may need to be dropped for a 3-button mouse to operate in the mousesystems mode.

-S baudrate
    Select the baudrate for the serial port (1200 to 9600). Not all serial mice support this option.

-c  Some mice report middle button down events as if the left and right buttons are pressed. This option handles this.

-d  Enable debugging messages.

-f  Do not become a daemon and instead run as a foreground process. Useful for testing and debugging.

-i info
    Print specified information and quit. Available pieces of information are:

    port
        Port (device file) name, i.e. /dev/cuaa0, /dev/mse0 and /dev/psm0.
    if  Interface type: serial, bus, inport or ps/2.
    type
        Protocol type. It is one of the types listed under the -t option below or sysmouse if the driver supports the sysmouse data format standard.
    model
        Mouse model. The moused command may not always be able to identify the model.
    all All of the above items. Print port, interface, type and model in this order in one line.

    If the moused command cannot determine the requested information, it prints ``unknown'' or ``generic''.

-m N=M
    Assign the physical button M to the logical button N. You may specify as many instances of this option as you like. More than one physical button may be assigned to a logical button at the same time. In this case the logical button will be down, if either of the assigned physical buttons is held down. Do not put space around `='.

-p port
    Use port to communicate with the mouse.

-r resolution
    Set the resolution of the device; in Dots Per Inch, or low, medium-low, medium-high or high. This option may not be supported by all the device.

-s  Select a baudrate of 9600 for the serial line. Not all serial mice support this option.

-t type
    Specify the protocol type of the mouse attached to the port. You may explicitly specify a type listed below, or use auto to let the moused command to automatically select an appropriate protocol for the given mouse. If you entirely ommit this options in the command line, -t auto is assumed. Under normal circumstances, you need to use this option only if the moused command is not able to detect the protocol automatically (see the Configuring Mouse Daemon).

    Also note that if a protocol type is specified with this option, the -P option above is implied and Plug and Play COM device enumeration procedure will be disabled.

    Valid types for this option are listed below.

    For the serial mouse:
    microsoft
        Microsoft serial mouse protocol. Most 2-button serial mice use this protocol.
    intellimouse
        Microsoft IntelliMouse protocol. Genius NetMouse, ASCII Mie Mouse, Logitech MouseMan+ and FirstMouse+ use this protocol too. Other mice with a roller/wheel may be compatible with this protocol.
    mousesystems
        MouseSystems 5-byte protocol. 3-button mice may use this protocol.
    mmseries
        MM Series mouse protocol.
    logitech
        Logitech mouse protocol. Note that this is for old Logitech models. mouseman or intellimouse should be specified for newer models.
    mouseman
        Logitech MouseMan and TrackMan protocol. Some 3-button mice may be compatible with this protocol. Note that MouseMan+ and FirstMouse+ use intellimouse protocol rather than this one.
    glidepoint
        ALPS GlidePoint protocol.
    thinkingmouse
        Kensington ThinkingMouse protocol.
    mmhitab
        Hitachi tablet protocol.

    For the bus and InPort mouse:
    busmouse
        This is the only protocol type available for the bus and InPort mouse and should be specified for any bus mice and InPort mice, regardless of the brand.

    For the PS/2 mouse:
    ps/2
        This is the only protocol type available for the PS/2 mouse and should be specified for any PS/2 mice, regardless of the brand.

-z target
    Map Z axis (roller/wheel) movement to another axis or to virtual buttons. Valid target maybe:
    x
    y   X or Y axis movement will be reported when the Z axis movement is detected.
    N   Report the virtual buttons N and N+1 down events respectively when negative and positive Z axis movement is detected. There doesn't need to be physical buttons N and N+1. Note that mapping to logical buttons is carried out after mapping from the Z axis movement to the virtual buttons is done.

  Configuring Mouse Daemon
The first thing you need to know is the interface type of the mouse you are going to use. It can be determined by looking at the connector of the mouse. The serial mouse has a D-Sub female 9- or 25-pin connector. The bus and InPort mice have either a D-Sub male 9-pin connector or a round DIN 9-pin connector. The PS/2 mouse is equipped with a small, round DIN 6-pin connector. Some mice come with adapters with which the connector can be converted to another. If you are to use such an adapter, remember the connector at the very end of the mouse/adapter pair is what matters.

The next thing to decide is a port to use for the given interface. For the bus, InPort and PS/2 mice, there is little choice: the bus and InPort mice always use /dev/mse0, and the PS/2 mouse is always at /dev/psm0. There may be more than one serial port to which the serial mouse can be attached. Many people often assign the first, built-in serial port /dev/cuaa0 to the mouse. You may want to create a symbolic link /dev/mouse pointing to the real port to which the mouse is connected, so that you can easily distinguish which is your ``mouse'' port later.

The next step is to guess the appropriate protocol type for the mouse. The moused command may be able to automatically determine the protocol type. Run the moused command with the -i option and see what it says. If the command can identify the protocol type, no further investigation is necessary on your part. You may start the daemon without explicitly specifying a protocol type (see EXAMPLE).

The command may print sysmouse if the mouse driver supports this protocol type.

