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I'm installing Gentoo 2005.1-r1. Got thru the installatioin without a
problem (Used genkernel, and the stage 3 tarball). I installed xorg from
the x86 precompiled CD. Xorg -configure tells me --

"Xorg is not able to detect your mouse. Edit the file and correct the
Device"

Here's my hardware (I tried two different mice)

Got a P3 / 256 Megs of ram
PS2 mouse and Kbd
mouse 1 - M$ wheel mouse
mouse 2 - logitech 3 button
ati rage pro agp
plenty of hdd space

But, when I boot off the live install cd, i can move the mouse and the
ascii box cursor moves. And, the same hardware works with fedora, centos
(rhel), and (k)ubuntu. I also tried to run startx just to see what
happend, and it kicked out with a different error message.

"Cannot run in framebuffer mode. Please specify busIDs for all
framebuffer devices"

This my first time installing from a source distro. Debian was a pain to
configure X, so maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks!

Xander said something like a ...

> I'm installing Gentoo 2005.1-r1. Got thru the installatioin without a
> problem (Used genkernel, and the stage 3 tarball). I installed xorg from
> the x86 precompiled CD. Xorg -configure tells me --
>
> "Xorg is not able to detect your mouse. Edit the file and correct the
> Device"
> [...]

Read your /etc/X11/xorg.conf for the correct mouse entries.
Here's a snippet of mine:

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver

Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "Auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

# ************************************************** ********************
# ServerLayout sections.
# ************************************************** ********************
# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used. Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".

InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

BTW, my mouse is a cordless optical Logitech PS/2 two button with center
scroll. The keyboard came with it in a package - "Cordless Desktop EX 110"
- if that helps to know.
--
BlackTopBum
You're still using MS Windows !?
Free yourself - put the fun back into computing.
Use Linux - visit www.distrowatch.com

BlackTopBum wrote:
> Xander said something like a ...
>
>> I'm installing Gentoo 2005.1-r1. Got thru the installatioin without a
>> problem (Used genkernel, and the stage 3 tarball). I installed xorg from
>> the x86 precompiled CD. Xorg -configure tells me --
>>
>> "Xorg is not able to detect your mouse. Edit the file and correct the
>> Device"
>> [...]
>
> Read your /etc/X11/xorg.conf for the correct mouse entries.
> Here's a snippet of mine:
>
> Section "InputDevice"
>
> # Identifier and driver
>
> Identifier "Mouse1"
> Driver "mouse"
> Option "Protocol" "Auto"
> Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
> Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
>
> # ************************************************** ********************
> # ServerLayout sections.
> # ************************************************** ********************
> # Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
> # optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
> # used. Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
> # "SendCoreEvents".
>
> InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
> InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
>
> BTW, my mouse is a cordless optical Logitech PS/2 two button with center
> scroll. The keyboard came with it in a package - "Cordless Desktop EX 110"
> - if that helps to know.

Awesome! /dev/input/mice worked.

I realize now how much I *don't* know about linux after installing
gentoo. 5 years of hp-ux, with a few of years of redhat (with the nice
gui installer) tacked on top of that, and I feel rather . . . . . humbled.

Xander said something like a ...

> Awesome! /dev/input/mice worked.

Excellent ... ran into the same problem myself when they, the dev guys, made
the switch to mice from mouse.

> I realize now how much I don't know about linux after installing
> gentoo. 5 years of hp-ux, with a few of years of redhat (with the nice
> gui installer) tacked on top of that, and I feel rather . . . . . humbled.

