Middle Mouse Button Not Working (but no 11-mouse.conf file!) [solved]

[shimonl]

Hi,
I am recently retired, so I have spent a LOT more time than usual at the computer,
which has seriously increased the number of posts I make here ;-)

Latest problem:  I am not sure when this started, but my middle mouse button doesn't work.
The same classic problems mentioned in other posts: not opening firefox links in a new tab,
and worse (far worse!) not pasting selected text.

I searched the forum and found
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,92562.0.html ,
which in turn contained a suggestion to read
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,92348.msg774576.html#msg774576 .

That post suggested:
Delete the 11-mouse.conf in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d folder.

But.... I have no such file!

[root@localhost xorg.conf.d]# pwd
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d
[root@localhost xorg.conf.d]# ls -al
total 28
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jul 11 10:49 ./
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Dec  2 13:12 ../
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1099 Sep 23  2011 10-evdev.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  979 Jul  9  2011 50-fpit.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  172 Jul  9  2011 50-synaptics.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  115 Jul  9  2011 50-vmmouse.conf
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  744 Mar 27  2012 50-wacom.conf
[root@localhost xorg.conf.d]#


So, what do I do next?
It occurred to me that perhaps the button's definition was changed somewhere, possibly
even by myself somehow, but I have no idea how I could ask what the button definition
currently is. Would that be a good place to start?

Any help appreciated! :-)
Thanks,
Shimon

[Just17]

Which version of PCLOS are you using?

[shimonl]

The latest. All updates applied.

$ kde4-config -v
Qt: 4.8.2
KDE Development Platform: 4.9.2
kde4-config: 1.0

[shimonl]

I have noticed something interesting (at least to me).

When I mark text with the middle button, it actually DOES put the text into Klipper,
so that part of the functionality IS there. I know this because if I immediately go to
Klipper, I see the selected text there. If I click it, the text is then in the standard "Paste" (^V)
clipboard, and can be pasted in fields that way.

Does this help anyone understand better what is wrong here?

Thanks!
Shimon
 

[Just17]

Is there any difference in result if you right click and copy text after highlighting it ......  and then middle click to insert it into a text editor?

[shimonl]

I tested this again, to be sure before I answered, and no,
the middle button did not paste.

BUT... As I started to write this reply, for fun I tried one more time,
and it DID paste! I am totally astounded! What could have changed?

I do not remember doing ANYTHING different....and I really
hate problems going away with no explanation (as a sysprog, I
have also been involved in user support).

Anyway, I have to close this issue, it does work now!
Thank you all,
Shimon

[Just17]

Yesterday I had a situation where I was unable to paste a URL into VLC (open network stream) ......  but could do so to a text editor.

Something glitched and later corrected itself apparently.

Hence my interest in your situation