Mouse recommendation

[jlittle]

Well, I was in the computer shop, spending up large, and as an afterthought bought a new mouse, without engaging brain very much (in fact, hardly at all). I bought a Logitech M560.

This is a mouse designed to work with Windows 8 out of the box, and is severely brain-damaged, as we used to say in Unix. There's an extra button just behind the wheel, and two thumb buttons on the left side, but they're not configured as mouse buttons, they generate key presses, and the little middle button is bistable. And, there's no middle click button, pressing the wheel toggles it's detent, turning it off or on.

Now the thumb buttons aren't much use, because I use a mouse in my left hand, have done for 15 years or so, something I forgot in the computer shop.

No middle mouse button is a killer for me. I use tabs in firefox a lot. I've mapped the right-tilt of the wheel (button 9) to button 2, which is a bit awkward.

However, the scroll wheel without the detent is brilliant; like a track ball, you can spin it, and it keeps spinning till you stop it. I'm hooked after only a couple of days of using it.

So, can anyone recommend a left-handed mouse, with a free-spinning wheel, that has real buttons on it, so that I can have a usable one for use as a middle-click? Without Windows 8 brain-damage?

[oshunluvr]

Well, unfortunately they're aren't many lefty-mice out there. However, I have a Logitech "Anywhere MX" mouse and it sounds like yours - button-wise. If it's just the middle button, why not set it to do what you want? It's easy enough. My mouse has a button just behind the wheel, like yours. It responds as button 2 (paste clipboard at the moment). I think most the newer Logitech mice have the same feature as ours - pushing on the wheel changes it from smooth to detent scrolling.

[jlittle]

... why not set it to do what you want? It's easy enough...

Not easy enough for me, I'm afraid. How?

[oshunluvr]

Well, first lets find out if it's active. Open a Konsole and type xev in it. This will open a small white box and you will see lots of text scrolling across the screen. Place your mouse cursor in the white box and push the middle button a few times. You will see more and more text scrolling across each time your push the button. If not - the button is not active. If you do see text, it will look like this:

ButtonPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x6000001,    
    root 0x269, subw 0x0, time 246870010, (90,67), root:(90,90),
    state 0x0, button 2, same_screen YES


ButtonRelease event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x6000001,
    root 0x269, subw 0x0, time 246870130, (90,67), root:(90,90),
    state 0x200, button 2, same_screen YES

See where it says "button 2" ? - that's the important part for now. If it says something else like keycode note the number you're given after keycode. If the keycode is missing or blank, note the hex number after keysym.

What we do next depends on which answer you get above and what you want it to do.

[jlittle]

Oshunluvr, thank you for your attention, but others have tried this stuff with this mouse, and the button I can reach is so idiotic:
On first press:

    KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26705193, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x10, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26705193, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x18, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyPress event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26705193, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x58, keycode 201 (keysym 0x1008ffb1, XF86TouchpadOff), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XmbLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26705199, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x58, keycode 64 (keysym 0xffe9, Alt_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26705199, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x50, keycode 133 (keysym 0xffeb, Super_L), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 40, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26705199, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x10, keycode 201 (keysym 0x1008ffb1, XF86TouchpadOff), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 0 bytes: 
    XFilterEvent returns: False

Note that all these events are signalled on pressing the button; none appear on release. AFAICS, a press of the left Alt, the start, and some touchpad function, keycodes 64, 133, and 201, and immediate release of those keys, is simulated.
On the second press:

ButtonPress event, serial 41, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26721007, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x10, button 1, same_screen YES

EnterNotify event, serial 41, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x0, time 26720968, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    mode NotifyGrab, detail NotifyInferior, same_screen YES,
    focus YES, state 272

KeymapNotify event, serial 41, synthetic NO, window 0x0,
    keys:  77  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 41, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x5000002, time 26721013, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    state 0x110, button 1, same_screen YES

LeaveNotify event, serial 41, synthetic NO, window 0x5000001,
    root 0x24d, subw 0x0, time 26720968, (36,40), root:(531,67),
    mode NotifyUngrab, detail NotifyInferior, same_screen YES,
    focus YES, state 16

Again, all the events occur on press, none on release. These are exactly the events generated by a normal button 1 press and release.

The thumb buttons simulate key presses; the back one simulates start+d (X calls this Super_L+d), press and release on the button press, and the forward one just the Super_R key (a key I haven't got), but with normal keypress event on press, keyrelease on release. However these are very awkward to reach with my male-sized left hand.

The bistable nature of the button behind the wheel, and the fact that the second press is indistinguishable from a normal button 1, make it barely usable with X. See Problematic support for Logitech M560 mouse

So, I started a thread asking for a mouse recommendation.

[oshunluvr]

Wow, yeah I read through those links. Looks to me like you're never going to get what you want out of it. You could modify keycode 201 to do something. It does have any release action with it by default anyway.

I did see a wired gaming mouse for lefties. http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice...t-hand-edition

[woodsmoke]

mebbe