Guess it's been 5 or 6 years now for me since the escape from MS and I'm
*always* learning something new. That's part of why I enjoy Linux so much.
And, yes, keeps me humbled too. Some of these posters - e.g. J.O Aho,
Aragorn, Bit Twister to name a few - are phenomenal. 8p
--
BlackTopBum
You're still using MS Windows !?
Free yourself - put the fun back into computing.
Use Linux - visit www.distrowatch.com

On Saturday 28 January 2006 20:24, BlackTopBum stood up and spoke the
following words to the masses in /alt.os.linux.gentoo...:/

> Xander said something like a ...
>
>> Awesome! /dev/input/mice worked.
>
> Excellent ... ran into the same problem myself when they, the dev
> guys, made the switch to mice from mouse.
>
>> I realize now how much I don't know about linux after installing
>> gentoo. 5 years of hp-ux, with a few of years of redhat (with the
>> nice gui installer) tacked on top of that, and I feel rather . . . .
>> . humbled.
>
> Guess it's been 5 or 6 years now for me since the escape from MS and
> I'm *always* learning something new. That's part of why I enjoy Linux
> so much. And, yes, keeps me humbled too. Some of these posters - e.g.
> J.O Aho, Aragorn, Bit Twister to name a few - are phenomenal. 8p

Thanks for the compliment! ;-)

I don't consider myself as someone who escaped from Windows, because I
was never really trapped by it. I've only used Windows 3.0 and 3.1 for
a meager six months, and pending the public availability of OS/2 2.0,
which was a genuine 32-bit operating system, and thus in my opinion a
much better candidate for my i386 PC.

After having used OS/2 for about five years, I needed a new computer,
and as my friends were all on Windows 95 and there was no such thing as
cable internet here back then, I had to find a way to create compatible
documents and be able to open theirs. Yet, I also didn't want to go
back to the stone ages and use Windows 95 - which was only a tighter
integration between DOS and the Windows GUI - on a Pentium II.

I was actually looking for a UNIX operating system, as I believed - and
still believe - that this is the best possible system architecture.
Yet, proprietary Unix was extremely expensive.

I hadn't heard of FreeBSD yet, and I was under the impression that
GNU/Linux was still very much beta stuff. And like I said, I didn't
have an internet connection. So I made a compromise and did something
that was quite rebellious in 1997: I purchased a copy of Windows NT
4.0.

I've used NT for about two and a half years, and the last month of that,
it was in dual-boot with a Linux Mandrake 6.0 PowerPack that I had read
about and found in a software shop. I used GNU/Linux more than I did
NT, but as I had paid for NT and for Office97, I still wanted to hold
on to it.

On January 1st 2000, NT refused to boot up and dumped a blue screen on
my eyes, despite the Y2K updates and the Service Packs. GNU/Linux
still worked fine, so I stuck with that.

When I then again went to order a new machine - a Pentium III - I
originally planned on installing it in dual-boot again, but with
Windows 2000 this time, as I still had my Office97 and wanted to use
that. I'm not much into "consume & dispose of", hence that original
decision.

On the other hand, I was ordering a serious machine, capable of 24/7
uptime - it had 384 MB (Rambus) RDRAM and a U160 SCSI hard disk - and I
was wondering what the Hell I would need two operating systems for.

So after thinking about it for about a day max, I decided to drop the
operating system that least appealed to me and stick with GNU/Linux.
Technically, it was what I had always wanted - a UNIX system - and it
brought me the acquaintance with the wonderful concepts of Free & Open
Source Software.

I have to date never regretted that choice for as little as a minute. I
was already exclusively using GN/Linux when cable internet became
available here in town, and I then joined the newsgroups - not to ask
questions, but to share what I had learned about the system with those
who were still new to it.

Despite what many people believe, the typical Windows PC market is only
a small figment of IT. Serious IT professionals have always stuck to
UNIX systems, for all of the obvious reasons. And that is where I now
feel I belong, eventhough I may by far not have the knowledge that
everyone thinks I have.

What I can say is that by using GNU/Linux, and by not being afraid of
reading the /man/ pages and the /HowTos,/ I have come to learn a lot
more about IT than I had learned in all the years before that.

GNU/Linux literally has changed my life in many ways. I've gotten to
know people I would otherwise never have met, I've gotten to learn more
about networking and operating system technology, I've become a player
in some areas where I would never have dreamed of going before - such
as having my own domain and running an IRC network with a couple of
buddies - and I've become a genuine GNU/Linux and FOSS advocate.

