pen mouse - go or no go?

Mike Scott

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Oct 26, 2012, 2:18:15 PM10/26/12

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Does anyone know whether this "pen mouse" will work on linux please?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Wireless-Comfortable-Pen-Mouse/dp/B004QO1VCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351275262&sr=8-1

Otherwise, any linux-friendly alternatives around? (a full tablet
wouldn't be as good for what I have in mind)

Thanks.

--
Mike Scott (unet2 <at> [deletethis] scottsonline.org.uk)
Harlow Essex England

Chris Whelan

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Oct 26, 2012, 4:29:01 PM10/26/12

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On Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:18:15 +0100, Mike Scott wrote:

> Does anyone know whether this "pen mouse" will work on linux please?
>
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Wireless-Comfortable-Pen-Mouse/dp/
B004QO1VCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351275262&sr=8-1
>
> Otherwise, any linux-friendly alternatives around? (a full tablet
> wouldn't be as good for what I have in mind)
>
> Thanks.

Is this page any help?

http://bit.ly/RRUnyr

It at least seems as if Genius wants to support Linux!

Chris

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Remove prejudice to reply.

Mike Scott

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Oct 27, 2012, 9:11:49 AM10/27/12

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Thanks; I'd not seen that page. It's hopeful, but a bit generic, and
this particular bit of hardware is wireless too, just to complicate
things. Also just a fraction too pricey (for me, anyway) to risk buying.

Martin Gregorie

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Oct 27, 2012, 3:08:11 PM10/27/12

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If its any help, I've been using a Genius GM-0040003A mouse with Linux
for a few years without any problems. This is a wired USB optical mouse,
but if the Pen mouse presents itself to the system like any other optical
mouse I'd not expect problems.

However, as you can install a custom a mouse driver for Windows but not
for Linux, you might want to check how you set the dpi sensitivity:
Genius claim that is selectable for the Pen mouse. If that's only
selectable via some settings applet for the driver this would probably
make using it with Linux a non-starter.

Have you asked Genius about Linux compatibility either directly or via
their local agent? If not, why not?

--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Mike Scott

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Oct 28, 2012, 12:05:48 PM10/28/12

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On 27/10/12 20:08, Martin Gregorie wrote:
....

> Have you asked Genius about Linux compatibility either directly or via
> their local agent? If not, why not?
>
>

No. Amazon wouldn't have a clue; and I'm quite sure if I ask Genius
(assuming I get to anyone vaguely technical - and the UK support is
phone-only, not email), they'll say windows-only, because it's the easy
answer. Maybe I'm too pessimistic - mind you, I see now that EU support
has an email address, I'll see what happens there.

Martin Gregorie

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Oct 28, 2012, 12:42:12 PM10/28/12

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On Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:05:48 +0000, Mike Scott wrote:

> On 27/10/12 20:08, Martin Gregorie wrote:
> ....
>> Have you asked Genius about Linux compatibility either directly or via
>> their local agent? If not, why not?
>>
>>
> No. Amazon wouldn't have a clue; and I'm quite sure if I ask Genius
> (assuming I get to anyone vaguely technical - and the UK support is
> phone-only, not email), they'll say windows-only, because it's the easy
> answer. Maybe I'm too pessimistic - mind you, I see now that EU support
> has an email address, I'll see what happens there.

The first question you need to ask is "Can I change the Pen Mouse
resolution directly on the mouse or must I change the driver settings?".
If the answer is "By the driver, thats end of game" without asking
anything else. Even a chimp on a telephone should be able to answer that
one.

Whiskers

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Nov 4, 2012, 5:39:59 PM11/4/12

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On 2012-10-26, Mike Scott <usen...@scottsonline.org.uk.invalid> wrote:
> Does anyone know whether this "pen mouse" will work on linux please?
>
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genius-Wireless-Comfortable-Pen-Mouse/dp/B004QO1VCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351275262&sr=8-1
>
> Otherwise, any linux-friendly alternatives around? (a full tablet
> wouldn't be as good for what I have in mind)
>
> Thanks.

This might help
<http://linux.slashdot.org/story/12/11/01/1332238/ask-slashdot-digital-pens-on-linux>

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~

kajas...@gmail.com

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Jun 18, 2014, 7:30:05 PM6/18/14

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I've tried it out, and it works like a regular mouse. But you can't change the settings directly on the mouse, only in the driver. Which is a windows only driver, so on linux you're stuck with the default settings.
I'm going to investigate if it's possible to tweak the X server config, but I'm not going to invest too much time in it.
Also, holding the pen feels weird, the tip of the pen is too large, it isn't covered with rubber or anything, so it feels slippery, the right click doesn't feels right to me, and the tip is not pressure sensitive, at least not in linux.

Hope this helps.