Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

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este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

@viking1au:

Thanks for stopping by and offering your thoughts, I do appreciate that in and of itself. It is possible that there may be some such issue, although the machine is a MBPro, and Apple is making it hard for the average person to enter into the bowels of said product. The fact that this problem doesn't happen in the OSX side/partition tends to lead me away from the motherboard screw torque factor as the culprit . . . . If it comes time to replace the battery in the unit perhaps that might shed some light on how it was put together . . . .

Summary:

So far from the thread I've learned how to install Chromium . . . through either Terminal or Synaptic, which I have done, thanks to feedback from eanfrid and donny62 . . . but the problem did continue there, although it seemed to happen less in LXDE and Chromium than it did in other DE's and FF.

Suggestion to turn on "disable touchpad" which I had already done; suggestion to turn off touchpad altogether for testing purposes and/or plug in keyboard [which I'd have to say the problem doesn't seem to happen with plugged in USB keyboard, so far]. I couldn't find where to alter touchpad behavior in LXDE, so while I was testing LXDE the touchpad was still functioning--the problem seemed to be fixed until the occurence of the cursor disappearing--new twist to story. I'm typing this in LiveDVD Xubuntu 12.04.2 64bit . . . without incident, but using plugged in keyboard. Later today I'll try to boot MATE again and turn off touchpad and if I have some emails or thread posts I'll test to see if that changes anything.

Still looking for some technical assistance into troubleshooting . . . and fixing . . . the problem . . . .

e.e.p.
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Back over here, trying to find which DE I could use to turn the touchpad off completely to test to see if that would solve the problem, so far, no such option found. I thought I remembered seeing it, possibly that was in Cinnamon, but it's been uninstalled . . . none of the other DEs seem to offer that, only "Disable touchpad while typing" can be toggled on or off . . . . And, problem continues, again, now in GNOME DE it spontaneously added the "code" html around the letter "s" . . . without my clicking on "code" button, while typing in another thread here. Earlier, perhaps in the Ubuntu DE I had the whole area of text highlighted . . . which I was able to just click on the text box to move on, whereas if I had typed it would have removed it.

Problem is thriving . . . still looking for answers or options to try to troubleshoot this problem . . . doesn't seem like I can turn off the touchpad for testing purposes or any purpose, so for donny62's idea, I've gone as far as I can go.

e.e.p.
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Seamyst
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by Seamyst »

I found easy instructions to permanently turn off the touchpad at http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 55#p705370. All you do is click on the Menu, type "startup" in the search bar, and open Startup Applications. Add a new startup program named something like "Disable touchpad" and then enter the command

Code: Select all

synclient TouchpadOff=1
. Save and then log out and back in. No more touchpad!
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Seamyst wrote:I found easy instructions to permanently turn off the touchpad at http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 55#p705370. All you do is click on the Menu, type "startup" in the search bar, and open Startup Applications. Add a new startup program named something like "Disable touchpad" and then enter the command

Code: Select all

synclient TouchpadOff=1
. Save and then log out and back in. No more touchpad!
="Paul Wakler"]Add a new startup program - name it something like "Disable Touchpad" (this does not need to be exact) and enter the exact command "synclient TouchpadOff=1"
If you need to enable the touchpad at any time simply open a console window and enter "synclient TouchpadOff=0"
BTW, this comment interfaces with the touchpad/mouse program that comes installed with the system, but for some strange reason that program (accessed through System Tools->System Settings->Mouse and Touchpad, does not have an option to disable the touchpad on startup if there is a mouse plugged in.
@Seamyst: Alrighty, thanks for that, it is interesting that Paul's post mentions that the GUI doesn't have option to disable touchpad if a mouse is plugged in . . . which I do use. I like the GUI, where it is more clear what is being checked or unchecked . . . but I also like the touchpad . . . I am thankful that I'm getting these incremental answers to questions that are coming up around the problem . . . but again, the big picture issue--what is causing the cursor to move erratically, a bug perhaps . . . seems to be evaded or unanswered here. I'll try to boot LM w/o a mouse and see if that gives me a GUI option to turn the touchpad off, but turning off the touchpad is not a solution . . . or shouldn't be.

e.e.p.

