Description of Problem: The RedHat 8.0 installer will always configure the USB mouse for X, so that if one is plugged it becomes immediately available. However this is not done for gpm, and one has to poke around config files so that gpm is capable of accessing the USB and PS/2 internal mouse of a laptop. redhat-config-mouse should provide a checkbox "Configure seconday USB mouse", or something of the like, that will add a USB mouse to XFree and gpm configurations. I had to configure the secondary USB mouse by adding the line OPTIONS="-t imps2 -m /dev/input/mice -M" to /etc/sysconfig/mouse so that both the redhat-mouse-config configured mouse (PS/2 in my case) and the USB mouse are available in gpm. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): redhat-config-mouse-1.0.1-2 gpm-1.19.3-23
Actually, configuring two mice with gpm does not work correctly with X: the ps2 mouse (laptop internal) was jumping all over the place in X, stopping gpm corrected the problem. I suspect that the problem is that gpm activates the repeater feature when the -M option is used to configure more than one mouse and thus it does not leave the mouse alone when under X, as it does normally. Why does (according to man page) the -M option automatically activate the repeater feature?
That must be a hardware specific problem. I've done some work to redhat-config-mouse set up /etc/sysconfig/mouse like you suggested and both mice now work with gpm. X now works fine for me with USB and ps/2 mice at the same time even with gpm running at the same time. Incidentally, I've also fixed it where serial mice and USB mice work at the same time too. I don't know what would happen if you had ps/2 and serial, but not USB, nor do I know what would happend if you had all three, but that seems a little strange. Mostly I'm interested in the laptop situation where you have the built in ps/2 mouse and then a USB mouse. I think the latest version of redhat-config-mouse should make this work now, but it could use some testing. redhat-config-mouse-1.0.2-1 should appear in Rawhide in the next day or so. Thanks for your report.
I just upgraded to redhat-config-mouse-1.0.2-1 from rawhide and nothing seems to be changed. Same interface, no option to config secondary USB mouse. The written /etc/sysconfig/mouse does not include a second mouse for gpm. Are you sure the changes you say are included in 1.0.2-1 ? Besides that, I confirm that when I configure an external USB mouse (Logitech Mouseman wheel) and the laptop's internal PS/2 (pointing stick + touchpad, configured as simple PS/2 device in BIOS), the PS/2 device goes all crazy under X. If I stop gpm it is OK again. However, in console mode both pointing devices work as expected.
Yes, running gpm and X at the same time can cause the mouse to go bonkers in X sometimes. The line to allow the USB mouse in /etc/sysconfig/mouse is: OPTIONS="-t imps2 -m /dev/input/mice -M" The XF86Config file should be configured to allow a USB mouse to work if you just plug it in. What you want to do is select the PS/2 mouse in redhat-config-mouse and that should allow both mice to work in X. Does that not work for you? You might want to upgrade to redhat-config-mouse-1.0.4-4 in Rawhide.
The problem is not the X11 config. The problem is the gpm config, and that can be summarized as follows: 1) mouse-config should not only configure the USB mouse under X in addition to whatever mouse is selected, but also configure the USB as an additional mouse in gpm, provided the below problem with gpm is solved. 2) When multiple mice are configured in gpm (using the -M option) gpm's repeater mode (-R option) is automatically activated. This should not be so. When the repeater mode is enabled gpm will continue to read mouse activity even when in graphical mode (i.e., X active). Thus X and gpm compete for mouse access, causing the mouse to go bonkers. In short gpm should be modified so that -M does not imply -R.
Ok, due to problems while using gpm in repeater mode and running X at the same time, I'm taking out the code in redhat-config-mouse that writes 'OPTIONS="-t imps2 -m /dev/input/mice -M"' to /etc/sysconfig/mouse. This means that only one mouse at a time will work in console mode, yet both mice should work in X. I agree that this isn't perfect, but I'm willing to be that the number of people who want multiple mice configured for console mode is pretty small. This change will be in redhat-config-mouse-1.0.5-1. If you like, please file a separate bug against gpm about the repeater mode. Maybe there is a way for gpm to handle multiple mice without having to use repeater mode.
I already reported the bug against gpm, just after I made the previous comment, and marked as a dependency of this one. bug #84310
There is a stack of 64 bugs that have been in Modified state for a long period of time. I am closing these as Rawhide now. If you find that the issue is not fixed, please reopen this report.