No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

pottzie · 2013-03-27 01:11:09

I'm installing LXDE on an old, low ram IBM a22 Thinkpad. So far most of the install has gone well, but when I startx into LXDE, I have no mouse, and probably no keyboard as well, although I need the mouse working to verify that. And when I try to install anything related to xorg, I get "invalid signature." I was able to install the basic xorg packages when I was going by the beginner's guide, but now if I try to ad or re-install anything, I get the error and nothing will update. Not sure if the signature issue is related, but without being able to do anything with xorg, and no mouse, I'm stuck up a creek.

Edit; Forgot to ad that I've installed xf86-input-synaptics

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-31 17:05:40)

WonderWoofy · 2013-03-27 01:36:03

This is a problem on your end having to do with pacman-key. There are a couple things that can make this happen. Sometimes if the date is totally off it invalidates the keys, and sometimes some networks block the PGP port (why I have no idea). See the pacman-key wiki page for more info.

BTW, you can always turn off the package signature checking in pacman.conf. See the pacman-conf man page for details.

pottzie · 2013-03-27 01:46:42

Thanks, and yes, I get a time conflict every time I reboot, although it says that it's a small time difference, and that it's fixed as I boot up.

WonderWoofy · 2013-03-27 02:00:56

You may want to set your system to either run at UTC across the board, or localtime throughout. That is, either change windows to be UTC, or your *nix installs to be localtime. I would recommend going UTC.

If you actually don't have windows installed, and it truly is just a small difference, you may need to run "hwclock --systohc --utc" as root again. Then use ntpd to keep the clock synchronized with the time servers.

If that doesn't solve your problem, you need to either refresh your keys, or you need to actually run "pacman-key --init" and "pacman-key --populate archlinux" (also as root) to actually initialize pacman-key. That is so that your gpg can sign the public keys.

If all else fails, change the siglevel. But I think this should be used as a last resort.

pottzie · 2013-03-27 02:16:51

In the time between your first and second post, I installed ntp and followed what the pacman-key wiki said. Still not able to update any xorg, "key is invalid."

Trying to get xorg-apps and see if that does me any good. Won't happen tonight, though, I've got to hit the sack for now, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow night before I can try anything else.

Thanks.

pottzie · 2013-03-28 00:56:02

After failing at every other option I could find, I've set all signature checking to = Never. I can now get past the "invalid key" problem, but now I have 43 files that xorg-apps needs, and I'm getting "File is corrupted. Invalid or corrupted package (checksum)"

But I can run pacman -Syu with no problem. Seems strange to me that I can update everything, but when I try to re-install or ad anything to xorg, I get red flags and errors up the wazoo.

Just not my day to install anything, evidently.

EDIT: Found someone who had the same problem (from 2009, no less) and it was solved by installing Openbox. So, I installed Openbox.https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=71956

Now when I run "startx," the Thinkpad goes black, like maybe it's into hibernation mode. Ctrl/Alt/f2 doesn't work, and I have to power off to get it going again. And if that wasn't enough, when I try and remove Openbox, pacman says no dice, "lxappearance-obconf requires Openbox." So I'm screwed.

The common element is that we're installing to really old stuff. But if you can't do that with LXDE, what else can you do? The reason I went with LXDE is that it's my weapon of choice for old equipment.

EDIT SOME MORE: Installed udev after taking a look at the LXDE wiki. Now I can bring up the LXDE splash screen when I run startx, but still no mousie.

And after all that, I came across the Arch section of the LXDE wiki. It said to install:
ttf-dejavu ttf-liberation ttf-bitstream-vera lxde xorg xorg-video-drivers xorg-input-drivers gamin\
gnome-icon-theme tango-icon-theme gtk-engines pm-utils udisks

..and I did. By sheer luck I've discovered that the "mouse" is there.....but it's invisible! The post referenced above said that they had the same problem, and by guessing where the mouse should be, they could see that it was there, but there was no pointer on the screen. I have the same thing, I can guess where it should be and open the Applications box by scrolling over it. But without a pointer or anything showing on the screen, this isn't going to be a fun way to surf the web.

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-28 02:12:37)

WonderWoofy · 2013-03-28 03:38:37

In some window managers, you need to actually set the pointer to be what you want it to be.

As far as the bad packages, I am guessing that what is actually in your package cache is bad, so because they are the newest version, pacman is trying to use those insetad of downloading new ones, and thus you are running into this issue. See if clearing out the package cache helps.

