msconvd(8)

NAME

msconvd – mouse protocol conversion daemon

SYNOPSIS

msconvd [-DPRcdfs] [-I file] [-F rate] [-r resolution] [-S baudrate] [-t mousetype] [-l level] -p port

msconvd [-Pd] -p port -i info

DESCRIPTION

The msconvd utility and the moused(8) driver work together to support legacy devices like COM, ams(4) mices and X10 remotes as well. psm(4), ums(4) and some other devices are supported too but not recomended to use with msconvd unless kernel is compiled without “option EVDEV_SUPPORT”. The msconvd listens to the specified port for mouse data, decodes and then passes it via input event device a.k.a evdev to consumer aplications like moused(8) or libinput(1). It does not display the mouse pointer on the screen or provide cut and paste functions. The msconv daemon converts translation movement, button press/release events and movement of the roller or the wheel if available.

If the msconvd receives the signal SIGHUP, it will reopen the mouse port and reinitialize itself. Useful if the mouse is attached/detached while the system is suspended.

If the msconvd receives the signal SIGUSR1, it will stop passing mouse events. Sending the signal SIGUSR1 again will resume passing mouse events. Useful if your typing on a laptop is interrupted by accidentally touching the mouse pad.

The following options are available:

-D

Lower DTR on the serial port. This option is valid only if mousesystems is selected as the protocol type. The DTR line may need to be dropped for a 3-button mouse to operate in the mousesystems mode.

-F rate

Set the report rate (reports/sec) of the device if supported.

-I file

Write the process id of the msconvd utility in the specified file. Without this option, the process id will be stored in /var/run/moused.pid.

-P

Do not start the Plug and Play COM device enumeration procedure when identifying the serial mouse. If this option is given together with the -i option, the msconvd utility will not be able to print useful information for the serial mouse.

-R

Lower RTS on the serial port. This option is valid only if mousesystems is selected as the protocol type by the -t option below. It is often used with the -D option above. Both RTS and DTR lines may need to be dropped for a 3-button mouse to operate in the mousesystems mode.

-S baudrate

Select the baudrate for the serial port (1200 to 9600). Not all serial mice support this option.

-c

Some mice report middle button down events as if the left and right buttons are being pressed. This option handles this.

-d

Enable debugging messages.

-f

Do not become a daemon and instead run as a foreground process. Useful for testing and debugging.

-i info

Print specified information and quit. Available pieces of information are:

port

Port (device file) name, i.e. /dev/cuau0, /dev/ums0 and /dev/psm0.

Interface type: serial or ps/2.

type

Protocol type. It is one of the types listed under the -t option below or sysmouse if the driver supports the sysmouse data format standard.

model

Mouse model. The msconvd utility may not always be able to identify the model.

all

All of the above items. Print port, interface, type and model in this order in one line.

If the msconvd utility cannot determine the requested information, it prints “unknown” or “generic”.

-l level

Specifies at which level msconvd should operate the mouse driver. Refer to Operation Levels in psm(4) for more information on this.

-p port

Use port to communicate with the mouse.

-r resolution

Set the resolution of the device; in Dots Per Inch, or low, medium-low, medium-high or high. This option may not be supported by all the device.

-s

Select a baudrate of 9600 for the serial line. Not all serial mice support this option.

-t type

Specify the protocol type of the mouse attached to the port. You may explicitly specify a type listed below, or use auto to let the msconvd utility automatically select an appropriate protocol for the given mouse. If you entirely omit this option in the command line, -t auto is assumed. Under normal circumstances, you need to use this option only if the msconvd utility is not able to detect the protocol automatically (see Configuring Mouse Protocol Conversion Daemon).

Note that if a protocol type is specified with this option, the -P option above is implied and Plug and Play COM device enumeration procedure will be disabled.

Also note that if your mouse is attached to the PS/2 mouse port, you should always choose auto or ps/2, regardless of the brand and model of the mouse.

For the USB mouse, the protocol must be auto. No other protocol will work with the USB mouse.

Valid types for this option are listed below.

For the serial mouse:

microsoft

Microsoft serial mouse protocol. Most 2-button serial mice use this protocol.

intellimouse

Microsoft IntelliMouse protocol. Genius NetMouse, ASCII Mie Mouse, Logitech MouseMan+ and FirstMouse+ use this protocol too. Other mice with a roller/wheel may be compatible with this protocol.

mousesystems

MouseSystems 5-byte protocol. 3-button mice may use this protocol.

mmseries

MM Series mouse protocol.

logitech

Logitech mouse protocol. Note that this is for old Logitech models. mouseman or intellimouse should be specified for newer models.

mouseman

Logitech MouseMan and TrackMan protocol. Some 3-button mice may be compatible with this protocol. Note that MouseMan+ and FirstMouse+ use intellimouse protocol rather than this one.

glidepoint

ALPS GlidePoint protocol.

thinkingmouse

Kensington ThinkingMouse protocol.

mmhitab

Hitachi tablet protocol.

x10mouseremote

X10 MouseRemote.

kidspad

Genius Kidspad and Easypad protocol.

versapad

Interlink VersaPad protocol.

gtco_digipad

GTCO Digipad protocol.

For the PS/2 mouse:

ps/2

This is the only protocol type available for the PS/2 mouse and should be specified for any PS/2 mice, regardless of the brand.

For the USB mouse, auto is the only protocol type available for the USB mouse and should be specified for any USB mice, regardless of the brand.

