Most Logitech mice are connected via USB, and I have not tested this with PS/2 mice.

Open xorg.conf

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Now find the section that says something like:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Buttons" "7"
EndSection

and comment it out by putting a # symbol in front of each line. It should look like this:

#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Mouse"
# Driver "mouse"
# Option "CorePointer"
# Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
# Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
# Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
# Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
# Option "Buttons" "7"
#EndSection

Now make some space under or above that section and paste in the following:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "evdev"
Option "Dev Name" "Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse"
Option "Dev Phys" "usb-*/input0"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/event2"
Option "Buttons" "10"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Save the file and restart the X server by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

Note: If the X server fails to start, use the command “sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf” to restore your original settings.

After the X server is restarted and your mouse is still working, you have to edit the .Xmodmap file.

sudo gedit ~/.Xmodmap

Paste the line “pointer = 1 2 3 6 7 8 9 10 4 5” without quotes in this file. If there’s already a “pointer” section, overwrite it.

Now run xmodmap to apply the settings:

xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap

Now to get the side buttons working in Nautilus and Firefox. Install xvkbd and xbindkeys with:

sudo apt-get install xvkbd xbindkeys

Create a configuration file for these new program by:

gedit ~/.xbindkeysrc

Paste the following into that file, then save and exit:

"/usr/X11R6/bin/xvkbd -xsendevent -text "[Alt_L][Left]""
m:0x0 + b:6
"/usr/X11R6/bin/xvkbd -xsendevent -text "[Alt_L][Right]""
m:0x0 + b:7

Now add this program to you session by adding it to “System > Preferences > Sessions”. Click on the “Startup Programs” tab and click “Add” and enter “xbindkeys”. This makes sure that everytime you log in, your setting are loaded.

Install the logitech applet (not really an applet by the way) by:

sudo apt-get install checkinstall build-essential libusb-dev
wget http://freshmeat.net/redir/logitech_applet/53319/url_tgz/logitech_applet-0.4test1.tar.gz
tar xvfz logitech_applet-0.4test1.tar.gz
mv ./logitech_applet-0.4test1 ./logitech-applet-0.4test1
cd ./logitech-applet-0.4test1
./configure --prefix=/usr
make
sudo checkinstall

Just hit enter when checkinstall prompts you. Everything should now be installed.

Use the command:

sudo logitech_applet -s 800 -e

This sets you mouse at optimum resolution. You might have to adjust the mouse setting in Gnome as the mouse will be much more accurate now. Go to “System > Preferences > Mouse” and adjust the settings to your liking.

Now to make all this load at boot time. Make a file in /etc/init.d/local to keep local settings.

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/local

Paste this into the file, save, and exit:

echo "Setting up Logitech mouse..."
logitech_applet -s 800 -e

Make that file executable by:

sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/local

Now run the following command to make the “local” script run when the system boots:

sudo update-rc.d local defaults

Now you should have a fully working Logitech USB mouse in Ubuntu.