Acceleration
During my teenage years, I was really into FPS and RTS games. That’s why I’m kind of picky on computer mouses and being paranoid of acceleration in the OS.
Permanently disabling acceleration for Windows is simple. Besides unchecking the “Enhance pointer precision” in the main.cpl, some registry hacks such as the good old classic “CPL Mouse Fix” or the later “MarkC” would do it easily by a REG/batch file. It is also possible doing manually if you want.
However, this is much harder for Linux.
I can’t express more that how much I rely on ArchWiki when tweaking any Linux-based system. By following the wiki page, I can temporarily accomplish the result but failed autostarting 50-mouse-acceleration.conf to preserve the result after rebooting.
jagardaniel is my savior by sharing this script on reddit. My only change is the device name (find it by xinput --list) and Accel Speed:
#!/bin/sh
device="my mouse"
if xinput list --id-only "${device}" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
xinput --set-prop "${device}" 'libinput Accel Profile Enabled' 0, 1
xinput --set-prop "${device}" 'libinput Accel Speed' 0
notify-send "Mouse settings applied"
else
echo "Unable to find device ${device}" >&2
exit 1
fi
After saving it, run chmod +x script.sh from terminal to ensure its permission and add it into Startup Applications Preferences. This works perfectly.
Trackball
This method of autostarting script also works with my Kensington trackball thanks for ArtiomSu creating this fantastic script. It enables natural scrolling and disables acceleration. The only change I made is the key mapping:
mouse_name="Kensington Expert Wireless TB Mouse"
check=$(xinput | grep "$mouse_name")
if [[ ! -z "$check" ]]; then
mouse_id=$(xinput | grep "$mouse_name" | sed 's/^.*id=\([0-9]*\)[ \t].*$/\1/')
# swap right and back button then swap middle and back button
xinput set-button-map $mouse_id 1 8 3 4 5 6 7 2 9
# enable better scrolling
xinput set-prop $mouse_id "libinput Natural Scrolling Enabled" 1
# disable acceliration for the ball
xinput set-prop $mouse_id "libinput Accel Profile Enabled" 0, 1
# allow scrolling by holding middle mouse button and using the ball to scroll ( really smooth and fast ).
xinput set-prop $mouse_id "libinput Scroll Method Enabled" 0, 0, 1
# allow the remmaped middle mouse to be used for middle mouse scroll
xinput set-prop $mouse_id "libinput Button Scrolling Button" 8
fi
The original layout:
______________ _________ ________________
| back | | | | right click |
-------------- | | ----------------
______________ | | ________________
| left click | | | | middle click |
-------------- --------- ----------------
My layout:
______________ _________ ________________
| back | | | | middle click |
-------------- | | ----------------
______________ | | ________________
| left click | | | | right click |
-------------- --------- ----------------
Gesture
I’d like to use gestures whenever there are tabs within a program, mainly browsers, file manager and terminal. Therefore, one universal gesture tool that runs at desktop/system level is necessary. For Windows, there are many choices and I use StrokesPlus.
However, for Linux, it’s so hard to find any alternative.
I’ve tried easystroke which is no longer maintained for many years. It works very well and has all the functions I needed. Unfortunately, there is one problem ruined everything. It crashes randomly and kills the Xorg/X11 server. That results rebooting of the desktop environment and send me back to the log-in window while force quitting all running processes.
This can be disastrous while working and it happens so randomly that is very difficult to troubleshoot with.
I had to fall back to browser extensions and set them up one by one. There are two open source options, Gesturefy for Firefox-based, smartUp for Chromium-based and no love for Webkit. They are great compare to other extensions and by design there is NO extensions that work with loading page and internal pages. So I have to keep pressing Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab when I have to.
Maybe I can find/create something better in the future.
TrackPoint
There are also problems with Windows undoubtedly. The TrackPoint on my old ThinkPad is a big one, especially with newer versions of Windows 10. Although I can make it work perfectly by sneak the outdated Synaptics and UltraNav into the newer OS, the process is tedious and painful.
