intellimouse explorer side buttons not sent as key combination

[n0tepad]

i have configured buttons 6 and 7 to switch desktops left and right (ctrl-alt-left and ctrl-alt-right) but it doesnt work.
my buttons 6 and 7 work fine in firefox. if i configure any other buttons to do this desktop switching, it works. only
buttons 6 and 7 will not work when i configure them.

my mouse as identified by btnx-config:

vendor id - 0x045e
product id - 0x001e

btnx version: 0.4.6-1

xev output for button 6:

KeymapNotify event, serial 27, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys: 55 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

ButtonRelease event, serial 27, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x137, subw 0x3400002, time 2024556783, (58,62), root:(59,83),
    state 0x10, button 6, same_screen YES

LeaveNotify event, serial 27, synthetic NO, window 0x3400001,
    root 0x137, subw 0x0, time 2024556783, (58,62), root:(59,83),
    mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyInferior, same_screen YES,
    focus YES, state 16

my xorg.conf:

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier "Configured Mouse"
 Driver "mouse"
 Option "CorePointer"
 Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
 Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
 Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
 Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 6 7"
EndSection

[Olli Salonen (daou)]

Do other keyboard combinations work with buttons 6 and 7? For example, can you output the character "a" with them using KEY_A. Or is it just the desktop switch?

The problem could be that the combinations work, but those buttons are sending button events which interfere with the combo. For example, if you are holding mouse button 1 down and try the desktop switch via the keyboard, it will not work. In this case the problem is not with btnx, but with the X configuration. And according to xev, you are getting the extra button 6 event.

Try removing the Option "ButtonMapping" line from your xorg.conf. Everything else looks good. However, you can try "/dev/psaux" for Option "Device" and Option "Protocol" "Auto" (although "Auto" usually resolves to "ExplorerPS/2" which should work).

[n0tepad (josh-horne)]

thanks olli. i have previously tried setting protocol to auto and that was so disastrous i wont
try it again. i have removed the button mapping but that has made no difference. i have
also changed device to /dev/psaux and it has made no difference either.

i configured button 6 to send shift q (Q) and it works perfectly.

i dont understand what the extra button event is that youre referring to. if you have any idea
what i can do to make x / gnome switch desktops with btnx id be very happy to try it and even
happier if it works.

[n0tepad (josh-horne)]

when i disable btnx, xev gives me the following for buttons 1 and 9 respectively
(button 9 now was button 7 previously)

ButtonPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0x137, subw 0x0, time 2633914660, (75,107), root:(216,548),
    state 0x10, button 1, same_screen YES

ButtonRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0x137, subw 0x0, time 2633914836, (75,107), root:(216,548),
    state 0x110, button 1, same_screen YES

ButtonPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0x137, subw 0x0, time 2633923340, (76,107), root:(217,548),
    state 0x10, button 9, same_screen YES

ButtonRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x2e00001,
    root 0x137, subw 0x0, time 2633923476, (76,107), root:(217,548),
    state 0x10, button 9, same_screen YES

i tried configuring buttons 8 and 9 (6 and 7) to perform key_left and key_right.
when i press ctrl and alt on the keyboard and click a mouse button 8 or 9, sometimes it
works. mostly it doesnt.

if xev reported problematic events as shown in my first post, then surely the problem is
from btnx because without btnx, the button events are exactly the same. while this
may not be the case after btnx is configured for buttons 1 and 9, surely btnx can be
made to cause the correct events to be sent or handled in such a way to yield desirable
results?