When running GPM and it fails for some reason, it fails to remove its
PID file when it exits. This is not fatal but certainly annoying, since
then gpm wrongfully thinks it is already running with the pid specified
in /var/run/gpm.pid. Consequently, one has to manually 'rm
/var/run/gpm.pid' before being able to run gpm again. gpm won't start
if /var/run/gpm.pid exists.
How to reproduce: ("Let's look at the typical novice's session with gpm:")
root@cs176058:/var/run# ls -l gpm.pid
ls: gpm.pid: No such file or directory
root@cs176058:/var/run# gpm
root@cs176058:/var/run# oops(): [/usr/src/gpm-1.20.0/src/gpm.c(932)]:
Since gpm-1.20.0 you need to specify themouse device. gpm -m device is
your friend
root@cs176058:/var/run# gpm -m /dev/mouse -t ps2
root@cs176058:/var/run# oops(): [/usr/src/gpm-1.20.0/src/gpn.c(195)]:
gpm is already running as pid 3119
root@cs176058:/var/run# ps xuwaf |grep 3119
root 3124 0.0 0.2 1604 536 /devices/vc/2 S 14:11 0:00 \_
grep 3119
root@cs176058:/var/run# ls -l gpm.pid
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5 Jul 9 14:11 gpm.pid
root@cs176058:/var/run# cat gpm.pid
3119
root@cs176058:/var/run# rm gpm.pid
root@cs176058:/var/run# gpm -m /dev/mouse -t ps2
Finally, I hope this reaches the right people.
Antti