Did you install xorg-xinit, xorg-server-utils, and xorg-server?

anonymous_user · 2013-03-28 03:43:51

pottzie wrote:

So, I installed Openbox.https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=71956
Now when I run "startx," the Thinkpad goes black, like maybe it's into hibernation mode. Ctrl/Alt/f2 doesn't work, and I have to power off to get it going again.

Remember that Openbox has no panel and no desktop icons, so even if your screen was blank it might have been working fine. You could right-click for the main menu.

pottzie wrote:

And if that wasn't enough, when I try and remove Openbox, pacman says no dice, "lxappearance-obconf requires Openbox." So I'm screwed.

If you really want to remove Openbox, install (and use) lxappearance instead of lxappearance-obconf.

bananagranola · 2013-03-28 05:39:22

For the mouse, are you talking about an actual physical mouse or a touchpad? If you mean the touchpad, you will need to install the xf86-input-synaptics package. Additionally, I'm not sure if LXDE requires you to set that yourself; have you tried putting "xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr &" in .xinitrc?

David Batson · 2013-03-28 06:13:14

I see that the A22 has the TrackPoint IV, same as my old T42 and my current X220. I believe the Synaptics driver is built into the kernel. Possibly this Gentoo wiki will help.

http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Synaptics

That said, I wonder instead if your X-server has crashed leaving you with no keyboard or mouse input. To me, this would seem more likely. Especially with those old GPU's (ATI or Savage). Just a thought - maybe you need to enter a kernel boot parameter. You could review your /var/log/Xorg.0.log for errors and clues.

EDIT: I just checked, I do not have any external synaptic driver packages installed for my X220 and the TrackPoint works fine. I did create a file to enable scrolling, but that is not absolutely required.

# pacman -Ss synaptics
extra/xf86-input-synaptics 1.6.3-2 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    Synaptics driver for notebook touchpads
community/gsynaptics 0.9.16-2
    A settings tool for Synaptics touchpad driver
community/libsynaptics 0.14.6c-5
    Library for accessing synaptics touchpads

# pacman -Ss xf86 | grep installed
extra/libxxf86dga 1.1.3-1 [installed]
extra/libxxf86vm 1.1.2-1 [installed]
extra/xf86-input-evdev 2.7.3-3 (xorg-drivers xorg) [installed]
extra/xf86-video-intel 2.21.5-1 (xorg-drivers xorg) [installed]
extra/xf86dgaproto 2.1-2 [installed]
extra/xf86vidmodeproto 2.3.1-2 [installed]
multilib/lib32-libxxf86vm 1.1.2-1 [installed]

Last edited by David Batson (2013-03-28 06:27:12)

pottzie · 2013-03-29 03:03:01

Yes, it's just the "red button" in the middle of the keyboard, no touchpad. Then the three mouse keys below the key board.

pacman -Ss xf86 | grep installed shows almost a duplicate list, with the exceptions of xf86-video-vesa instead of intel, and no multilib/lib32-libxxf86vm.

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-29 03:13:57)

David Batson · 2013-03-29 07:16:53

Try to determine the GPU of your A22 and install the appropriate video driver. Try the following command:

lspci -v -s `lspci | awk '/VGA/{print $1}'`

Here is a list below.