[Edit, later that same day]: PS: Was just about a stone's throw from wiping this mess from the HD, when I found that I can "uncheck" or turn the touchpad off in the XFCE 4-10 DE . . . and if I log out and log into MATE the touchpad is back. So I'll test and see if turning the touchpad off does anything to "fixing" the problem . . . . Even if it does, without any other information to go on about how to figure the exact nature of the issue I don't see how that "solves" the problem . . . and nuke and pave will be the only way I will be able to mark this thread as "solved."
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este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Update: I'm posting my report to the Github bug report site, which so far has yielded no response, because while I was typing it out the problem happened, and I copied it after I added the brackets so that it can be seen what is happening. Perhaps this is "normal" in LM and that's why there is no solution beyond turning off the touchpad . . . but I consider that to be like cutting off my nose to spite my face . . . . I set up XFCE to have the touchpad turned off, and I'd have to say that the problem didn't occur while logged in to XFCE, but then I didn't do a whole lot of writing then either. I got some advice from another forum to check the syslog at the time the problem happened, so I went back to MATE and typing in FF the problem has happened several times, but then I've been typing more . . . . So, at neither time did I touch the touchad while typing, and previously it seemed like it happened when I hit the shift key to capitalize a letter, but here I was typing lower case . . . it's not a problem until it happens, and it seems to have it's own schedule when it decides . . . the erasing data is most irritating.


Yes, I'm getting a sense of great speed and alacrity when it comes to offering insight into problem[server]s. I've tried removing Cinnamon, I've upgraded the system several times since my first post here, and even looking for an answer on the forum, saw a mention in LM14 that the x[] . . . . OK, that was the problem, as I started typing the "s" in "xserver" the cursor jumped back to in back of "problem" and began typing there. It's very irritating . . . but intermittent . . . .

Thanks for being there people . . . .
e.e.p.
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este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Maiden voyage, eh, this is your best shot at post one? : - ) Yeah, I'd say that was a long shot, this is a laptop . . . unless this phantom keystroker is a bug attached to the LM install I'd say there has been no sabotage to the system thru agents of a foreign gov't, hacker for hire, or other erstwhile individuals looking to mess with me . . . not worth it . . . . Thanks for the thought though . . . .

e.e.p.
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este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Latest update:

After trying everything that I could think of, and some suggestions from another forum, to search out why this erratic cursor problem was happening . . . the problem remained . . . possible due to the elusive phantom keystroker bug??? I made the executive decision to "nuke and pave" . . . LM13 has been zeroed and is no more. Long live LM13; we'll now see if that alleviates the problem--the comparo is with Xu 12.04 64 bit. The testing continues . . . thanks for listening; perhaps I'll check out the next LTS version whenever that happens, but I put a lot of time and effort into getting LM running on Apple, and then in trying to fix this problem. It's good to see that development of Linux is being pushed as it is with LM . . . but it hasn't been trouble free . . . and support/help seems intermittent. I'll report back with my findings, but for now, Sayonara.

e.e.p.
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

@et al:

Yes, somebody spammed this thread sometime in the last 24 hours so a notification of this thread was sent, and around the same time it appears that Mr Clement closed my bug report on this topic, no one was ever assigned to it, no other comments were made on it, it just was ignored until it was closed out . . . and that's all good, it's much like life tends to be.

But, I've now upgraded to LM 15 Cinn, and in the last several days this same problem is still continuing to happen . . . the cursor will inexplicably jump, just as it did in LM13, and typing will begin in the new place . . . of course having no relationship to what is/was being said by the other words around it . . . . So far we haven't escalated to the erasing large swaths of text as we had in LM13 . . . so I guess I should be over joyed????

Suffice it to say, the problem continues, it has nothing to do with inadvertently hitting the touchpad . . . it reduces the functionality of LM to a just for sh*ts and giggles system, and further away from frontline tasks . . . such as typing . . . . Otherwise, LM is very nice looking . . . and seems "nice."

e.e.p.

