Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 October 15

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October 15

roller cylinder alternative to mouse

The Outbound laptop article briefly mentions "a built-in pointing device ... a cylinder that scrolled up and down and slid left and right". The computer mouse article has an even shorter mention of "a pointing bar device... so-called roller bar mouse is positioned snugly in front of the keyboard" -- is that the same kind of thing? One of the illustrations in the jog dial article appears to also match that description (a long thin cylinder with a horizontal axis), although the text seems to focus more on very short, wide cylinders (closer to a disk) with a vertical axis.

Is there a generic term for this kind of long cylinder used as a pointing device alternative to the mouse? I've heard that specific models are sometimes called an "Isopoint", "Trackbar", "RollerBar", or "RiteBar"; are there other names? Is there some other Wikipedia article (or section of an article) that discusses this generic type of pointing device in more detail? --DavidCary (talk) 01:27, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

I hadn't come across the exact type of mouse you describe, but I have something similar - a full desktop PS/2 keyboard designed around MS Office, calling itself a EZ-8000 "Smart Office Keyboard".[1] The mouse is on the left-hand side, with left and right clicks at either end, looking rather like the top picture in the jog dial article. It sits easily under the thumb. I call it a 'roller mouse' but that's just my own term. MinorProphet (talk) 16:57, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Perhaps wikt:trackwheel, by analogy with trackball. Shells-shells (talk) 03:00, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

Internet connection via mobile phone and Wi-Fi extender keeps dropping off

I am in a rather interesting situation.

My home computer runs Fedora 35 Linux. As there is no wired Internet connection point anywhere near the computer, I am using the following set-up: I have a Wi-Fi extender (ASUS RP-N12) plugged into a power socket on the wall. The computer is plugged into this Wi-Fi extender via a standard Ethernet cable. I have my phone (Redmi Note 10) set up as its own Wi-Fi hotspot, and the Wi-Fi extender then connects to the phone's network.

Everything works OK for about twenty minutes or so, but then the Internet connection in the computer just drops off. I don't get any error message anywhere, and both the phone and the Wi-Fi extender show that everything is connected. The computer just can't connect to the Internet any more.

I can resolve the situation by switching the Wi-Fi extender off and back on. There are three lights on the extender: power, Ethernet and Wi-Fi. The power light lights up immediately after power-on. The Wi-Fi light lights up red at first, and after a couple of minutes it turns green. After a couple of more minutes, the Ethernet light lights up. Now my computer gets its Internet connection back. But again, after twenty minutes or so, the problem comes back.

What is weird here is that this problem didn't seem to happen in the same situation when I was still using my old phone (iPhone 6S as I recall). After switching to Redmi Note 10, the problem started appearing.

Does anyone have any idea what is causing this? Or is there another forum I could ask this on? JIP | Talk 16:25, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

I have a Linux laptop (Lubuntu) plugged into a network-via-mains device (the other end is wired to my router). Every so often the computer chokes on the network - download speed drops to zero. I disconnect from ethernet using the software, wait ten seconds, and reconnect, then it's usually OK; sometimes I have to do that twice. I believe it is a laptop or Linux problem, because the mains device lights stay on and the problem never affects the Windows laptop I also use (same cable, I don't use both at once). Also, it behaves the same way on WiFi. Intervals are variable, some evenings there's no problem, others I might get it 3 or 4 times in a couple of hours.

Sorry, no ideas on a solution. -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 21:19, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

I have found out that it is not necessarily required to switch the ASUS Wi-Fi extender off and on again, just to reset the connection. I can also do it by switching off the Wi-Fi hotspot from my phone, waiting for the ASUS Wi-Fi extender to drop the connection on its end, and then switching the Wi-Fi hotspot back on. By the time the ASUS Wi-Fi extender has reconnected to the phone, my computer has regained its Internet connection. This still doesn't solve the original problem, but it might point out that the ASUS Wi-Fi extender is not necessarily at fault here. JIP | Talk 03:05, 17 October 2022 (UTC)