# pacman -Ss xf86-video
extra/xf86-video-apm 1.2.5-3
    X.org Alliance ProMotion video driver
extra/xf86-video-ark 0.7.5-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org ark video driver
extra/xf86-video-ast 0.97.0-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org ASPEED AST Graphics video driver
extra/xf86-video-ati 1:7.1.0-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org ati video driver
extra/xf86-video-chips 1.2.5-3
    X.org Chips and Technologies video driver
extra/xf86-video-cirrus 1.5.2-2 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org Cirrus Logic video driver
extra/xf86-video-dummy 0.3.6-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org dummy video driver
extra/xf86-video-fbdev 0.4.3-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org framebuffer video driver
extra/xf86-video-glint 1.2.8-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org GLINT/Permedia video driver
extra/xf86-video-i128 1.3.6-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org Number 9 I128 video driver
extra/xf86-video-i740 1.3.4-3
    X.org Intel i740 video driver
extra/xf86-video-intel 2.21.5-1 (xorg-drivers xorg) [installed]
    X.org Intel i810/i830/i915/945G/G965+ video drivers
extra/xf86-video-mach64 6.9.4-2 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org mach64 video driver
extra/xf86-video-mga 1.6.2-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org mga video driver
extra/xf86-video-modesetting 0.7.0-1 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org generic modesetting video driver
extra/xf86-video-neomagic 1.2.7-5 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org neomagic video driver
extra/xf86-video-nouveau 1.0.7-1 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    Open Source 2D acceleration driver for nVidia cards
extra/xf86-video-nv 2.1.20-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org nv video driver
extra/xf86-video-openchrome 0.3.1-5 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.Org Openchrome drivers
extra/xf86-video-r128 6.9.1-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org ati Rage128 video driver
extra/xf86-video-rendition 4.2.5-3
    X.org Rendition video driver
extra/xf86-video-s3 0.6.5-3
    X.org S3 video driver
extra/xf86-video-s3virge 1.10.6-3
    X.org S3 Virge video driver
extra/xf86-video-savage 2.3.6-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org savage video driver
extra/xf86-video-siliconmotion 1.7.7-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org siliconmotion video driver
extra/xf86-video-sis 0.10.7-4 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org SiS video driver
extra/xf86-video-sisimedia 0.9.1-7
    X.org SiS 671 video driver
extra/xf86-video-sisusb 0.9.6-3
    X.org SiS USB video driver
extra/xf86-video-tdfx 1.4.5-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org tdfx video driver
extra/xf86-video-trident 1.3.6-4 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org Trident video driver
extra/xf86-video-tseng 1.2.5-3
    X.org tseng video driver
extra/xf86-video-v4l 0.2.0-12 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org v4l video driver
extra/xf86-video-vesa 2.3.2-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org vesa video driver
extra/xf86-video-vmware 13.0.0-2 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org vmware video driver
extra/xf86-video-voodoo 1.2.5-3 (xorg-drivers xorg)
    X.org 3dfx Voodoo1/Voodoo2 2D video driver

pottzie · 2013-03-30 04:16:58

Running lspci says: VGA compatible controler: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) nee ATI Range Mobility P/M AGP 2x (rev 64)

And I see an ATI driver is the fourth one from the top.

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-30 04:21:11)

pottzie · 2013-03-30 15:26:04

After removing the vesa driver and installing the ATI, I'm getting "no screens found." Tried re-installing the xorg-server packages, still get the same result. Took a look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log, not sure what to make of it. I can copy it to a pastebin, if I can find how to do that, it's been a while.

The log shows loading module "ati," and gives some module information, shows a "II" before it, indicating to me that it was done without any problem. The next line shows loading module "mach64" sounds to me like something for a 64 bit system, maybe a way to probe for a 64 bit system, who knows? That fails with a warning, and it unloads the mach64 module. Next it tries to load vesa, and that's where the first "EE'" error shows, then I get EE at modesetting and fbdev, and it exits with "no drivers available" and "no screens found."

Thinking of just re-installing from scratch and see what happens, if it repeats or if I have clobbered something.

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-30 16:41:31)

David Batson · 2013-03-30 20:54:02

The "ati" driver appears to be the correct one to use. Thinkwiki.org says: "Display on the internal LCD works as long as you set the monitor settings correct."
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ATI_Rage_Mobility_M

It is possible you need to create an xorg.conf file, although this generally isn't necessary.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xo … ingle_file

Here is a sample xorg.conf file - albeit in Spanish...
http://nakajima-www.cs.titech.ac.jp/~da … /xorg.conf
You may be able to find other examples with Google.

pottzie · 2013-03-31 01:26:47

Aggh! So close!!! Re-installed entire system (twice!! First time went well, only to discover that I'd skipped the 'minor detail' of setting the root password! Then after following the wiki for resetting it using a live cd, finding out that while I could become root using the new password, nothing could be edited with nano - all permissions were lacking. Then gparted wouldn't even load on the monster I'd created, nor would another Linux OS load so I could have something to clear the hard drive and start over! I was getting worried, but the Arch live cd had no problem after wiping out sda1 + 2 and starting over. Whew!)

After all that, all went well, and I had a MUCH better xorg install, must have been the mirror I used before, or the issue with the time/date errors, which haven't returned. A big clue was that I could now get xclock, xterm, etc running. That told me that I was good, and there was a mouse in xclock/xterm as well.

I went with Fluxbox this time, and have done everything I can to get it right. But, alas, when I enter "startx," the Thinkpad goes right into sleep mode ( I assume. The screen goes straight to black. No ctl/alt/f2, etc)

I see an error saying that no screen (again), or something. It's hard to tell because the screen quits almost instantly. Before, I could tell when the screen just wasn't loading properly, the flat-screen would have a dark grey/black color, but I could tell that it was still backlit, just no image information coming to it. When it goes into the sleep/fail mode, there's nothing, period.

