Howdy -- I'm testing this on a clean install of eeebuntu -- you forgot

in /etc/modprobe.d/options

(It can be in any file in that directory, but on eeebuntu it's easy to put it at the end of that file. This line activates the "proper" elantech driver that's compiled into the Array.org kernel. I believe it may be installed and activated by default in Ubuntu Jaunty.)

Also I'm experimenting with a more elaborate fdi file with some additional trackpad defaults set. I'd love for it to be simpler, though.

P.S.: is the psmouse line or any of the trackpad stuff an option in a version of eeebuntu configure??? (I haven't yet installed an updated version of configure -- just the one in eeebuntu 2.0 I downloaded a few weeks ago.)

Hi twt thanks for pointing that out!

ive edited my first post to inc this.

My fault as I wrote2 the 2 finger scroll guide at the same time and I did it in that post!

These ARENT part of eeeconfigure at this time. I've wrote the guides as extras.


If we get a god response on these AND they work without TOO much trouble then we will discuss about adding them into future versions of eee-configure,

I guess I'd better read that guide, too, as the elantech line in modprobe and adding the shmconfig line in the .fdi are not sufficient, at least on my machine....

right now, syndaemon still won't load, I don't have the touchpad tab in mouse, and NONE of the special touchpad features are active, either, so either I edited the .fdi wrong or there are some other differences in your .fdi -- did you add any of the touchpad defaults? (I just had to plug in a mouse because I can't stand the default touchpad settings.)

I have been contributing to an easypeasy bug and a question in launchpad, and the .fdi file I've posted there contains the defaults I prefer...

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu-ee ... tion/56027
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-eee/+bug/275421

unfortunately I need to go right now but I believe if you swap out your fdi for mine it will work. I haven't looked at yours carefully to see if there are other things in it the eee needs, or if it's a generic fdi that we could just scrap. (actually if you look at the one I posted to the bug report you can see I have someone else's fdi commented out in the middle. that's an easy way to test it. gedit will color the code so it's easy to see when you have the syntax right)

two questions:

Do y'all have a place on launchpad where you're collecting eeebuntu changes?

where did your 11-x11-synaptics.fdi file come from? (Is it part of a standard package or did you get it from another distro?)

Hi twt,

ATM we havent got a bug page but we are looking at trac. in the future.

I created the 11-x11-synaptics.fdi as part of the other guide.

Might be worth seeing if this is dependent on some of the changes I did there....

I spoke to some of the HAL experts on the ubuntu forums and they advised of what they did so i followed their lead

I have gone back to the first post and followed those instructions. I have also done the following:
- deleted my /etc/modprobe.d/eeepc file and added the psmouse line to /etc/modprobe.d/options
- replaced my previously modified /etc/X11/xorg.conf (that had the synaptics data) with the xorg.conf that came with a fresh install

So I SHOULD have my files/settings set up exactly as identified in this post. (I did download the HAL driver as previously mentioned)

I am now seeing my touchpad controls in my mouse and touchpad under Control Center

HOWEVER - using eee-control - I am no longer able to toggle on/off my touchpad. Could it be related to this fix?

Using syndaemon to disable touchpad while typing works.

However - eee-control INITIALLY toggles off my touchpad - but it toggles back on by itself - not making that up...

I believe I have it figured out now. Yes, I believe the hal posted earlier doesn't work on mine because it's not matching the elantech touchpad (on my eeepc 900; maybe it matches yours). The hal you posted in your OTHER tip is actually doing all the work: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1637

Here's what I suggest should work on a clean install of eeebuntu 2.0 for an ASUS eeePC 900 (which has the elantech touchpad):

1a) press Alt+F2 and enter the command


1b) put the following single line of text in the file:


1c) save and close the file

[the name of the file eeepc doesn't matter; if you've already created a file called psmouse or something, that's OK too, as long as it contains the line in step 1b]

2a) press Alt+F2 and enter this command:


2b) paste the following text into the empty file (or replace whatever was there before)

2c) save and close the file

3a) press Alt+F2 and enter this command:



3b) in the application that opens, click the Add button, and enter the following information:

Name: Touchpad Off While Typing
Command: syndaemon -i 1 -d -t -K
Comment: Disables touchpad 1 second after keystrokes

3c) Save the new command and close the Sessions application

4) Reboot

ADDENDUM: If you want better control over your mouse options, you can either enter a custom hal file for the "ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad" OR (MUCH easier) install the package called gsynaptics-elantech which will add a new application under System --> Preferences --> Touchpad The gsynaptics application seems to work, too, but the elantech version exposes a few additional features that work on the Elantech touchpads, such as more multi-finger controls.