I dislike Microsoft - I really do - and I dislike Windows as an excuse
for an operating system. Both of those dislikes however did not
originate from my experiences with either Windows NT or Microsoft, but
from seeing them for what they really are, now that I know all that I
know. ;-)

Of course, I have also learned a great deal from simply reading the
posts of others. In /alt.os.linux.mandrake,/ this used to be Peter T.
Breuer - he doesn't subscribe to the group anymore because he doesn't
quite have the patience to deal with newbies, but you can still read
him on /comp.os.lnux.misc/ and a few other groups.

Here in /alt.os.linux.gentoo,/ I find that J.O. Aho, Arthur Hagen, Ben
Measures, Paul Bredbury, as well as yourself and a few others appear to
be very helpful. ;-)

I also see the phenomenon - and I see my own evolution in that - of
people who are already more or less knowledgeable about GNU/Linux
joining a newsgroup, answering loads of questions from others, learning
more themselves, seeing those "others" grow more knowledgeable, and
then those very smart people from the beginning are getting more and
more replaced in the flurry of replies by those who have in the
meantime learned so much more.

And then the newbies they are replying to become more knowledgeable and
start sticking around to help other newbies, while the /elders/ move on
to more challenging groups, or just leave Usenet altogether. You get
to miss the /elders,/ but it's nice to see how the community grows...
;-)

--
With kind regards,

*Aragorn*
(Registered GNU/Linux user # 223157)

On the Microsoft vs. Linux note, I do have something to add to that.
I've installed CentOS (RHEL) on an old P3/500 MHz/256 Mb Ram system.
Ran faster than W2K did, but slower than WXP Pro. Now it houses Gentoo,
a 'rolled-my-own' kernel, and xfce4.

My 'big' computer is a P4/3 GHz/1.5 Gb Ram with WXP Pro on it - for now.
Would you believe Firefox runs faster on the P3/500 Gentoo than it
does on the P4/3GHz with WXP? It's still not an apples to apples
comparison, because I don't have all the software installed on the
Gentoo system that I need (scanning, printing, image/video editing).
But with the way Linux is built, additional software doesn't drag down
the machine performance the way how MS OS's do.

Gentoo is a pain even for someone with a little linux experience. But
it's totally worth the time and aggravation