Tempted to install dbus, as that seemed to make LXDE appear before, but I'm shying away from installing anything and everything that sounds remotely connected to the screen crash. Openbox comes to mind in that category. I'll reboot it and see if I can get a /var/log

No, that doesn't work. X refused to start, and apparently no log was made. Just saw that David Boston had a reply. I only have the vesa driver installed this time, hoped that would be enough for my needs. If that would be a solution, though, I'm all for it. I was trying to keep this try as bare as possible, so I could sort it out if it failed, which it certainly has.

EDIT: Did a quick run through of Xorg :0 -configure. When it finished, it said to test it by by running (something....) xorg.new. When I did that, the screen again went black immediately.

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-31 01:36:08)

David Batson · 2013-03-31 02:27:26

Try setting a kernel boot parameter of acpi=off

pottzie · 2013-03-31 04:08:43

Still no WM, but X didn't go black, so that's something new. Bash shows "waiting for x server to shut down server terminated successfully (0). closing log file"

/var/log/Xorg.0.log shows first "EE" error at Failed to load module 'ati" (module does not exist), then loads vesa. Next "EE" is "failed to load modeset (module does not exist)." Next "EE" is when it can't load fbdev (doesn't exist). Then it seems to start vesa, shows module "vbe". There were about 40 pages of "stuff" (?), just system info, followed by some more vesa information and saying that "evdev" had unloaded.

I can install the ATI driver and have them both ready when the system boots, but I don't know if that's a fix.

David Batson · 2013-03-31 04:36:30

There are some other kernel boot parameters that may help as well:
noapic
nomodeset
and there are others. Don't really know exactly what you need for that old hardware. Google may help.

pottzie · 2013-03-31 14:38:56

Starting to "throw stuff at it and see if anything sticks.."

Installed the ATI driver to see if that helped. When I rebooted, it went into sleep mode at startx command. Installed slim, as I thought perhaps the issue was related to initializing the window manager. Results were interesting, to say the least. I'm pretty sure that I have fluxbox listed in ~/.xinitrc already. Can't say for sure, I fat-fingered the verification when I was using nano to check it, and bash froze, for some reason, so I killed the box and restarted. When I did, I got to the same bash shell log-in that has been there since this process started, but when I went to log in, the screen changed to the Fluxbox graphical log-in!

So I thought, "All right, here we go.." and gave my user name, then it asked for the password and I entered that.

Then it went into hibernation (black screen, no keyboard functions, again) instead of loading Fluxbox.

Two steps forward, one step back.

EDIT: I thought the kernel boot parameter setting ( acpi=off ) would be persistent, but apparently it isn't, so I went back and reset that. Still got the same results, user log-in screen, then pitch black screen.

EDIT SOME MORE: I'm trying to use some live cd's from other distros, thought perhaps that would shed some light on what's up with graphics output to my screen. So far, both Semplice and Mint LXDE haven't been able to start any GUI. so perhaps what's happening is that xorg is stopping because there is some hardware or memory problem, completely unrelated to what I've installed, and x would work just fine if I could ante up for enough ram on this Thinkpad. I'd have to get past the idea of spending an extra twenty-five bucks for more memory on a laptop that's worth maybe forty dollars, max, and get the extra 256mb that this needs to work.

Or perhaps I need something else entirely, as the computer I was using to post this just crashed while I was half way through writing this, and it's never crashed before. Perhaps I need to consult a priest as well as upgrading the memory. Either way, not Arch's problem.

I'm marking it "resolved," and saying to hell with it! Thanks for all the help, sorry if I wasted someone else's time.

Last edited by pottzie (2013-03-31 17:04:34)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-03-27 01:11:09

No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#2 2013-03-27 01:36:03

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#3 2013-03-27 01:46:42

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#4 2013-03-27 02:00:56

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#5 2013-03-27 02:16:51

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#6 2013-03-28 00:56:02

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#7 2013-03-28 03:38:37

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#8 2013-03-28 03:43:51

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#9 2013-03-28 05:39:22

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#10 2013-03-28 06:13:14

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#11 2013-03-29 03:03:01

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#12 2013-03-29 07:16:53

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#13 2013-03-30 04:16:58

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#14 2013-03-30 15:26:04

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#15 2013-03-30 20:54:02

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#16 2013-03-31 01:26:47

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#17 2013-03-31 02:27:26

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#18 2013-03-31 04:08:43

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#19 2013-03-31 04:36:30

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

#20 2013-03-31 14:38:56

Re: No mouse in LXDE IBM Thinkpad [RESOLVED]

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