I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 and have a multi-button Microsoft mouse. I would like to map the Ctrl and Alt modifier keys to the left and right thumb buttons of my mouse, respectively, so I can Ctrl + click and Alt-click without touching the keyboard. My thumb buttons are buttons 8 and 9.
I tried the solution in How do I configure a mouse thumb button? which explained how to map a double click to a thumb button - this worked for the double-click but I couldn't figure out how to modify the solution for Ctrl and Alt
I also tried How to map Ctrl/Shift to thumb buttons of Mouse? which used xdotools and xbindkeys. I modified the script to this:
~/.xbindkeysrc
:
"xdotool keydown alt"
b:9
"xdotool keyup alt"
release + alt + b:9
"xdotool keydown ctrl"
b:8
"xdotool keyup ctrl"
release + control + b:8
Which ALMOST works. It simulates a Ctrl-key press when I click the left thumb button, but I can't actually hold the button and click at the same time - holding the thumb button seems to prevent it from listening to other input until it is released.
Does anyone know how I can make my mouse thumb button actually work as a modifier key, so I can use thumb button + click instead of Ctrl + click?
xev | grep button\|Button
, then, press the "Ctrl" tumb button over the white window, without releasing it, do a click, then release it and post the output.