Arch Linux

Amphitryon

Member

Registered: 2013-09-20

Posts: 41

RESOLVED Trackball stops working between Linux 7.0.12 and Linux 7.0.14

I have an optical trackball, identified by lsusb as:

Bus 001 Device 008: ID 056e:010c Elecom Co., Ltd M-HT1URBK HUGE Optical TrackBall

This has been working fine up to and including Linux version 7.0.12.  Upgrading to Linux 7.0.14 it no longer works.  On startup, I am presented with a gdm login screen; there is no mouse pointer visible and moving the ball does nothing.  It also does not work on linux-7.1.3.arch1-3.

Linux 7.0.14 does detect it.  Here are some lines from the journal:

Jul 15 22:02:40 archlinux kernel: usb 1-5.2: new full-speed USB device number 8 using xhci_hcd
Jul 15 22:02:40 archlinux kernel: usb 1-5.2: New USB device found, idVendor=056e, idProduct=010c, bcdDevice= 1.10
Jul 15 22:02:40 archlinux kernel: usb 1-5.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
Jul 15 22:02:40 archlinux kernel: usb 1-5.2: Product: HUGE TrackBall
Jul 15 22:02:40 archlinux kernel: usb 1-5.2: Manufacturer: ELECOM TrackBall Mouse

Later, though, it is reported as having disconnected and is then almost immediately rediscovered:

Jul 15 22:02:56 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: USB disconnect, device number 8
Jul 15 22:02:57 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: new full-speed USB device number 14 using xhci_hcd
Jul 15 22:02:57 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: New USB device found, idVendor=056e, idProduct=010c, bcdDevice= 1.10
Jul 15 22:02:57 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
Jul 15 22:02:57 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: Product: HUGE TrackBall
Jul 15 22:02:57 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: Manufacturer: ELECOM TrackBall Mouse

A little later, the same thing happens again:

Jul 15 22:03:25 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: USB disconnect, device number 14
Jul 15 22:03:26 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: new full-speed USB device number 15 using xhci_hcd
Jul 15 22:03:26 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: New USB device found, idVendor=056e, idProduct=010c, bcdDevice= 1.10
Jul 15 22:03:26 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
Jul 15 22:03:26 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: Product: HUGE TrackBall
Jul 15 22:03:26 ecrins kernel: usb 1-5.2: Manufacturer: ELECOM TrackBall Mouse

Any idea what is going on here?  The hardware hasn't suddenly gone faulty - reverting to linux-7.0.12 restores operation of the trackball.

Last edited by Amphitryon (2026-07-16 22:40:23)

Amphitryon

Member

Registered: 2013-09-20

Posts: 41

Re: RESOLVED Trackball stops working between Linux 7.0.12 and Linux 7.0.14

It turns out to be nothing to do with those specific kernel versions and much more to do with 7.0.12 being the version that was used during installation.  I can only assume I did not have /boot (an EFI oartition) mounted when running the genfstab command, so there was no /etc/fstab entry for /boot.  Consequently, when upgrading the kernel, it was not writing the new kernel where the EFI firmware would find it, leaving the system running with the kernel in memory at 7.0.12 and the modules at whatever version was upgraded to.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 76,891

Re: RESOLVED Trackball stops working between Linux 7.0.12 and Linux 7.0.14

I can only assume I did not have /boot (an EFI oartition) mounted when running the genfstab command, so there was no /etc/fstab entry for /boot.

If I had a penny for every thread coming down to that I'd … well, I guess I would have like $2… shit.

Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

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