Note that the type and model printed by the -i option do not necessarily match the product name of the pointing device in question, but they may give the name of the device with which it is compatible.

If the -i option yields nothing, you need to specify a protocol type to the moused command by the -t option. You have to make a guess and try. There is rule of thumb:

1.  The bus and InPort mice always use busmouse protocol regardless of the brand of the mouse.
2.  The ps/2 protocol should always be specified for the PS/2 mouse regardless of the brand of the mouse.
3.  Most 2-button serial mice support the microsoft protocol.
4.  3-button serial mice may work with the mousesystems protocol. If it doesn't, it may work with the microsoft protocol although the third (middle) button won't function. 3-button serial mice may also work with the mouseman protocol under which the third button may function as expected.
5.  3-button serial mice may have a small switch to choose between ``MS'' and ``PC'', or ``2'' and ``3''. ``MS'' or ``2'' usually mean the microsoft protocol. ``PC'' or ``3'' will choose the mousesystems protocol.
6.  If the mouse has a roller or a wheel, it may be compatible with the intellimouse protocol.

To test if the selected protocol type is correct for the given mouse, enable the mouse pointer in the current virtual console,

    vidcontrol -m on

start the mouse daemon in the foreground mode,

    moused -f -p _selected_port_ -t _selected_protocol_

and see if the mouse pointer travels correctly according to the mouse movement. Then try cut & paste features by clicking the left, right and middle buttons. Type ^C to stop the command.

  Multiple Mice
As many instances of the mouse daemon as the number of mice attached to the system may be run simultaneously; one instance for each mouse. This is useful if the user wants to use the built-in PS/2 pointing device of a laptop computer while on the road, but wants to use a serial mouse when s/he attaches the system to the docking station in the office. Run two mouse daemons and tell the application program (such as the X Window System) to use sysmouse, then the application program will always see mouse data from either mice. When the serial mouse is not attached, the corresponding mouse daemon won't detect any movement or button state change and the application program will only see mouse data coming from the daemon for the PS/2 mouse. In contrast when both mice are attached and both of them are moved at the same time in this configuration, the mouse pointer will travel across the screen just as if movement of the mice is combined all together.

FILES
/dev/consolectl
    device to control the console
/dev/mse%d
    bus and InPort mouse driver
/dev/psm%d
    PS/2 mouse driver
/dev/sysmouse
    virtualized mouse driver
/dev/ttyv%d
    virtual consoles
/var/run/moused.pid
    process id of the currently running moused daemon

EXAMPLE

    moused -p /dev/cuaa0 -i type

Let the moused command determine the protocol type of the mouse at the serial port /dev/cuaa0. If successful, the command will print the type, otherwise it will say ``unknown''.

    moused -p /dev/cuaa0
    vidcontrol -m on

If the moused command is able to identify the protocol type of the mouse at the specified port automatically, you can start the daemon without the -t option and enable the mouse pointer in the text console as above.

    moused -p /dev/mouse -t microsoft
    vidcontrol -m on

Start the mouse daemon on the serial port /dev/mouse. The protocol type microsoft is explicitly specified by the -t option.

    moused -p /dev/mouse -m 1=3 -m 3=1

Assign the physical button 3 (right button) to the logical button 1 (logical left) and the physical button 1 (left) to the logical button 3 (logical right). This will effectively swap the left and right buttons.

    moused -p /dev/mouse -t intellimouse -z 4

Report negative Z axis (roller) movement as the button 4 pressed and positive Z axis movement as the button 5 pressed.

CAVEATS
The moused command does not currently work with the alternative console driver pcvt(4).

Many pad devices behave as if the first (left) button were pressed if the user `taps' the surface of the pad. In contrast, some ALPS GlidePoint pad models treat the tapping action as fourth button events. Use the option ``-m 1=4'' for these models to obtain the same effect as the other pad devices.

Cut and paste functions in the virtual console assume that there are three buttons on the mouse. The logical button 1 (logical left) selects a region of text in the console and copies it to the cut buffer. The logical button 3 (logical right) extends the selected region. The logical button 2 (logical middle) pastes the selected text at the text cursor position. If the mouse has only two buttons, the middle, `paste' button is not available. To obtain the paste function, use the -3 option to emulate the middle button, or use the -m option to assign the physical right button to the logical middle button: ``-m 2=3''.

SEE ALSO
kill(1), vidcontrol(1), keyboard(4), mse(4), pcvt(4), psm(4), screen(4), sysmouse(4)

STANDARD
The moused command partially supports ``Plag and Play External COM Device Specification'' in order to support PnP serial mice. However, due to various degrees of conformance to the specification by existing serial mice, it does not strictly follow the version 1.0 of the standard. Even with this less strict approach, it may not always determine an appropriate protocol type for the given serial mouse.

AUTHORS
The moused command was written by Michael Smith. This manual page was written by Mike Pritchard <mpp@FreeBSD.org>. The command and the manual page have been updated by Kazutaka YOKOTA <yokota@FreeBSD.org> since.

HISTORY
The moused command first appeared in FreeBSD 2.2.