"precision" or "smooth" style scrolling in linux?

[simon_C]

I just recently picked up an X200s and promptly loaded openSUSE 12.1 onto it. I was surprised to see that it supported trackpoint scrolling out of the box. What bothered me, though, was that it was the jerky 'line by line' style scrolling and not precision smooth scrolling as i had experienced in windows prior to installing linux. I was hoping to find a way to get this precision style scrolling working, does anybody have any insight?

[Neil]

I'm just guessing here, but it might have something to do with the graphics driver. Are you using the default xorg driver, or have you installed proprietary graphics drivers?

[ThinkRob]

I'm just guessing here, but it might have something to do with the graphics driver. Are you using the default xorg driver, or have you installed proprietary graphics drivers?

There aren't any proprietary drivers for the i915-supported chipsets.

OP: what is your kernel's version? I don't know anything about openSUSE, but it's possible that its kernel is too old to offer proper GPU acceleration support.

I know that the X200s is definitely well-supported by Debian Squeeze (and pretty decent under Lenny too, for that matter), so I'm pretty sure you're dealing with a distro/config issue rather than a general Linux incompatibility.

[simon_C]

graphics drivers have nothing to do with it. i have full accelerated support (desktop effects and wobbly windows are working properly).

what im talking about is the scrolling style. with a mousewheel, it scrolls click by click, scrolling a few lines at a time. the trackpoint should be a nice smooth progression down the page.
The problem i'm having is, its doing the mousewheel style line-by-line scrolling instead of a nice smooth progression. I can even set the number of lines it jumps at a time in the kde system settings. I think its because its trying to emulate the mousewheel instead of doing native trackpoint scrolling.

[Neil]

Does any of the stuff on this page help?

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_co ... TrackPoint

[twistero]

Just a thought, but you should try scrolling with an external mouse, to determine whether the problem is TrackPoint-specific. In all likelihood the same jumpyness can be seen when you're scrolling with the mouse wheel; that means you'll have to figure out how to scroll smoothly in general.

[simon_C]

Just a thought, but you should try scrolling with an external mouse, to determine whether the problem is TrackPoint-specific. In all likelihood the same jumpyness can be seen when you're scrolling with the mouse wheel; that means you'll have to figure out how to scroll smoothly in general.

actually thats exactly what i'm trying to figure out. The problem is that the system is configured for standard mouse scrolling, not trackpoint scrolling. I came here to see if anyone had any ideas on how to get smooth scrolling working.

[twistero]

actually thats exactly what i'm trying to figure out. The problem is that the system is configured for standard mouse scrolling, not trackpoint scrolling. I came here to see if anyone had any ideas on how to get smooth scrolling working.

Please clarify: What happens when you scroll using an external mouse's scroll wheel? Is it jumpy or smooth? Is the behavior the same as when you scroll with the TrackPoint?

[simon_C]

Please clarify: What happens when you scroll using an external mouse's scroll wheel? Is it jumpy or smooth? Is the behavior the same as when you scroll with the TrackPoint?

it is exactly the same. its a software problem. i'm trying to figure out how to enable smooth scrolling in kde4 in opensuse, because the standard scrolling is annoying.