No Core Pointer error when trying to start x when connected to my port replicator at work

Hi list When i have my laptop (ibm T42) with SUSE 10 connected to my port replicator in my office when in runlevel 3 i try to startx but i get an error saying "no core pointer" but when i remove the mouse and type startx again it will load x as it should. i search google on it and find some info about it but i didnt get what they meant as they were for another distribution and im not a guru on linux, still a newbee :) hope someone can point me into the right direction to get rid of the error and load x with the mouse connected to the replicator. TIA Anders Bolinder