Aragorn wrote:
> On Saturday 28 January 2006 20:24, BlackTopBum stood up and spoke the
> following words to the masses in /alt.os.linux.gentoo...:/
>
>> Xander said something like a ...
>>
>>> Awesome! /dev/input/mice worked.
>> Excellent ... ran into the same problem myself when they, the dev
>> guys, made the switch to mice from mouse.
>>
>>> I realize now how much I don't know about linux after installing
>>> gentoo. 5 years of hp-ux, with a few of years of redhat (with the
>>> nice gui installer) tacked on top of that, and I feel rather . . . .
>>> . humbled.
>> Guess it's been 5 or 6 years now for me since the escape from MS and
>> I'm *always* learning something new. That's part of why I enjoy Linux
>> so much. And, yes, keeps me humbled too. Some of these posters - e.g.
>> J.O Aho, Aragorn, Bit Twister to name a few - are phenomenal. 8p
>
> Thanks for the compliment! ;-)
>
> I don't consider myself as someone who escaped from Windows, because I
> was never really trapped by it. I've only used Windows 3.0 and 3.1 for
> a meager six months, and pending the public availability of OS/2 2.0,
> which was a genuine 32-bit operating system, and thus in my opinion a
> much better candidate for my i386 PC.
>
> After having used OS/2 for about five years, I needed a new computer,
> and as my friends were all on Windows 95 and there was no such thing as
> cable internet here back then, I had to find a way to create compatible
> documents and be able to open theirs. Yet, I also didn't want to go
> back to the stone ages and use Windows 95 - which was only a tighter
> integration between DOS and the Windows GUI - on a Pentium II.
>
> I was actually looking for a UNIX operating system, as I believed - and
> still believe - that this is the best possible system architecture.
> Yet, proprietary Unix was extremely expensive.
>
> I hadn't heard of FreeBSD yet, and I was under the impression that
> GNU/Linux was still very much beta stuff. And like I said, I didn't
> have an internet connection. So I made a compromise and did something
> that was quite rebellious in 1997: I purchased a copy of Windows NT
> 4.0.
>
> I've used NT for about two and a half years, and the last month of that,
> it was in dual-boot with a Linux Mandrake 6.0 PowerPack that I had read
> about and found in a software shop. I used GNU/Linux more than I did
> NT, but as I had paid for NT and for Office97, I still wanted to hold
> on to it.
>
> On January 1st 2000, NT refused to boot up and dumped a blue screen on
> my eyes, despite the Y2K updates and the Service Packs. GNU/Linux
> still worked fine, so I stuck with that.
>
> When I then again went to order a new machine - a Pentium III - I
> originally planned on installing it in dual-boot again, but with
> Windows 2000 this time, as I still had my Office97 and wanted to use
> that. I'm not much into "consume & dispose of", hence that original
> decision.
>
> On the other hand, I was ordering a serious machine, capable of 24/7
> uptime - it had 384 MB (Rambus) RDRAM and a U160 SCSI hard disk - and I
> was wondering what the Hell I would need two operating systems for.
>
> So after thinking about it for about a day max, I decided to drop the
> operating system that least appealed to me and stick with GNU/Linux.
> Technically, it was what I had always wanted - a UNIX system - and it
> brought me the acquaintance with the wonderful concepts of Free & Open
> Source Software.
>
> I have to date never regretted that choice for as little as a minute. I
> was already exclusively using GN/Linux when cable internet became
> available here in town, and I then joined the newsgroups - not to ask
> questions, but to share what I had learned about the system with those
> who were still new to it.
>
> Despite what many people believe, the typical Windows PC market is only
> a small figment of IT. Serious IT professionals have always stuck to
> UNIX systems, for all of the obvious reasons. And that is where I now
> feel I belong, eventhough I may by far not have the knowledge that
> everyone thinks I have.
>
> What I can say is that by using GNU/Linux, and by not being afraid of
> reading the /man/ pages and the /HowTos,/ I have come to learn a lot
> more about IT than I had learned in all the years before that.
>
> GNU/Linux literally has changed my life in many ways. I've gotten to
> know people I would otherwise never have met, I've gotten to learn more
> about networking and operating system technology, I've become a player
> in some areas where I would never have dreamed of going before - such
> as having my own domain and running an IRC network with a couple of
> buddies - and I've become a genuine GNU/Linux and FOSS advocate.
>
> I dislike Microsoft - I really do - and I dislike Windows as an excuse
> for an operating system. Both of those dislikes however did not
> originate from my experiences with either Windows NT or Microsoft, but
> from seeing them for what they really are, now that I know all that I
> know. ;-)
>
> Of course, I have also learned a great deal from simply reading the
> posts of others. In /alt.os.linux.mandrake,/ this used to be Peter T.
> Breuer - he doesn't subscribe to the group anymore because he doesn't
> quite have the patience to deal with newbies, but you can still read
> him on /comp.os.lnux.misc/ and a few other groups.
>
> Here in /alt.os.linux.gentoo,/ I find that J.O. Aho, Arthur Hagen, Ben
> Measures, Paul Bredbury, as well as yourself and a few others appear to
> be very helpful. ;-)
>
> I also see the phenomenon - and I see my own evolution in that - of
> people who are already more or less knowledgeable about GNU/Linux
> joining a newsgroup, answering loads of questions from others, learning
> more themselves, seeing those "others" grow more knowledgeable, and
> then those very smart people from the beginning are getting more and
> more replaced in the flurry of replies by those who have in the
> meantime learned so much more.
>
> And then the newbies they are replying to become more knowledgeable and
> start sticking around to help other newbies, while the /elders/ move on
> to more challenging groups, or just leave Usenet altogether. You get
> to miss the /elders,/ but it's nice to see how the community grows...
> ;-)
>

Aragorn said something like a ...