[Edit, next day]: I'm considering the possibility that the problem may relate to difficulties with LM dealing with USB keyboard and the built-in keyboard . . . from memory I'm thinking that the problem doesn't happen with a plugged in keyboard, but does happen with laptop keyboard. The installation is usually done at home with wired connection and plugged in mouse and keyboard . . . so if anyone could comment on whether that might have something to do with this issue that would be useful. Or, if there is any way to make some adjustment so that LM15 can have a more stable relationship with its built-in keyboard that also would be helpful . . . . Or, if there should be no problem with the keyboard recognition and it should be no problem to switch back and forth for the system . . . .
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

este.el.paz wrote:@et al:

[Edit, next day]: I'm considering the possibility that the problem may relate to difficulties with LM dealing with USB keyboard and the built-in keyboard . . . from memory I'm thinking that the problem doesn't happen with a plugged in keyboard, but does happen with laptop keyboard. The installation is usually done at home with wired connection and plugged in mouse and keyboard . . . so if anyone could comment on whether that might have something to do with this issue that would be useful. Or, if there is any way to make some adjustment so that LM15 can have a more stable relationship with its built-in keyboard that also would be helpful . . . . Or, if there should be no problem with the keyboard recognition and it should be no problem to switch back and forth for the system . . . .
Et al:

I'm hoping to get some WOTL on this issue about the difference between the plug in keyboard vs the built-in keyboard . . . or if that would have no effect no matter how the installation is done . . . . Previous comments have been about turning off or adjusting the touchpad, but for a laptop the touchpad is important for workflow . . . I'd like to get some insight into this problem because it seriously interferes with using LM as a frontline system. Any thoughts appreciated . . . .

e.e.p.
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norton.miller

Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by norton.miller »

Hi e.e.p.

I have experienced, and am experiencing, very similar issues with my touchpad/USB mouse. My laptop (Acer V3-571) has an (identified using 'xinput list') ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad.

I installed Linux Mint 13 (in preference to Ubuntu+Unity) a while back with, as I (imperfectly?) recall, no issues. Major, deal-breaking issues that is. I upgraded as each newer version of Mint was released. As of Mint 14 I am experiencing the same touchpad issues as you have encountered - random failures; phantom text/icon/whatever selections; left-click failure and right-click only works.

Since I upgraded to Mint 15 the situation has, at best, stayed the same and probably become worse.

I've searched for a long time and found nothing reported that matches my issues until now. I've found many possible partial solutions that I've tried however they all seem to have no effect whatsoever to questionable possible effect. Maybe they simply allow me to feel like I'm doing something positiive and that I have indeed some control over my system? The placeo effect is strong, I think.

Anyway, the one "fix" (I use this term advisedly) that I use over and over is :

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe -r psmouse && sleep 1 && sudo modprobe psmouse
. I have this aliased as 'fixmouse' (hahaha) and routinely pull up a terminal to try to get back my touchpad function. Sometimes using my 'ESC' key helps too. Oh, and I have to ALT+TAB to my open terminal since I have little to no actual control of my laptop using my touchpad or USB mouse.

Recently I found this:

Code: Select all

sudo su
echo options psmouse proto=exps > /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.modprobe
reboot
I did this about 2 hours ago. I'm not sure whether or not it's had any effect (due to the random nature of this touchpad problem) however it seems like it may have helped. Who can say?

Have you managed to resolve your touchpad issues? Mine remain however as of writing this post, I have been able to compose this whole post without any unwelcome assistance from my errant touchpad. This is the longest period of typing I've been able to achieve in months. And i'm not sure that I had anything to do with the "fix".

regards,

Norton

Edit:
My machine is an Acer Aspire V3-571 (i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz, Intel HD3000 graphics running Linux Mint 15 32-bit and Cinnamon 1.8)

Edit #2:
As of 5 minutes ago my touchpad/mouse began another freak out - no left-click, right-click was available however only to bring up context menu; while browsing in Firefox the 'select all text all the time' "feature" began. I opened a terminal, and used my trusty 'fixmouse' command. For the moment, I seem t have control of my touchpad/mouse and laptop. 'fixmouse' (see previously in my post) appears to be "working" as a temporary solution.
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

norton.miller wrote:Hi e.e.p.

I have experienced, and am experiencing, very similar issues with my touchpad/USB mouse.
I've searched for a long time and found nothing reported that matches my issues until now. I've found many possible partial solutions that I've tried however they all seem to have no effect whatsoever to questionable possible effect. Maybe they simply allow me to feel like I'm doing something positiive and that I have indeed some control over my system? The placeo effect is strong, I think.

Anyway, the one "fix" (I use this term advisedly) that I use over and over is :

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe -r psmouse && sleep 1 && sudo modprobe psmouse
. I have this aliased as 'fixmouse' (hahaha) and routinely pull up a terminal to try to get back my touchpad function. Sometimes using my 'ESC' key helps too. Oh, and I have to ALT+TAB to my open terminal since I have little to no actual control of my laptop using my touchpad or USB mouse.

