Cfrtjryk

I just got a Kensigton Slimblade Trackball and I'm trying to configure it. I'm adapting it from my old Logitech Marble configuration.

I want the configuration to be:

• Left-Bottom: Left click


• Left-Top: Backward


• Right-Top: Right click and ball scroll lock


• Right-Bottom: Middle click

The configuration I could set until now is:

• Left-Bottom: Left click


• Left-Top: Middle click


• Right-Top: Right click and ball scroll lock


• Right-Bottom: Backward

This is my configuration script:

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Middle Button Emulation" 8 1   



xinput set-button-map "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" 1 2 8 4 5 6 7 



xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation" 8 1

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button" 8 8

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes" 8 6 7 4 5

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout" 16 300

Before running this script, xev reports button numbers as:

Left-Bottom: 1, Left-Top: 2, Right-Top: 8, Right-Botom: 3

After running this script:

Left-Bottom: 1, Left-Top: 2, Right-Top: 8, Right-Botom: 8

So AFAIK, xinput set-button-map changes button order. In this page, I learned that the 2nd value corresponds to the middle mouse button, and the 8th to the Thumb1 (normally related to backward function). So I thought I should just use number 3 as the 2nd element and 2 as the 8th element like this:

xinput set-button-map "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" 1 3 8 4 5 6 7 2

but now the top-left button has right-click function and left-bottom is disabled. xev now reports

Left-Bottom: 1, Left-Top: 3, Right-Top: 2, Right-Botom: 8. 

Anyone knows how I set the configuration as I intend ? I'm using Ubuntu 16.04. Thanks.

A few minutes after I post the question I found the answer. Here goes in case anyone needs it (configuration for Mint 18/Ubuntu 16.04):

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Middle Button Emulation" 8 0

7 8 9 

xinput set-button-map "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" 1 8 2 4 5 6 7 3 2

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation" 8 1

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button" 8 8

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes" 8 6 7 4 5

xinput set-int-prop "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout" 16 300

Edit

After upgrading for Mint 19 (at home) and Ubuntu 18.04 (at office) I found the configuration above doesn't work. 18.04 uses a different library for these kind of devices (libinput) and even if I reinstalled Evdev some options don't work. After a painful search I found the solution.
Create a a file with .conf extension in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/ folder. In my case I named it 10-slimblade.conf. Put this configuration inside the file:

Section "InputClass"

        Identifier "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball"

        MatchProduct "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball"

        MatchIsPointer "on"

        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"

        Driver "libinput"

        Option "ButtonMapping" "1 8 2 4 5 6 7 3 2"

        Option "ScrollButton" "8"

        Option "ScrollMethod" "button"

        Option "MiddleEmulation" "on"

EndSection

Restart session, and that's it.