Middle button emulation in 19 XFCE?

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jimallyn
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Middle button emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by jimallyn »

I don't know why the XFCE folks can't get this right. I have been using both left and right mouse buttons to paste since 2002, and it works everywhere, EXCEPT in XFCE. I found the solution for Mint 17.x XFCE and Mint 18.x XFCE, but they have once again changed it in Mint 19 XFCE. If anybody know how to do this, I'm all ears.
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MrEen
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Re: Middle buton emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by MrEen »

I'm assuming you've already tried the link in this awesome post? :wink:
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Re: Middle buton emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by MrEen »

Another option.

Run xinput list to find the id# of the mouse, then xinput list-props id# to get the properties you can set. Hopefully you'll see something like Evdev Middle Button Emulation (290): 0

My mouse id was 11, so to add emulation, I did xinput set-prop 11 290 1 The first test after setting this didn't seem to work, but I just didn't wait long enough.

Assuming that works, you'll want to put that set-prop bit into a script to run at startup as well as when resuming from suspend. Adding a startup script alone won't help after suspending I've read, though not tested.

A note: Most instructions I found used names instead of ID numbers, and that is probably better, but in my case I couldn't figure out the workaround when ID number refers to a USB receiver that is the same for the keyboard. If you use names, it would look like xinput set-prop "Some Mouse" "Evdev Middle Button Emulation" 1

Hope that helps.
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jimallyn
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Re: Middle buton emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by jimallyn »

MrEen wrote: Sat Nov 24, 2018 11:30 pm I'm assuming you've already tried the link in this awesome post? :wink:
That's the one that works for Mint 17.x. If you look around the forums, you will also find a post with my name on it regarding 18.x. Those don't work for 19.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
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Re: Middle button emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by MrEen »

My last post may be the other instruction you used. It works for me on 18.3, but I don't have 19 to test.

Looks like you actually used the first method on both 17 and 18: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=242926&p=1298725&h ... n#p1298725
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Re: Middle button emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by jimallyn »

OK, here's the relevant stuff from xinput:
Logitech USB Optical Mouse id=8

libinput Middle Emulation Enabled (284): 0
libinput Middle Emulation Enabled Default (285): 0

I set #284 to 1, and now the mouse works as I want it. I tried to also set #285 to 1 and got this message:
X Error of failed request: BadAccess (attempt to access private resource denied)
Major opcode of failed request: 131 (XInputExtension)
Minor opcode of failed request: 57 ()
Serial number of failed request: 19
Current serial number in output stream: 20
I figured if I could set the default condition to 1, then it would always boot up the way I like it. Don't know why I can't set parameter 285 to 1, but I suppose if I can set 284 to 1 in a script, then not being able to set 285 isn't a problem. But, that's a job for tomorrow, I'm headed for bed.

Thanks for your assistance.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
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Re: Middle button emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by bjmh46 »

Hi Jim!
I just tested middle button emulation on my mint 19 xfce load on a thinkpad l430, and it works as expected. I get a middle click paste with:
1.middle trackpoint button
2.simultaneous left and right trackpad buttons
3.simultaneous left and right trackpoint buttons
4.upper right corner tap on trackpad

All works the same on my dell latitude e6530 except corner tap. (No corner tap seems to be available on the Alps touchpad)
One caveat is that in a text editor (I use xed) middle click paste doesn't work at all within a given document. However if you highlight text in one tab, it will middle click paste in a different document open in another tab.

Early on with 19 xfce, I did the following:

Code: Select all

apt remove xserver-xorg-input-libinput
then:

Code: Select all

apt install xserver-xorg-input-evdev
YMMV!

Bob
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MrEen
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Re: Middle button emulation in 19 XFCE?

Post by MrEen »

jimallyn wrote: Sun Nov 25, 2018 4:19 am I figured if I could set the default condition to 1, then it would always boot up the way I like it. Don't know why I can't set parameter 285 to 1, but I suppose if I can set 284 to 1 in a script, then not being able to set 285 isn't a problem. But, that's a job for tomorrow, I'm headed for bed.

Thanks for your assistance.
Glad I could help.

This is stuff I've learned since you started the topic, so I can't say why you got that error. What I would test though, is put 284 back to 0 then see if 285 can be set to 1. But I should say that I don't have any idea if that'll help whatsoever even if it works. You might still need to run it after every reboot/resume. I didn't get a Middle Emulation Enabled Default option so I can't test.
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