Configuring Mouse Protocol Conversion Daemon

The first thing you need to know is the interface type of the mouse you are going to use. It can be determined by looking at the connector of the mouse. The serial mouse has a D-Sub female 9- or 25-pin connector. The bus and InPort mice have either a D-Sub male 9-pin connector or a round DIN 9-pin connector. The PS/2 mouse is equipped with a small, round DIN 6-pin connector. Some mice come with adapters with which the connector can be converted to another. If you are to use such an adapter, remember the connector at the very end of the mouse/adapter pair is what matters. The USB mouse has a flat rectangular connector.

The next thing to decide is a port to use for the given interface. The PS/2 mouse is always at /dev/psm0. There may be more than one serial port to which the serial mouse can be attached. Many people often assign the first, built-in serial port /dev/cuau0 to the mouse. You can attach multiple USB mice to your system or to your USB hub. They are accessible as /dev/ums0, /dev/ums1, and so on.

You may want to create a symbolic link /dev/mouse pointing to the real port to which the mouse is connected, so that you can easily distinguish which is your “mouse” port later.

The next step is to guess the appropriate protocol type for the mouse. The msconvd utility may be able to automatically determine the protocol type. Run the msconvd utility with the -i option and see what it says. If the command can identify the protocol type, no further investigation is necessary on your part. You may start the daemon without explicitly specifying a protocol type (see EXAMPLES).

The command may print sysmouse if the mouse driver supports this protocol type.

Note that the type and model printed by the -i option do not necessarily match the product name of the pointing device in question, but they may give the name of the device with which it is compatible.

If the -i option yields nothing, you need to specify a protocol type to the msconvd utility by the -t option. You have to make a guess and try. There is rule of thumb:

The ps/2 protocol should always be specified for the PS/2 mouse regardless of the brand of the mouse.
You must specify the auto protocol for the USB mouse.
Most 2-button serial mice support the microsoft protocol.
3-button serial mice may work with the mousesystems protocol. If it does not, it may work with the microsoft protocol although the third (middle) button will not function. 3-button serial mice may also work with the mouseman protocol under which the third button may function as expected.
3-button serial mice may have a small switch to choose between “MS” and “PC”, or “2” and “3”. “MS” or “2” usually mean the microsoft protocol. “PC” or “3” will choose the mousesystems protocol.
If the mouse has a roller or a wheel, it may be compatible with the intellimouse protocol.

To test if the selected protocol type is correct for the given mouse, ensure the moused(8) is running in auto port mode,

moused -p auto

start the msconvd in the foreground mode,

msconvd -f -p <selected_port> -t <selected_protocol>

and see if the mouse pointer travels correctly according to the mouse movement. Then try cut & paste features by clicking the left, right and middle buttons. Type ^C to stop the command.

Multiple Mice

As many instances of the msconvd as the number of mice attached to the system may be run simultaneously; one instance for each mouse. This is useful if the user wants to use the built-in PS/2 pointing device of a laptop computer while on the road, but wants to use a serial mouse when s/he attaches the system to the docking station in the office. Run two msconvd and then the application program e.g. moused(8) will always see mouse data from either mouse. When the serial mouse is not attached, the corresponding msconvd will not detect any movement or button state change and the application program will only see mouse data coming from the daemon for the PS/2 mouse. In contrast when both mice are attached and both of them are moved at the same time in this configuration, the mouse pointer will travel across the screen just as if movement of the mice is combined all together.

FILES

/dev/input/event%d: input event device
/dev/psm%d: PS/2 mouse driver
/dev/cuau%d: serial port
/dev/ttyv%d: virtual consoles
/dev/ums%d: USB mouse driver
/var/run/msconvd.pid: process id of the currently running msconvd utility
/var/run/MouseRemote: UNIX-domain stream socket for X10 MouseRemote events

EXAMPLES

msconvd -p /dev/cuau0 -i type

Let the msconvd utility determine the protocol type of the mouse at the serial port /dev/cuau0. If successful, the command will print the type, otherwise it will say “unknown”.

msconvd -p /dev/cuau0

If the msconvd utility is able to identify the protocol type of the mouse at the specified port automatically, you can start the daemon without the -t option.

msconvd -p /dev/mouse -t microsoft

Start the mouse daemon on the serial port /dev/mouse. The protocol type microsoft is explicitly specified by the -t option.

If you add

ALL ALL = NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/killall -USR1 msconvd

to your /usr/local/etc/sudoers file, and bind

killall -USR1 msconvd

to a key in your window manager, you can suspend mouse events on your laptop if you keep brushing over the mouse pad while typing.

STANDARDS

The msconvd utility partially supports “Plug and Play External COM Device Specification” in order to support PnP serial mice. However, due to various degrees of conformance to the specification by existing serial mice, it does not strictly follow the version 1.0 of the standard. Even with this less strict approach, it may not always determine an appropriate protocol type for the given serial mouse.

HISTORY

The msconvd utility first appeared in FreeBSD 15.0. It is a cropped-down version of FreeBSD 14.0 moused(8) utility originated back in FreeBSD 2.2.

AUTHORS

The msconvd utility is based on moused(8) written by Michael Smith ⟨[email protected]⟩. This manual page is extracted from moused(8) page written by Mike Pritchard ⟨[email protected]⟩. The command and manual page have since been updated by Kazutaka Yokota ⟨[email protected]⟩.

CAVEATS

Many pad devices behave as if the first (left) button were pressed if the user “taps” the surface of the pad. In contrast, some ALPS GlidePoint and Interlink VersaPad models treat the tapping action as fourth button events. Use the option “-m 1=4” of moused(8) for these models to obtain the same effect as the other pad devices.