How is absolute mouse mode supported in the kernel?
 

Hi,

I am using a dual-head-KVM to connect to different dual-monitor systems. The KVM uses absolute mouse mode to operate which works great if the operating system supports absolute mouse mode.
I am not that experienced with Linux, but I was told that the support for absolute mouse mode in Linux is or has not always been straight forward. The kernel needs to support it, then a udev-rule is needed to activate it(?) and depending on factors that I don't know it might be possible to operate the absolute mouse mode on both screens or just on the primary screen.

Can somebody shed some light on it?
I also read here that absolute mouse mode is supported in Ubuntu server starting from 16.04 and Ubuntu server starting from 14.04 which confused me even more because in the same table it states that with RHEL absolute mouse mode is supported starting with 7.3 and they use completely different kernels (to my understanding). So, a lot of questionmarks :-)

Any help greatly appreciated!

J.

I am unsure how this is expressed in software, but if I were doing it I would not express it in the kernel. This seems to me to belong in the display software or GUI interface, not in the kernel. If that is correct, it would explain why you do not find it in the kernel.

The operating system needs to provide a USB HID driver that "understands" absolute mouse mode.
I thought that this is part of the kernel.
But as I'm lacking know-how about what is kernel and what not, I might be mistaken.
If an Admin is sure that this is not a topic for the Kernel, please move the thread to the appropriate folder.

I support keeping it here. It may be there if there is not such support either directly in the kernel or in a kernel module, that development of such a module for special cases where that is desired might be appropriate! I always like to see the birth of a useful project. ;-)