I did this about 2 hours ago. I'm not sure whether or not it's had any effect (due to the random nature of this touchpad problem) however it seems like it may have helped. Who can say?

Have you managed to resolve your touchpad issues? Mine remain however as of writing this post, I have been able to compose this whole post without any unwelcome assistance from my errant touchpad. This is the longest period of typing I've been able to achieve in months. And i'm not sure that I had anything to do with the "fix".
regards,
Norton
Edit:
My machine is an Acer Aspire V3-571 (i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz, Intel HD3000 graphics running Linux Mint 15 32-bit and Cinnamon 1.8)
Edit #2:
As of 5 minutes ago my touchpad/mouse began another freak out - no left-click, right-click was available however only to bring up context menu; while browsing in Firefox the 'select all text all the time' "feature" began. I opened a terminal, and used my trusty 'fixmouse' command. For the moment, I seem t have control of my touchpad/mouse and laptop. 'fixmouse' (see previously in my post) appears to be "working" as a temporary solution.
@Norton:

I'm glad to hear that you are having this problem, thank you for sharing . . . perhaps there are other lonely people struggling alone with this problem and we can work on solving it for Linux MInt . . . ????? : - )))) Having said that, I'm going out of town for a couple of days . . . . But, no, I haven't found a viable solution to this problem, which at this point seems more like a ***keyboard**** issue than a touchpad issue since lately it's more related to keyboard inputs than TP. It is possible that the ideas provided awhile back by other posters to either disable the touchpad or turn it off, or adjust the time delay on "disable touchpad" in Synaptics might help; but for a laptop the touchpad is pretty essential . . . and, like I'm saying it seems to have more to do with keyboard now. The intermittent nature of the problem allows me to think that something I tried has "worked" . . . but it hasn't, as it happened again yesterday when I was typing in FF Gmail . . . the cursor just disappeared (which is a new one) . . . "O Gawd," I blurted out, "it's happened again."

I'm pursuing two lines of thought, one actively and the other backburnered: first one, since I'm using a '09 MBPro and there have been some issues with bluetooth interfering with wifi, I tried turning off the LM15 bluetooth, and I typed out a fairly long doc in LO Writer, without incident . . . is the problem solved? I tend to think not, but maybe. And the second thought, more time consuming, is as I mentioned in a recent post, since I installed LM using a plug-in USB keyboard/mouse rather than just the built-in keyboard, perhaps the installer got "confused" and can't recognize the internal keyboard?? and so the thought is to do a re-install with just a USB mouse plugged in, so that the built-in keyboard is the singular input device--but I have other more important stuff to do than that right now.

Anyway, mainly my solution is to just use LM for reading emails or surfing web, and then if there is anything mission critical I reboot into OSX partition . . . LM is visually nice and fast, fun to play around with, but clearly there is some kind of bug . . . and it's not being dealt with, as evidenced by my bug report being closed out without anyone being assigned to it . . . it "must not be a problem," except to those for whom it happens, and then it's very irritating . . . . But, when I get back and have a moment I'm happy to try out your modprobe mouse suggestion and see if it does anything, but of course that is a "work-around" and not a "solution."

Thanks for your post,

e.e.p.
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este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Latest update:

Testing on this errant cursor issue is continuing in LM 15, this is the problem with the cursor inexplicably jumping to a new place and starting to type there wherever it lands . . . is still happening. The only "better" development with the LM15 upgra . . . (here while typing "upgrade" the cursor just disappeared) . . . is that the text highlighting and being erased, as it used to happen in LM13, does not seem to be happening--so far. So, the problems with simply being able to type without having the cursor jump to a new place are continuing, that in and of itself is a problem that previously brought me to wipe LM from the drive . . . is still extant . . . but seemingly isn't considered to be a bug worthy to be addressed by LM devs, and/or no work arounds viable to using the full capacity of a laptop have been offered through this thread at this time. The problem reduces the ability to use LM for anything even semi-serious that might need something typed.

