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NAME

       mdetect - mouse device autodetection tool

SYNOPSIS

       mdetect [option ...]

OPTIONS

       mdetect may be run without arguments.

       -h     display a help message and exit

       -n     do not search for PnP (Plug ’n’ Play) mice

       -r     [not yet implemented]

       -v     be  verbose;  this  option  may  be specified multiple times for
              increasing levels of verbosity

       -o     produce output appropriate for XFree86 3.x configuration

       -x     produce output appropriate for XFree86 4.x configuration

DESCRIPTION

       mdetect is a tool for  autoconfiguring  mice  and  compatible  pointing
       devices;  it  is  typically  used  as the backend to some user-friendly
       frontend code that, for example, asks the user to move the mouse for  a
       moment.  mdetect is then run while user is producing input on the mouse
       device.  While mouse motion during detection is sometimes  unnecessary,
       it is seldom problematic.

       mdetect  writes  the autodetected mouse device and protocol to standard
       output.  Unless either of the  -o  or  -x  options  is  given,  mdetect
       produces   output  appropriate  for  configuring  the  gpm(1)  program.
       Alternatively, output appropriate for an XFree86 X server configuration
       file  is  produced.   If the -v option is given, some information about
       the program’s status is also written to standard output,  but  this  is
       largely unimplemented at this writing.

       If  mdetect  is  unable  to  find  a mouse device, it exits after a few
       seconds of searching.

NOTES

       Detection of serial and PS/2 devices is often aided by moving the mouse
       while mdetect runs.

       Terminals  connected  to  serial  ports  may  display a small amount of
       garbage to the screen while mdetect probes them, but  this  a  harmless
       side-effect;  the  terminal’s line settings are restored after the port
       has been probed.

DIAGNOSTICS

       mdetect’s exit status is used to communicate information.

       0      mdetect found a mouse and exited normally.

       1      An error occurred  while  attempting  to  read  from  the  mouse
              device.

       2      mdetect timed out and gave up searching for a mouse device; this
              indicates either  that  no  mouse  device  is  attached  to  the
              computer,  or  that  a  mouse  device exists which mdetect knows
              nothing about.  This also happens if your only  mouse  device(s)
              are already open and in use; for instance, by gpm or an X Window
              System server.

       3      An error occurred  while  trying  to  set  up  mdetect’s  signal
              handler.

BUGS

       Please report bugs in mdetect to <submit@bugs.debian.org>.  The current
       bug list may be viewed at <http://bugs.debian.org/mdetect>.

AUTHORS

       mdetect is copyright 1999 Caldera Systems, Inc.  The actual authors are
       unknown.   Branden  Robinson  of  Progeny  Linux  Systems, Inc. and the
       Debian Project added several enhancements, including the  XFree86-aware
       code  and  this  manual  page.   Richard  Hirst  wrote code to save and
       restore serial port settings.

LICENSING

       The mdetect source code is licensed under the Q Public  License  (QPL);
       see
       <http://www.trolltech.com/products/download/freelicense/license.html>.

       This manual page is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

SEE ALSO

       gpm(1), XFree86(1)