Linux-Stuff: Mouse Wheel in Slackware

Mouse Wheel in Slackware

Posted by: Andrew Smith
Poster contact info: andrew-smith at mail ru
Author: same as 'Posted by'
Software: Slackware 9.0, Slackware 9.1, Slackware 10.0, Slackware 10.1, Slackware 11, Slackware 12.0, Slackware 12.1

Here's how to get the mouse wheel to work for a normal mouse in slackware. It might work for fancy mice too, but I never had one to try.

As root edit your X cofig file. This file is /etc/X11/XF86Config for older versions and /etc/X11/xorg.conf for newer versions of slackware. The syntax of the file is the same for both.

Find the 'Core Pointer' section. In there you will have something like this:

    Identifier  "Mouse1"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option "Protocol"    "IMPS/2"
    Option "Device"      "/dev/mouse"

Protocol and device might be different on yours if, for example, you have a USB mouse.

Add two lines here to make it look like this:

    Identifier  "Mouse1"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option "Protocol"    "IMPS/2"
    Option "Device"      "/dev/mouse"
    Option "Buttons" "5"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

Restart the X server. gdm-restart is one way to do that.

Enjoy abusing your wheel :)