e.e.p.
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Jouke

Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by Jouke »

este.el.paz wrote:Yes. Problem just happened again, but in some sense escalating. Typing an email, back in FF and in MATE . . . which I was using for several hours, including posting this initial post with no problem, suddenly cursor jumps from email text box to the send to address, erasing the address and typing the word I had been typing there. I erased that word and tried to restore the email address which provided a drop down of email addresses to choose from, when I tried to click on the correct address . . . nothing happened, basically the screen froze . . . and clicking on stuff like trying to log out . . . nothing happened. Had to shut the computer down with the power button. Is this a normal part of LM 13 operation?

e.e.p.
This is the exact problem my mum is having, I'd like to help her out but haven't been able to find a solution. She's running Mint 15 Cinnamon and the problem seems to have spontaneously arisen a couple of weeks ago. She's on a netbook and doesn't use an external mouse or keyboard.
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Jouke wrote:
este.el.paz wrote:Yes. Problem just happened again, but in some sense escalating. Typing an email, back in FF and in MATE . . . which I was using for several hours, including posting this initial post with no problem, suddenly cursor jumps from email text box to the send to address, erasing the address and typing the word I had been typing there. I erased that word and tried to restore the email address which provided a drop down of email addresses to choose from, when I tried to click on the correct address . . . nothing happened, basically the screen froze . . . and clicking on stuff like trying to log out . . . nothing happened. Had to shut the computer down with the power button. Is this a normal part of LM 13 operation?

e.e.p.
This is the exact problem my mum is having, I'd like to help her out but haven't been able to find a solution. She's running Mint 15 Cinnamon and the problem seems to have spontaneously arisen a couple of weeks ago. She's on a netbook and doesn't use an external mouse or keyboard.
@Jouke:

All I can say is "Welcome to Linux MInt" . . . and sorry you're having the same problem that I continue to have. You can see that there haven't been too many (none) posts here in this thread for about a month . . . and those were from me. There are other people who are having this issue, but it doesn't seem to have warranted any attention beyond the initial suggestions to "turn off the touchpad" . . . which I didn't want to do because it's part of the normal function of a laptop. I did find something online about how to adjust the Synaptic delay on the "Disable keyboard while typing" function, but, I'm not a hacker and didn't want to waste any more time trying to "fix" a problem that should be handled by the devs, frankly. But, I filed a bug report and a couple of months later "they" closed it . . . having assigned no one to it, etc.

In Linux there always seem to be some "problems" and that seems to be "normal" . . . it;s just more painful in Linux Mint because much of it so good, that when there are these very irritating problems that just go untouched . . . well, such is life. best thing I have found is that the problem doesn't seem to happen when a plug in keyboard and mouse are used, just when typing on the laptop keyboard . . . . I'm also wondering if anything is going to be done about the "mdm" problem . . . haven't seen anything in the updates lately for it . . . now I'm mostly waiting for November when LM16 comes out . . . maybe this jumping cursor problem will be "fixed" then???? I'm not holding my breath--best of luck to you and your mother. Remember, it's a free OS, so it acts that way . . . .

e.e.p.
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rokytnji

Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by rokytnji »

I am not on Mint 14 Mate 64 bit right now. How I might approach this.

Code: Select all

$ locate psmouse
/lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/psmouse.ko
harry@biker:~
$ cd /lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input/mouse/
harry@biker:/lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input/mouse
$ ls
appletouch.ko  psmouse.ko   synaptics_i2c.ko  vsxxxaa.ko
bcm5974.ko     sermouse.ko  synaptics_usb.ko
harry@biker:/lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input/mouse
Since my eeepc 701 netbook does not have the behavior you describe but My Samsung RV510
does have that problem. My lazy work around was to open default text editor Pluma and type out
a post or reply in it first. Then copy and paste in to reply box.

Since reading your thread and some others posts. I figure I can copy over synaptics_i2c.ko &
psmouse.ko from AntiX over to Mint after renaming my Mint stuff as psmouse.kobk and synaptics_i2c.kobk as a backup in case that does not accomplish anything.

I am busy with other real world stuff so this is not a big priority for me to try out yet. You are
welcome to try with some other distro or what ever though which does not exhibit this troubling behavior. Hope it gives you ideas. If not. Oh well.

