Microsoft Optical Desktop for Bluetooth

[danscott]

Hi,

I have a "Microsoft Optical Desktop for Bluetooth", and am trying to get it working with Fedora.

I have tried following these instructions:
http://www.visi.com/~pmk/msbtkb-linux.html

But I believe that the software is now superceded by this:
http://www.holtmann.org/linux/bluetooth/hid.html

Anyway, I am now completely stuck for ideas as to what to do. I can't find any instructions for the BlueZ software. Does anyone have this hardware working. Does anyone have any pointers?

Thanks,

Dan

[danscott]

Got it!

Was quite simple in the end, I downloaded the latest BlueZ files and just needed to run

/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 up

followed by:

hidd --server
hidd --search

Now I just need to figure out how to get it working at startup and I'm good.

Dan

[hlfmanhlfamzng]

Did you ever get it automated at bootup time?

[danscott]

Yep, I added the following lines to /etc/rc.local

# Bluetooth initialisation
/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 up
/usr/sbin/hciconfig hci0 lp RSWITCH,HOLD,SNIFF,PARK
hidd --server
hidd --search

The RSWITCH, HOLD, SNIFF and PARK items ensure that the mouse and keyboard reconnect after entering powersave mode. They might be set already, depending on yout /etc/bluetooth/hcid.conf

Thanks,

Dan

EDIT: I'm still using the code from the bluez website, I haven't seen any recent RPMs available and I'm wondering what will happen when I upgrade to FC3. What version/method are you using for the packages?

[hlfmanhlfamzng]

I'm using FC3. Default install, the only thing I've updgraded is multimedia packages and firefox.(which are unrelated)

The methods I'm using are those which I've gotten from this thread. :-P

Thanks. I've searched the bluez website quite a few times and have been unable to find what you did.

[danscott]

OK,

Did you manage to get it working at bootup? I have updated the (tarball) version that I was using to RPM, and it still works fine. I have also just upgraded to FC3, with no problems (well, no problems with the bluetooth :)).

If you were using the sourcecode tarball, use 'make uninstall' to remove it and then install the RPM as usual.

Anyway, the RPMs that I used are from http://ftp.idilis.ro/mirrors/fedora/core/development/i386/Fedora/RPMS/

Thanks,

Dan

[hlfmanhlfamzng]

Yes I did, thanks for your help.

Nah, I didn't have to do anything with source tarballs or updating RPMS.

To think....... This bluetooth mouse was the original reason that pushed me over the line with microsoft.(I was a w2000 user) I'd seen and experienced the bullying from them too much... that was before FC1 was released. :-P

I switched cold turkey to RH9 within a week.

Thanks.

[davisj2]

The above works great but am unable to use the scroll button on the mouse. Any suggestions? Using Fedora Core 5.

[danscott]

Hi,

I think it will probably be some setting in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf (ZAxisMapping maybe) - sorry, it's ages since I did this, so I can't remember specific instructions but you should be able to find them somewhere (Let me know if you can't and I'll try to help).

Oh, I have a question that you might be able to help with. I'm in the process of upgrading my PC, does the bluetooth keyboard work in the BIOS/GRUB menu on modern PCs (My PC is from 1999 ish)?

Thanks,

Dan

[davisj2]

Thanks. I'll do some research and let you know. This is my first experience with bluetooth.

[davisj2]

I made the below configuration changes to the xorg.conf file and was still unable to get the scroll button to work:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "7"
Option "Buttons" "7"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection

I have a Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The mouse says it's a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer for bluetooth. Can you send me your xorg.conf file? Also, are you using the same kind of keyboard and mouse that I'm using? I also created the "mouse" file in the /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d folder. What do you think?

[danscott]

Mine looks like this:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Buttons" "7"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection


I think I've got the "Microsoft Optical Desktop for Bluetooth", I can't check at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that mine's not "Elite". The keyboard has multimedia buttons along the top (Which I've never managed to get working, but I'm not really bothered about). The mouse has the usual two buttons, a 1-dimensional wheel and two buttons on the LHS.

I remember something, nothing to do with bluetooth, about two programs: xmodmap and imwheel which are required to get the side buttons working. Once you edit the xorg.conf file to say that mouse has 7 buttons, then you need to run xmodmap and imwheel to re-map the buttons correctly. Can you scroll using your side buttons?

Also, can you run xev from a console and make sure that all of the mouse buttons (and wheel) generate an event.

I'm sure it's available somewhere, but you might need this file:

~/.imwheelrc

".*"
None, Up, Alt_L|Left
None, Down, Alt_L|Right


and then run:

xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5"
imwheel -k -b 0067


You might need to run this as root (can't remember), in which case, the .imwheel file needs to be in root's home directory.

