touchpad toggle [solved]

[gizmo]

I am a terrible typist and have trouble with accidentally touching the touchpad. I prefer to use only a mouse.

On another distro  PCLOS) I could download "touchpad toggle" - it would add an entry in the main menu, then I could select that item from the menu and it would toggle the touchpad off if it was on, or on if it was off. Very simple to use, much easier than other methods I found on this forum.

I'd love the option of touchpad toggle for VL.

Thanks

[nightflier]

Good idea. Which version of VL are you currently using?

[gizmo]

thanks for your quick reply.

I'm using VL Gold 6.0  (with xfce 4.4)

current solution is a bit low tech - a piece of cardboard from a teabag box sticky taped over the touchpad...

[nightflier]

I know what you mean about the touchpad, I tend to do the same thing, so I use a setting that turns off the touchpad when I'm typing.
To help me out, could you enter this command in a terminal and tell me what your output is?

Code:

ps aux | grep synclient | grep -v grep

[gizmo]

as user:
chris:$ ps aux | grep synclient | grep -v grep
Vector:/~

as root:
root:# ps aux | grep synclient | grep -v grep
Vector://home/chris

[nightflier]

I goofed and gave you the wrong command. If you would not mind trying these:

Code:

synclient -l
xinput --list

[gizmo]

sorry but this doesn't look any good either.....

Vector:/~
chris:$ synclient -l
Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?
Vector:/~
chris:$ xinput --list
bash: xinput: command not found


Same responses when working as root.

Thanks

[nightflier]

Actually, this is good stuff. So far, I have found four scenarios which need slightly different approaches. I have code ready to cover two easy ones. Yours is a little more challenging, and probably the most typical for VL6, so a perfect test case.

Next test is to see if we can force synclient to cooperate:

Code:

synclient -s TouchpadOff=1

If that does not work, use gslapt and install xinput, then run again:

Code:

xinput --list

[gizmo]

well I hope this means something to you.....

chris:$ synclient -s TouchpadOff=1
synclient: invalid option -- s
Usage: synclient [-m interval] [-h] [-l] [-V] [-?] [var1=value1 [var2=value2] ...]
  -m monitor changes to the touchpad state.
     interval specifies how often (in ms) to poll the touchpad state
  -h Show detected hardware properties
  -l List current user settings
  -V Print synclient version string and exit
  -? Show this help message
  var=value  Set user parameter 'var' to 'value'.


chris:$ xinput --list
"Virtual core keyboard"   id=0   [XKeyboard]
   Num_keys is 248
   Min_keycode is 8
   Max_keycode is 255
"Virtual core pointer"   id=1   [XPointer]
   Num_buttons is 32
   Num_axes is 2
   Mode is Relative
   Motion_buffer is 256
   Axis 0 :
      Min_value is 0
      Max_value is -1
      Resolution is 0
   Axis 1 :
      Min_value is 0
      Max_value is -1
      Resolution is 0
"Keyboard0"   id=2   [XExtensionKeyboard]
   Num_keys is 248
   Min_keycode is 8
   Max_keycode is 255
"Mouse0"   id=3   [XExtensionPointer]
   Num_buttons is 9
   Num_axes is 2
   Mode is Relative
   Motion_buffer is 256
   Axis 0 :
      Min_value is -1
      Max_value is -1
      Resolution is 1
   Axis 1 :
      Min_value is -1
      Max_value is -1
      Resolution is 1

Thanks

[nightflier]

It is good information. However, what I get out of it is that I see no quick/easy/elegant way of disabling your touchpad. VL6 is starting to get a little long in the tooth, and with the software at our disposal, it would be necessary with some hack to force the issue. A script for that would be risky. 

On the other hand, VL7 includes much better tools in this area. I will concentrate my efforts on that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continuing off-topic, but in a useful way; if you want to try disabling your touchpad (config file edit and restart required),
post the contents of /etc/X11/xorg.conf and /proc/bus/input/devices
Tip: highlight the contents of a long output and click the "#" button on the formatting bar. It will contain the text in a scrollable box.