Happy trails, Rok

Edit: in case deeper digging is needed

Code: Select all

harry@biker:/lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input/mouse
$ cd /lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input/
harry@biker:/lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input
$ ls
evdev.ko          joydev.ko         misc   sparse-keymap.ko
gameport          joystick          mouse  tablet
input-polldev.ko  matrix-keymap.ko  serio  touchscreen
harry@biker:/lib/modules/3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp/kernel/drivers/input
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

rokytnji wrote:I am not on Mint 14 Mate 64 bit right now. How I might approach this.
Since my eeepc 701 netbook does not have the behavior you describe but My Samsung RV510
does have that problem. My lazy work around was to open default text editor Pluma and type out
a post or reply in it first. Then copy and paste in to reply box.

Since reading your thread and some others posts. I figure I can copy over synaptics_i2c.ko &
psmouse.ko from AntiX over to Mint after renaming my Mint stuff as psmouse.kobk and synaptics_i2c.kobk as a backup in case that does not accomplish anything.
Happy trails, Rok
@rok:

I like lazy, lazy is fine . . . and the idea of typing in a text editor first is something that I may have tried already, and the problem happened there. But perhaps it's worth trying again to see if that fixes the problem. But, in terms of trying out the commands you are suggesting, I'd have to have that explained to me in more detail . . . I don't know what "AntiX" is . . . of course "synaptics" has been mentioned in this thread, but I don't know who "harry@biker" is . . . is he a good guy? With bikers it could go either way . . . heart of gold with rough exterior, or just rough exterior with a heart of stone . . . . Anyway, I don't know enough to "get under the hood" . . . my new strategy in Linux is to wait for a "fix" . . . also plenty of real world stuff to do that's more important than playing with Linux trying to get it to do stuff it should . . . do . . . .

But, thanks for the post, glad someone is out there listening, or reading . . . .

e.e.p.
MacPro '12 multiboot various linux OSs with some aging OSX's . . . .
rokytnji

Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by rokytnji »

:lol: harry@biker is a scary looking biker with tattoos but inside is a stand up linux user that is a team member for a couple of Linux distros. The commands I used are just for looking up things. Like a gps finder for the Linux file system. Nothing is being ran or installed. Just looking for things and where they are located. The rest goes on in my mind.

I'll try to explain. In the lib,modules,distro name, kernel,drivers,input folder are the coded files guys like us
can't or don't know how to edit.

Code: Select all

ELF
So the best we can do is grab and borrow the contents inside another distros
input folder and replace the ones in there to see if things change for the better/or not.

I said rename to bk because that is a fallback way to keep the original code file in place but the system
will not use it. That way if you screw the pooch when you add the new .ko. You can delete your changes and restore the original by
removing bk text from end of file name after deleting the .ko you added from another distro. A live cd or usb is the tool I use to edit and unfriganeer a pooched
linux box. To give a example from this morning.

I left my eeepc 701 I responded with last night on all night till the battery died. This caused a improper shutdown on
the internal Solid State Hard Drive. This killed boot because now the drive has errors on it that won't allow
the netbook to boot. I grab one of my live flash cards and boot the netbook with that. Use gparted to run a check (right click)
on the internal SSD drive. Problem fixed.

I test and work out bugs in Alpha and Beta and Release Candidate operating systems and have a couple of distro
developers as friends and coaches. They put up with my rude,crude,and tattooed ways.

You'll find out sometimes that fixing it yourself and submitting your fix to a developer gives you a little cred. in the
linux community. Whining and crying and ranting makes one look like a 2 year old and my nuts dropped a long time ago.
Gnu/Linux helps those that help themselves. I am not a programmer or script kiddie (GED). But. I aint afeared of looking
at the inside of anything to see how it works, including women. :wink:

I hope that explains in my crude way how the linux file system works. I have borrowed .ko files before to fix wireless problems
By the way. AntiX is a Linux operating system.

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: biker Kernel: 3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.7.3) 
           Desktop: IceWM 1.3.7 Distro: antiX-13_386-full Luddite 01 June 2013
Machine:   System: manda product: Intel powered classmate PC version: Gen 1.5L
           Mobo: N/A model: N/A Bios: American Megatrends version: CM94515A.86A.0024.2008.0715.1716 date: 07/15/2008
CPU:       Single core Intel Core CPU N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB flags: (nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3191.91 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 800.00 MHz 2: 1600.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           X.Org: 1.12.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1024x600@53.3hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GME x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 1.4 Mesa 8.0.5 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.7.10-antix.3-486-smp
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: ec00 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 65.3GB (14.2% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: KingSpec_KSD size: 63.3GB 
           2: USB id: /dev/sdc model: OPAL size: 2.0GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 59G used: 8.7G (16%) fs: ext2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 101 Uptime: 2:18 Memory: 254.2/2015.1MB Runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 4.7.2 
           Client: Shell (bash 4.2.37) inxi: 1.9.7 
$ inxi -r
Repos:     Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list
           deb http://www.daveserver.info/antiX/debs testing main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
           deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
           deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list
           deb http://www.duinsoft.nl/pkg debs all
Happy Trails, Rok
este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