Hope this helps, let me know how you get on (also if the keyboard works in BIOS),

Thanks,

Dan

[danscott]

I also created the "mouse" file in the /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d folder. What do you think?

Is this file run automatically on startup? If so, what did you put in it? I might try putting the xmodmap and imwheel commands in a file and putting it here. Do you think that would work?

Dan

[davisj2]

I posted your xorg.conf in mine. Installed imwheel. Tried to issue the xmodmap as stated and got the blow msg:
[root@localhost ~]# xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5"
xmodmap: commandline:1: bad number of buttons, must have 11 instead of 7
xmodmap: 1 error encountered, aborting.

I thought that should have worked since I have the same kind'a mouse you have(Microsoft Optical Intellimouse Explorer Bluetooth with 2 buttons on LHS). Do you think I have a bad install?

[danscott]

Do you actually have 11 buttons? I'm afraid that I don't know much about xmodmap, maybe the man page can help?

I have 7 buttons (I think):

Left,
Wheel click,
Right,
Wheel up,
Wheel down,
LHS top,
LHS bottom,

Try to get the button numbers using xev. I'm not at home at the moment, so I can't get my button numbers.

I'm beginning to remember some of this now, I think that "normal" mice have:

1 - Left, 2 - Wheel click, 3 - Right, 4 - scroll up, 5 - scroll down.

"Extra button" mice have:

1 - Left, 2 - Wheel click, 3 - Right, 4 - LHS top, 5 - LHS bottom, 6 - Wheel up, 7 - wheel down and so you need to remap 6 onto 4 and 7 onto 5 which is why you have '1 2 3 6 7 4 5'.

Do you have the fancy tilt-wheel thing? That might account for 4 extra buttons. If you don't mind a "try it and see" solution, what do you think about using:


[root@localhost ~]# xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5 8 9 10 11"


Can you currently scroll using any of the other buttons? Maybe try changing xorg.conf to say that the mouse has 11 buttons?

Definately find out what button numbers the wheel has.

Hope this helps.

Dan

[davisj2]

I do have the mouse that has the tilt wheel. The button I have is as follows:

2 buttons on top of mouse (1 right and 1 left)
A tilt wheel in the middle that goes to right, left and is clickable.
2 LHS buttons.

I tried the "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5 8 9 10 11" and it didn't effect. Tried running xev but the scroll doesn't produce any event when going scrolling forward or backward. The clickable part of the scroll works. Hmmm? I do have bluetooth and hcid unchecked in the Fedora services.

[danscott]

You would really help me out here if you provided a bit more information. There are several questions that I asked above that you haven't answered.

I do have the mouse that has the tilt wheel. The button I have is as follows:

2 buttons on top of mouse (1 right and 1 left)
A tilt wheel in the middle that goes to right, left and is clickable.
2 LHS buttons.

OK, your mouse is different from mine. We will have to tweak the commands to get it working.


I tried the "pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 4 5 8 9 10 11" and it didn't effect.

I don't really know what you mean by "didn't effect". What did it say, did it still say something about 11 buttons?

Tried running xev but the scroll doesn't produce any event when going scrolling forward or backward. The clickable part of the scroll works.

OK, what about scrolling the other way, what button numbers are they?


Hmmm? I do have bluetooth and hcid unchecked in the Fedora services.

Ahh, this might be a problem. Try

/etc/init.d/bluetooth status
You should get

hcid (pid 2272) is running...
sdpd (pid 2274) is running...

If they're not running, try

/etc/init.d/bluetooth start

This might be the cause of the whole problem. I think that the keyboard and mouse "pretend" to be standard devices until the OS loads. Unfortunately, the standard devices only support basic functions (no extra keyborad keys, no mouse wheel or side buttons). Once the OS loads, you can load the correct driver (bluetooth in thsi case) and then enable the extra features.

I'm afraid that I need you to answer all my questions if I am able to help you. Please can you also let me know if the keyboard works in the BIOS/GRUB, it would be useful for me.

Dan

[davisj2]

I tried the above to no evail. xev is not producing any events even in failsafe mode. I ran the xmodmap for 11 keys even though I have the same mouse as you have stated above. I even tried reloading the OS. Still nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if this is even possible to get to work (side buttons and scroll). Hmmm.

[danscott]

I tried the above to no evail. xev is not producing any events even in failsafe mode. I ran the xmodmap for 11 keys even though I have the same mouse as you have stated above. I even tried reloading the OS. Still nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if this is even possible to get to work (side buttons and scroll). Hmmm.

I'm afraid that I can't help you unless you answer my questions. Also, instead of just saying that it doesn't work, tell me what it says. Is there an error message?

Dan

P.S. Does your keyboard work in BIOS/GRUB?