> Thanks for the compliment! ;-)

Wow, that was quite a post - and an interesting one at that. Agreed, those
others you mentioned are worthy of note.

About my journey, in brief: never liked MS stuff for it's poor performance
and a million other things. Tried OS2 Warp but was too stupid to appreciate
it. Finally went to Linux in 2000 and am happy to have done so.
--
BlackTopBum
You're still using MS Windows !?
Free yourself - put the fun back into computing.
Use Linux - visit www.distrowatch.com

Xander said something like a ...
[...]
> Gentoo is a pain even for someone with a little linux experience. But
> it's totally worth the time and aggravation
>

A pain? I think dealing with viruses, worms, adware, high purchase prices et
al is a /bigger/ pain. Yet, as to a learning curve, sometimes my brain
hurts. I'll take that *any* day over being a MS slaver.
--
BlackTopBum
You're still using MS Windows !?
Free yourself - put the fun back into computing.
Use Linux - visit www.distrowatch.com

BlackTopBum wrote:
> Xander said something like a ...
> [...]
>
>>Gentoo is a pain even for someone with a little linux experience. But
>>it's totally worth the time and aggravation
>>
>
>
> A pain? I think dealing with viruses, worms, adware, high purchase prices et
> al is a /bigger/ pain. Yet, as to a learning curve, sometimes my brain
> hurts. I'll take that *any* day over being a MS slaver.

Aah, hence it being "totally worth the time and aggrivation" The more I
dig into this, the more I'm impressed, and the more coffee I drink!

Angelus wrote:
> BlackTopBum wrote:
>
>> Xander said something like a ...
>> [...]
>>
>>> Gentoo is a pain even for someone with a little linux experience. But
>>> it's totally worth the time and aggravation
>>>
>>
>>
>> A pain? I think dealing with viruses, worms, adware, high purchase
>> prices et
>> al is a /bigger/ pain. Yet, as to a learning curve, sometimes my brain
>> hurts. I'll take that *any* day over being a MS slaver.
>
>
> Aah, hence it being "totally worth the time and aggrivation" The more I
> dig into this, the more I'm impressed, and the more coffee I drink!
Gentoo has *mostly* been the best distro I've ever used. Debian was
my previous, and I still feel that Debian stable (or one of it's
clones) is the best choice for the newbee (Installing Debian is
NOT hard, but you sometimes need to RTFM and try it more than once...).
Gentoo is what you should try as your SECOND or THIRD distro, once
you know enough about Linux so that you can ask the right questions
when you have problems.

I've had very good luck with my x86 Gentoo system except for a few times
when "emerge -uD world" broke something. Usually that was due to careless
use of etc-update (or careless NON use of the same). Right now I have
a problem with Mozilla (and Firefox) not opening pdf files. They display
"starting helper app" and then just sit there...forever. I tried to
configure them to use acroread, but no luck. They USED to work fine,
a recent system upgrade broke this. (Opera knows what to do with
pdf's however, and if Mozilla will let me download the pdf first I can
manually start acroread...but some sites don't let you download the pdf
files).

My AMD64 system has a broken sound system. XMMS used to play, but now
(after another system upgrade!) it just Burps and Farts. Arts NEVER
worked. Ogg123 used to work, now it is silent. HOWEVER Xine, Mplayer,
and Realplayer work fine. Strange issues with Alsa?

Still, where else can you have the latest apps? Debian stable at most
points in time is prehistoric. As long as the Gentoo crowd is willing
to answer my postings or I can find bugzilla posts that fix the same
problems I find, I'm willing to learn more about Linux by living with
Gentoo. (Sometimes I've even been able to help someone else when I fixed
something myself!).