@Rok:

Ah . . . well I also ride motorcycle, but I call myself a motorcyclist . . . 1986 era Concours w/ 110K miles and a nail in the rear tire. Anyway, thanks for a little more explanation, that top "select all" didn't seem to show too much . . . .

Yes, I have found that whining doesn't seem to get any attention, but then, not whining doesn't seem to get any attention either . . . . I don't mind running commands to check stuff, or install stuff, etc . . . but then I don't like to take chances doing a whole lot that might trash the system . . . and then having somebody post, "Oh, just run 'sudo install blah blah' and that will solve your problem." I had to retro compile the nv driver for my old iMac PPC, and that was fairly complicated . . . and in PPC there has been more "fiddling" . . . but then seemingly more folks around who would offer tips. Here in LM it's sort of sold as "turn-key" . . . but when there are problems . . . nothing seems to change . . . and months go by before anybody reponds. And, it's even more irritating if you take time to file a bug report . . . and then it's unfiled w/o anybody looking at it . . . ??? : - ))

Anyway, in terms of using stuff from other distros, I get what you are talking about, so far I'm just dual booting OSX & LM15 . . . I'm not sharing distros in the same partition, so there is nothing to borrow from, etc. At some point I'm going to either do a Hackintosh or get a used Mac tower and have a separate HD for OSX and Linux, and then maybe I'll try out some other distros. But, thanks for the conversation; whenever I get into the multi-distro thing I can check back and go through your suggested commands . . . . It seems easy enough to run inxi something and see what shows up, but what will that tell me?

e.e.p.
MacPro '12 multiboot various linux OSs with some aging OSX's . . . .
Resistor
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by Resistor »

The erratic cursor could be the direct result of static electricity.

I stretched a cloth nail apron across the touch pad, working around the nail apron.
The cursor seemed unusually stable.

Now, to figure out a way to make the nail apron a permanent fixture, in an unobtrusive way.

Or, find a way to ground myself and the laptop, to drain the static electricity.
Dell Inspiron 15-7567 Gaming Laptop i5, 8GB Ram, 256GB SSD. - Win 10 Inhibited. Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti. LM 19.3 Cinnamon x2
Asus VivoBook F512FA-AB34, 8 GB Ram, Kernel 5.3.0-45-generic, i3-8145U. No Win10.
este.el.paz
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Re: Why does cursor move erratically & erase data?

Post by este.el.paz »

Resistor wrote:The erratic cursor could be the direct result of static electricity.

I stretched a cloth nail apron across the touch pad, working around the nail apron.
The cursor seemed unusually stable.

Now, to figure out a way to make the nail apron a permanent fixture, in an unobtrusive way.

Or, find a way to ground myself and the laptop, to drain the static electricity.
@Resistor:

Kind of a blend of old technology . . . and new, eh? I might have an old cloth nail apron around from my days as a carpenter . . . a bit obtrusive . . . no? But, in terms of grounding . . . maybe a 16d nail spanning from the laptop to a coin placed near by the computer??? Interesting, but I don't think that quite meets the "hacker" standard . . . . Let me know how it goes.

Personally, yesterday I again wiped LM15 Cinn and re-installed LM15 XFCE, but using only a plug in mouse and the built-in keyboard . . . I've been thinking of using this method to test whether installing with a plug-in keyboard adds a layer of confusion to "synaptics" that now, using the built-in keyboard only during installation will influence this problem of the erratic cursor. The problem happened again yesterday in Cinn that finally prompted me to remove it and move to a hopefully more stable DE . . . we'll see how it goes. As of yesterday this "jumping cursor" issue continued to be a problem that makes LM an optional system, rather than a first choice system for serious work . . . .

But, thanks for your idea . . . perhaps it's the residual metallic bits left from the nails in the apron that makes for a good static electricity ground??? : - )))

e.e.p.
MacPro '12 multiboot various linux OSs with some aging OSX's . . . .
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