Linux input devices and screen oversizing.

[david wilkinson]

I have tried several versions of Linux such as Knoppix, DSL, and many more but the two common linux faults make many linux progs unuseable. 1) no mice or other input devices are detected so you can't do anything on the desktop and 2) vital buttons such as next or close are not visible because the linux window is bigger than the visible display and vital buttons are off screen and unreachable. I have tried running DSL from a USB flash drive on three laptops and two desktops and all have faild to load any input devices such as USB mice or the built in mouse tablet or a PS2 mouse. This is such a common fault on many distros of linux that I'm sure many people are being turned off which is a real shame.

[Harry Kuhman]

Screen size: You didn't give information about your monitor or video card so it is hard to know exactly what is going wrong, but this certainly isn't a common problem. You might want to look at the cheat codes section of the wiki (follow the documentation link near the top of this page) or read the cheat codes text file that comes with torrent downloads and use a cheat code to force a screen size for something suitable for your particular hardware.

As to the mouse, again not a common problem and I'm very surprised that you would be seeing it on several systems, particularly with a PS-2 mouse (although a USB mouse should work too as long as it is connected at boot time and you are not going through a KMV switch that switches between computers (these ofthen confuse my mice under Windows)). Even laptop touch pads tend to work in general, although on those you have to use the buttons to click, not tap the pad. And I've had good results with both video and mice with other distros also, particularly Puppy. DSL is rather dated, I would not judge live CDs based on it.

[Capricorny]

Try using Knoppix 6.01/6.1 with LXDE.
That release has got the best graphics autodetection/initialization I've ever encountered. It is not so good in 6.2.

And please relate to specific releases. RE your sweeping generalizations: I have the exact opposite experience. And, as Harry said, DSL is rather dated, and nothing to judge from.
A lot of issues remain before Linux really is ready for prime time, but your concerns do not seem to be among them - from my experience.

[krishna.murphy]

Screen size: You didn't give information about your monitor or video card so it is hard to know exactly what is going wrong, but this certainly isn't a common problem. You might want to look at the cheat codes section of the wiki (follow the documentation link near the top of this page) or read the cheat codes text file that comes with torrent downloads and use a cheat code to force a screen size for something suitable for your particular hardware.

As to the mouse, again not a common problem and I'm very surprised that you would be seeing it on several systems, particularly with a PS-2 mouse (although a USB mouse should work too as long as it is connected at boot time and you are not going through a KMV switch that switches between computers (these ofthen confuse my mice under Windows)). Even laptop touch pads tend to work in general, although on those you have to use the buttons to click, not tap the pad. And I've had good results with both video and mice with other distros also, particularly Puppy. DSL is rather dated, I would not judge live CDs based on it.

Hmm-

My experience is that autodetecting USB stuff sometimes works better AFTER bootup. One might as well try it both ways, if there's trouble, I guess...

-Krishna

[david wilkinson]

Thanks for all the interest and replies. Don't misunderstand I use abuntu regularly I have loaded and used Knoppix and DSL which is amazing cnsidering its size plus red hat 8 and open suse and mint linux I run a samba media server running ubuntu in a windws 2003 /2008 enterprise network. Hwever the pint I am making is this:- the first time I ever tried a linux install was red hat 5 After working out how t get it up and running I was confronted with a window with the next button off screen. I made a USB boot pen with Knoppix with the intention of using it as a rescue device to recover data from damaged laptops. As soon as xwindows loads I am confronted with an oversized window with buttons off screen and no input devices. This was the case on a Samsung nc10 laptop an hp 7900 desktop a lanovo R61e laptop. Now I can make the USB pen work because I am a computer geek like you. The point I am making is that if ordinary users are going to take the trouble to download files and make boot pens and try out this software it has to work or they are going to go back to windows which works out of the box. This is a real shame because linux is a real alternative. Some kind of standardisation is required.

[Capricorny]

And you know that lack of standardization is the problem in your case?

You still don't tell us which Knoppix you tried. If it is 6.X, I could almost bet there is something wrong with downloading or burning if you get the same booting/setup error on several different laptops. Think I have run it on 15+ different models, with none of the problems you describe. Knoppix has been very consistent for me, contrary to Mandriva where - in my experience - you may get 11 different results in 9 different installs (i.e. sometimes not reproducible even on the same machine..)

If it is an older version, it may simply have to do with insufficient hardware support.

As for myself, I'm a bit troubled about graphics hardware detection/adaptation seemingly being worse in 6.2 than 6.0.1, but I don't know if that's a standardization issue. I would rather vouch for more eyeballs on the autodetection/configuration code than more standardization.

I also would never recommend the CD download/USB stick install as a preferred method for newbie users coming from Windows with little skills and limited interest. Far better for them to buy Knoppix pre-installed, and then the vendor could have the work with sorting out eventual problems. Already, too many are crowding fora like this with repeated questions, making them technically uninteresting.