Xinput

A Quick guide to setting up additional devices on Linux This guide was written on a desktop running Debian 8.0 it uses systemD the below will probably only work on that OS and its descendants

= General xinput =

List all input devices
e.g. xinput list Virtual core pointer                   	id=2	[master pointer  (3)] ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer             	id=4	[slave  pointer  (2)] ↳ Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball	id=11	[slave pointer  (2)] ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad             	id=14	[slave  pointer  (2)] ↳ TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint                  	id=15	[slave  pointer  (2)] Virtual core keyboard                  	id=3	[master keyboard (2)] ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard            	id=5	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ Power Button                           	id=6	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ Video Bus                              	id=7	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ Video Bus                              	id=8	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ Sleep Button                           	id=9	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ Integrated Camera                      	id=10	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ Sun USB Keyboard                       	id=12	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard           	id=13	[slave  keyboard (3)] ↳ ThinkPad Extra Buttons                 	id=16	[slave  keyboard (3)]
 * 1) xinput list [--long]

Get details of an input device
# xinput list-props [device id] "[device name]" e.g. # xinput list-props "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" Or # xinput list-props 11 Device 'Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball': Device Enabled (138):	1 Coordinate Transformation Matrix (140):	1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000 Device Accel Profile (264):	0 Device Accel Constant Deceleration (265):	1.000000 Device Accel Adaptive Deceleration (266):	1.000000 Device Accel Velocity Scaling (267):	10.000000 Device Product ID (258):	1149, 8257 Device Node (259):	"/dev/input/event8" Evdev Axis Inversion (268):	0, 0 Evdev Axes Swap (270):	0 Axis Labels (271):	"Rel X" (148), "Rel Y" (149), "Rel Vert Wheel" (263) Button Labels (272):	"Button Left" (141), "Button Middle" (142), "Button Right" (143), "Button Wheel Up" (144), "Button Wheel Down" (145), "Button Horiz Wheel Left" (146), "Button Horiz Wheel Right" (147), "Button Side" (262), "Button Unknown" (261), "Button Unknown" (261), "Button Unknown" (261), "Button Unknown" (261) Evdev Scrolling Distance (273):	1, 1, 1 Evdev Middle Button Emulation (274):	0 Evdev Middle Button Timeout (275):	50 Evdev Third Button Emulation (276):	0 Evdev Third Button Emulation Timeout (277):	1000 Evdev Third Button Emulation Button (278):	3 Evdev Third Button Emulation Threshold (279):	20 Evdev Wheel Emulation (280):	1 Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes (281):	6, 7, 4, 5 Evdev Wheel Emulation Inertia (282):	10 Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout (283):	200 Evdev Wheel Emulation Button (284):	8 Evdev Drag Lock Buttons (285):	0

Another example output from a more modded system # xinput list-props 16 Device 'Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball': Device Enabled (145):	1 Coordinate Transformation Matrix (147):	1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000 libinput Natural Scrolling Enabled (290):	0 libinput Natural Scrolling Enabled Default (291):	0 libinput Scroll Methods Available (294):	0, 0, 1 libinput Scroll Method Enabled (295):	0, 0, 1 libinput Scroll Method Enabled Default (296):	0, 0, 0 libinput Button Scrolling Button (308):	8 libinput Button Scrolling Button Default (309):	2 libinput Middle Emulation Enabled (300):	0 libinput Middle Emulation Enabled Default (301):	0 libinput Rotation Angle (669):	0.000000 libinput Rotation Angle Default (670):	0.000000 libinput Accel Speed (302):	0.000000 libinput Accel Speed Default (303):	0.000000 libinput Accel Profiles Available (310):	1, 1 libinput Accel Profile Enabled (311):	1, 0 libinput Accel Profile Enabled Default (312):	1, 0 libinput Left Handed Enabled (304):	0 libinput Left Handed Enabled Default (305):	0 libinput Send Events Modes Available (267):	1, 0 libinput Send Events Mode Enabled (268):	0, 0 libinput Send Events Mode Enabled Default (269):	0, 0 Device Node (270):	"/dev/input/event22" Device Product ID (271):	1149, 8257 libinput Drag Lock Buttons (306): libinput Horizontal Scroll Enabled (307):	1

= Setting up "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" =

xinput version 1.6.2
It seems in newer versions of xinput (used in Debian Stretch) use the options ScrollButton and ScrollMethod. Looking at the man page: for inspiration I believe the below config will work.

Set up via xinput
xinput set-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "libinput Button Scrolling Button" 8 xinput set-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "libinput Scroll Method Enabled" 0, 0, 1

The first line is telling the xinput system use the upper-right button (Button 8 ) to trigger the navigation mode. The second line is to set the ScrollMethod method to button

I don't think this is quite the right way to do it but it works for me!

Via xorg.conf.d
Create a file called "23-Kensington_Slimblade_Trackball.conf" in your xorg.conf.d (on Debian Stretch /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/23-Kensington_Slimblade_Trackball.conf) with the below content

Section "InputClass" Identifier     "Trackpoint Wheel Emulation" MatchProduct   "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*" Option         "ScrollButton"          "8" Option         "ScrollMethod"          "button" Option         "XAxisMapping"          "6 7" Option         "YAxisMapping"          "4 5" EndSection

Reload the udev rules
 * 1) udevadm control --reload-rules

Set up via xinput
xinput set-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation" 1 xinput set-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button" 8 xinput set-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes" 6 7 4 5

The first line is telling the xinput system to enable the mouse wheel emulation (similar to the navigation mode) The second line is to use the upper-right button (Button 8 ) to trigger the navigation mode. The third line make it work for both vertical and horizontal scroll.

Deprecated method for the same

 * 1) xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation" 8 1
 * 2) xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button" 8 8
 * 3) xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes" 8 6, 7, 4, 5

Via xorg.conf.d
a very much work in progress but this seems to be working

Some distributions now support the new Xorg hotplug configuration method via xorg.conf.d directories (in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx) instead of hal. In contrast to the udev method below, it should be around for some time, so it might be the best way to “statically” configure scrolling.

Create the file /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/23-Kensington_Slimblade_Trackball.conf as root with the following content: Some systems use /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d instead

Section "InputClass" Identifier	"Trackpoint Wheel Emulation" MatchProduct	"Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" MatchDevicePath	"/dev/input/event*" Option		"EmulateWheel"		"true" Option		"EmulateWheelButton"	"8" Option		"XAxisMapping"		"6 7" Option		"YAxisMapping"		"4 5" EndSection

Reload the udev rules
 * 1) udevadm control --reload-rules

Additional reading and notes taken from