path: root/man/evdev.man

.\" shorthand for double quote that works everywhere.
.ds q \N'34'
.TH EVDEV __drivermansuffix__ __vendorversion__
.SH NAME
evdev \- Generic Linux input driver
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B "Section \*qInputDevice\*q"
.BI "  Identifier \*q" devname \*q
.B  "  Driver \*qevdev\*q"
.BI "  Option \*qDevice\*q   \*q" devpath \*q
.BI "  Option \*qEmulate3Buttons\*q     \*q" True \*q
.BI "  Option \*qEmulate3Timeout\*q     \*q" 50 \*q
.BI "  Option \*qGrabDevice\*q     \*q" False \*q
\ \ ...
.B EndSection
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B evdev 
is an __xservername__ input driver for Linux\'s generic event devices.  It
therefore supports all input devices that the kernel knows about, including
most mice and keyboards.
.PP
The 
.B evdev
driver can serve as both a pointer and a keyboard input device, and may be
used as both the core keyboard and the core pointer.  Multiple input devices
are supported by multiple instances of this driver, with one Load
directive for evdev in the Module section of your __xconfigfile__ for each
input device that will use this driver.
.PP
.SH SUPPORTED HARDWARE
In general, any input device that the kernel has a driver for can be accessed
through the 
.B evdev
driver.  See the Linux kernel documentation for a complete list.
.PP
.SH CONFIGURATION DETAILS
Please refer to __xconfigfile__(__filemansuffix__) for general configuration
details and for options that can be used with all input drivers.  This
section only covers configuration details specific to this driver.
.PP
The following driver 
.B Options
are supported:
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qDevice\*q \*q" string \*q
Specifies the device through which the device can be accessed.  This will 
generally be of the form \*q/dev/input/eventX\*q, where X is some integer.
The mapping from device node to hardware is system-dependent.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qEmulate3Buttons\*q \*q" boolean \*q
Enable/disable the emulation of the third (middle) mouse button for mice
which only have two physical buttons.  The third button is emulated by
pressing both buttons simultaneously.  Default: on, until a middle mouse
button event is registered. Property: "Evdev Middle Button Emulation".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qEmulate3Timeout\*q \*q" integer \*q
Sets the timeout (in milliseconds) that the driver waits before deciding
if two buttons where pressed "simultaneously" when 3 button emulation is
enabled.  Default: 50. Property: "Evdev Middle Button Timeout".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qButtonMapping\*q \*q" string \*q
Sets the button mapping for this device. The mapping is a space-separated list
of button mappings that correspond in order to the physical buttons on the
device (i.e. the first number is the mapping for button 1, etc.). The default
mapping is "1 2 3 ... 32". A mapping of 0 deactivates the button. Multiple
buttons can have the same mapping.
For example, a left-handed mouse with deactivated scroll-wheel would use a
mapping of "3 2 1 0 0". Invalid mappings are ignored and the default mapping
is used. Buttons not specified in the user's mapping use the default mapping.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qDragLockButtons\*q \*q" "L1 B2 L3 B4" \*q
Sets \*qdrag lock buttons\*q that simulate holding a button down, so
that low dexterity people do not have to hold a button down at the
same time they move a mouse cursor. Button numbers occur in pairs,
with the lock button number occurring first, followed by the button
number that is the target of the lock button. Property: "Evdev
Drag Lock Buttons".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qDragLockButtons\*q \*q" "M1" \*q
Sets a \*qmaster drag lock button\*q that acts as a \*qMeta Key\*q
indicating that the next button pressed is to be
\*qdrag locked\*q. Property: "Evdev Drag Lock Buttons".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qEmulateWheel\*q \*q" boolean \*q
Enable/disable "wheel" emulation.  Wheel emulation means emulating button
press/release events when the mouse is moved while a specific real button
is pressed.  Wheel button events (typically buttons 4 and 5) are
usually used for scrolling.  Wheel emulation is useful for getting wheel-like
behaviour with trackballs.  It can also be useful for mice with 4 or
more buttons but no wheel.  See the description of the
.BR EmulateWheelButton ,
.BR EmulateWheelInertia ,
.BR EmulateWheelTimeout ,
.BR XAxisMapping ,
and
.B YAxisMapping
options below.  Default: off. Property "Evdev Wheel Emulation".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qEmulateWheelButton\*q \*q" integer \*q
Specifies which button must be held down to enable wheel emulation mode.
While this button is down, X and/or Y pointer movement will generate button
press/release events as specified for the
.B XAxisMapping
and
.B YAxisMapping
settings.  Default: 4. Property: "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qEmulateWheelInertia\*q \*q" integer \*q
Specifies how far (in pixels) the pointer must move to generate button
press/release events in wheel emulation mode.  Default: 10. Property: "Evdev
Wheel Emulation Inertia".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qEmulateWheelTimeout\*q \*q" integer \*q
Specifies the time in milliseconds the
.BR EmulateWheelButton
must be pressed before wheel emulation is started. If the
.BR EmulateWheelButton
is released before this timeout, the original button press/release event
is sent.  Default: 200. Property: "Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qXAxisMapping\*q \*q" "N1 N2" \*q
Specifies which buttons are mapped to motion in the X direction in wheel
emulation mode.  Button number
.I N1
is mapped to the negative X axis motion and button number
.I N2
is mapped to the positive X axis motion.  Default: no mapping. Property:
"Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qYAxisMapping\*q \*q" "N1 N2" \*q
Specifies which buttons are mapped to motion in the Y direction in wheel
emulation mode.  Button number
.I N1
is mapped to the negative Y axis motion and button number
.I N2
is mapped to the positive Y axis motion.  Default: "4 5". Property:
"Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qReopenAttempts\*q \*q" integer \*q
Number of reopen attempts after a read error occurs on the device (e.g. after
waking up from suspend). In between each attempt is a 100ms wait. Default: 10.
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qInvertX\*q \*q" Bool \*q
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qInvertY\*q \*q" Bool \*q
Invert the given axis. Default: off. Property: "Evdev Axis Inversion".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qSwapAxes\*q \*q" Bool \*q
Swap x/y axes. Default: off. Property: "Evdev Axes Swap".
.TP 7
.BI "Option \*qGrabDevice\*q \*q" boolean \*q
Force a grab on the event device. Doing so will ensure that no other driver
can initialise the same device and it will also stop the device from sending
events to /dev/kbd or /dev/input/mice. Events from this device will not be
sent to virtual devices (e.g. rfkill or the Macintosh mouse button emulation).
Default disabled.