HOWEVER if you use the Touchpad application, you may find that you ALSO have to use the Touchpad tab on the Mouse application to make some of the settings "stick."

Hi guys,

@luigidk,

I did belive there may be an issue with eee-control. this is due to it using the synaptic drivers not the elantech. to fix this you will have to # the eeepc elantach psmouse=1 option i believe.

@twt

thanks for letting me know what worked......

I have had to revert to the standard gsynaptics drivers as I was suffering the gsynaptics-elantech bug: it will NOT start in my sessions and gsynaptics-init generates errors.

Ah... so I gather this bug affects particular models, but not my EeePC 900...

HOWEVER I do have one question for your hal experts:

If I understand hal correctly, the stanza activating shmconfig for psmouse is not necessary. I commented it out on my system and everything works fine. Of course it's always possible (likely, even) that there's a good reason for activating it....



Using the code above for /etc/hal/fdi/policy/shmconfig.fdi works fine with the psmouse stanza commented out, so I'm thinking it's not necessary (at least on my system). Maybe it is doing something I'm not seeing?

theory: When the elantech driver is NOT activated (by adding the options psmouse elantech=1 line in a modprobe.d file), the kernel wrongly identifies the trackpad as a mouse device, which is why it acts strangely by default. Maybe someone thought having both of the stanzas allows gsynaptics to work without loading the driver in some cases?? Otherwise I don't understand the reason for the psmouse stanza.

Hi twt,

I wish I was a HAL expert!

I will test to see if there are any differences with hanging the psmouse option on or off.

(i only added this on the advice of adamm himself u c).

I'm confused as to what I should and should NOT do to configure my touchpad... can this be clarified? (I'm running an eeepc 1000 40gb + 2gb RAM)

- should I or should I not modify my xorg.conf (is it being used or not?)
- should I or should I not add the options psmouse line to my etc/modprobe.d ?
(I have tried both and don't notice a difference - very cursory check though)
- Do I need to modify/create this file: /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/11-x11-synaptics.fdi
- I also installed the package called gsynaptics-elantech
- per an original post here I also installed a new HAL driver -- but I don't see that step now?

I'm pretty much using all of the above for now...

In any case - I can not toggle on/off my touchpad with eee-control.

I had previously used FEWT's eeepc-acpi tool which worked very very well (I liked it better than eee-control) - however it caused me to have to enter a password every time I shut down... so I went back to eee-control which works great other than touchpad toggling (and cpu frequency for power-save killing my system)

@luigidk,

Xorg.conf is remake every boot by the HAL system so you need to create the HAl files.

the elantech psu should be enables if using the gsynaptics-elantech driver.

otherwise its not needed.

(On a side note; i also use fewts acpi atm.... to stop the password prompt you need to delete the fan control script fron the cron folders in etc.)

I can confirm that twt's variant of the hal config works fine on my 900. It successfully enabled the GSynaptics preferences pane. I was planning to disable tapping on the pad, but the preference pane allows control over the tap speed, so it has enabled me to set the trackpad so it is now much less twitchy. If you were considering disabling tapping, you may want to try playing with the sensitivity before fully disabling tapping.

The only side effect I've seen is that I was previously able to use the hofizontl scroll gesture to switch workspaces, and this now seems to be gone. No loss, I usually used the ctl-alt-arrow keyboard shortcut for this.

TD

I have removed eee-control and replaced it with fewt's eeepc-acpi-utilities.

There is a new release that should remove the password at logout issue (.17) - but i am having install issues. I have installed .16 and removed eeepc-fan from etc/cron.d

I will let you know once I have .17 running to see if that fixes the logout issue.

I really like fewt's utilities - and should be able to recommend them over eee-control once .17 is working.

I have also learned that syndaemon is what causes my touchpad to toggle back on once I have toggled it off.

Once I stop using syndaemon I can toggle my touchpad off and it stays off!

However - I am not able to disable my touchpad while typing...

From all I can have tried in this forum - it seems I have the choice of either toggling my touchpad off and NOT using syndaemon or using syndaemon and not having the ability to toggle my touchpad.

If there is a solution that does both - I'd love to know!

In the meantime I'll use eeepc-acpi-utilities to toggle off my touchpad (replacing eee-control) and my Logitech Nano mouse...

hi luidgik,

I agree,

I can only have one of the other. must be the way syndeamon controls the touchpad toggle.

I'll continue to cast some jiggery pokery as always with my eee (im never satisfied with it 'just working')

if i find any possible solutions we can try em out!

I am now running eeepc-acpi-utilities (fewt) instead of eee-control.

This is version .18 and fixes the bug with needing to enter your password at log out.

Recommend these scripts over eee-control - at least on my 1000.