I also use portable USB keyboards with TrackPoint so a light and portable solution is needed. My requirement is simple, just to make the TrackPoint behave like under most Linux desktop:
- Move to scroll while holding down the middle button
- Perform middle click as a mouse wheel
An AutoHotkey script works great and easy to set up.
First, install the latest AHK 1.x from its release page
Then, download the script and simply run it to try and tweak. Or copy paste the script code into notepad and save as TP_middle_Scroll.ahk
; Midbutton down for scrolling {{{
; Feature: with acceleration as intended.
; Source: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/ultranav-middle-click-button-scroll.423415/
; Linking source: https://superuser.com/questions/91074/thinkpad-trackpoint-scrolling-and-middle-click-possible
; Working version {{{
$*MButton::
Hotkey, $*MButton Up, MButtonup, off
KeyWait, MButton, T0.2
If ErrorLevel = 1
{
Hotkey, $*MButton Up, MButtonup, on
MouseGetPos, ox, oy
SetTimer, WatchTheMouse, 5
SystemCursor("Toggle")
}
Else
Send {MButton}
return
MButtonup:
Hotkey, $*MButton Up, MButtonup, off
SetTimer, WatchTheMouse, off
SystemCursor("Toggle")
return
WatchTheMouse:
MouseGetPos, nx, ny
dy := ny-oy
dx := nx-ox
If (dx**2 > 0 and dx**2>dy**2) ;edit 4 for sensitivity (changes sensitivity to movement)
{
times := Abs(dy)/1 ;edit 1 for sensitivity (changes frequency of scroll signal)
Loop, %times%
{
If (dx > 0)
Click WheelRight
Else
Click WheelLeft
}
}
If (dy**2 > 0 and dy**2>dx**2) ;edit 0 for sensitivity (changes sensitivity to movement)
{
times := Abs(dy)/1 ;edit 1 for sensitivity (changes frequency of scroll signal)
Loop, %times%
{
If (dy > 0)
Click WheelDown
Else
Click WheelUp
}
}
MouseMove ox, oy
return
SystemCursor(OnOff=1) ; INIT = "I","Init"; OFF = 0,"Off"; TOGGLE = -1,"T","Toggle"; ON = others
{
static AndMask, XorMask, $, h_cursor
,c0,c1,c2,c3,c4,c5,c6,c7,c8,c9,c10,c11,c12,c13 ; system cursors
, b1,b2,b3,b4,b5,b6,b7,b8,b9,b10,b11,b12,b13 ; blank cursors
, h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,h7,h8,h9,h10,h11,h12,h13 ; handles of default cursors
if (OnOff = "Init" or OnOff = "I" or $ = "") ; init when requested or at first call
{
$ = h ; active default cursors
VarSetCapacity( h_cursor,4444, 1 )
VarSetCapacity( AndMask, 32*4, 0xFF )
VarSetCapacity( XorMask, 32*4, 0 )
system_cursors = 32512,32513,32514,32515,32516,32642,32643,32644,32645,32646,32648,32649,32650
StringSplit c, system_cursors, `,
Loop %c0%
{
h_cursor := DllCall( "LoadCursor", "uint",0, "uint",c%A_Index% )
h%A_Index% := DllCall( "CopyImage", "uint",h_cursor, "uint",2, "int",0, "int",0, "uint",0 )
b%A_Index% := DllCall("CreateCursor","uint",0, "int",0, "int",0
, "int",32, "int",32, "uint",&AndMask, "uint",&XorMask )
}
}
if (OnOff = 0 or OnOff = "Off" or $ = "h" and (OnOff < 0 or OnOff = "Toggle" or OnOff = "T"))
$ = b ; use blank cursors
else
$ = h ; use the saved cursors
Loop %c0%
{
h_cursor := DllCall( "CopyImage", "uint",%$%%A_Index%, "uint",2, "int",0, "int",0, "uint",0 )
DllCall( "SetSystemCursor", "uint",h_cursor, "uint",c%A_Index% )
}
}
; }}}
; }}}
To make the script auto start with the system, create a shortcut link under
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\ by drag and drop while hoding ALT key.
Or Right Click - New - Shortcut - Browse or Type /path/to/TP_middle_Scroll.ahk , then reboot the system to confirm the result.