.SH SUPPORTED PROPERTIES
The following properties are provided by the
.B evdev
driver.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Middle Button Emulation"
1 boolean value (8 bit, 0 or 1).
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Middle Button Timeout"
1 16-bit positive value.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Wheel Emulation"
1 boolean value (8 bit, 0 or 1).
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes"
4 8-bit values, order X up, X down, Y up, Y down. 0 disables a value.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Wheel Emulation Inertia"
1 16-bit positive value.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout"
1 16-bit positive value.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button"
1 8-bit value, allowed range 0-32, 0 disables the button.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Drag Lock Buttons"
8-bit. Either 1 value or pairs of values. Value range 0-32, 0 disables a
value.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Axis Inversion"
2 boolean values (8 bit, 0 or 1), order X, Y. 1 inverts the axis.
.BI "Evdev Axis Calibration"
4 32-bit values, order min-x, max-x, min-y, max-y or 0 values to disable
run-time axis calibration. This feature is required for devices that need to
scale to a different coordinate system than originally reported to the X
server, such as touchscreens that require run-time calibration.
.TP 7
.BI "Evdev Axis Swap"
1 boolean values (8 bit, 0 or 1). 1 swaps x/y axes.

.SH AUTHORS
Kristian Høgsberg.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
__xservername__(__appmansuffix__), __xconfigfile__(__filemansuffix__), xorgconfig(__appmansuffix__), Xserver(__appmansuffix__), X(__miscmansuffix__),
README.mouse.