[gizmo]

sorry, how do I copy it across?

I  opened a terminal as root, start mc, I can find and read the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf  but I can't seem to copy and paste it across to here.

I can't find # button on formatting bar - where should i be looking? Where / what is the formatting bar?

Thanks for your help, this is all new to me...

[roarde]

Leafpad is one easy way to copy and paste. From mc, just highlight the file, type: leafpad <ctrl+enter>, then <enter>.
Click "edit" >"select all", then "edit" > "copy". Paste it to your forum reply. Once it's pasted, highlight the inserted text in your reply, then look above the text and above the row of smileys. Click the "#". If you choose "preveiw", you'll see your file in the scrollable box.

At first, I didn't have any idea what a "format bar" was either . But I've used the "#" here before, so figured it out. Didn't know that formatting could be quickly applied to highlighted text, tho. Good stuff.

[gizmo]

thanks for your help.

Once I figured out that I needed to go to Gslapt and install leafpad, it was easy......
I won't say how long it took for that penny to drop.....

Code:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier     "X.org Configured"
Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
RgbPath      "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/OTF"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load  "glx"
Load  "extmod"
Load  "xtrap"
Load  "record"
Load  "GLcore"
Load  "dbe"
Load  "dri"
Load  "freetype"
Load  "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "Keyboard0"
Driver      "kbd"
Option  "XkbLayout"  "us"    ## KEYBOARD_MAP!
Option  "XkbModel"  ""    ## KEYBOARD_MODEL!
Option  "Xkbvariant"  ""    ## KEYBOARD_VARIANT!
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier  "Mouse0"
Driver      "mouse"
Option     "Protocol" "auto"
Option     "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option     "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
DisplaySize 269 201 # 96 DPI @ 1024x768
Option "UseEdidFreqs" "1"
Identifier   "Monitor0"
VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName    "Monitor Model"
HorizSync 31.5 - 50.0
VertRefresh 40-90
EndSection

Section "Device"
### Available Driver options are:-
### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
### [arg]: arg optional
#Option     "AccelMethod"        # [<str>]
#Option     "SWcursor"            # [<bool>]
#Option     "PciRetry"            # [<bool>]
#Option     "NoAccel"            # [<bool>]
#Option     "SetMClk"            # <freq>
#Option     "MUXThreshold"        # <i>
#Option     "ShadowFB"            # [<bool>]
#Option     "Rotate"              # [<str>]
#Option     "VideoKey"            # <i>
#Option     "NoMMIO"              # [<bool>]
#Option     "NoPciBurst"          # [<bool>]
#Option     "MMIOonly"            # [<bool>]
#Option     "CyberShadow"        # [<bool>]
#Option     "CyberStretch"        # [<bool>]
#Option     "XvHsync"            # <i>
#Option     "XvVsync"            # <i>
#Option     "XvBskew"            # <i>
#Option     "XvRskew"            # <i>
#Option     "FpDelay"            # <i>
#Option     "Display1400"        # [<bool>]
#Option     "Display"            # [<str>]
#Option     "GammaBrightness"    # [<str>]
#Option     "TVChipset"          # [<str>]
#Option     "TVSignal"            # <i>
Identifier  "Card0"
Driver      "trident"
VendorName  "Trident Microsystems"
BoardName   "CyberBlade i1"
BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device     "Card0"
Monitor    "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     1
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     4
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     8
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     15
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     16
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport   0 0
Depth     24
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "on"
EndSection

[roarde]

Once I figured out that I needed to go to Gslapt and install leafpad, it was easy......

My mistake -- confused this with another thread where the user was using Light 6, which installs with Leafpad. Any x-based text editor should work the same way here.

I should leave advice about the touchpad itself to someone who knows it better, tho. Shouldn't be too long.

[nightflier]

Alright, here we go..

When I want to experiment with X, I go to text mode (TUI) and log in as root. You can reboot and select it, or run "init 2" as root. Once logged in to the command prompt, use "startx" to go GUI. When you log out, or press Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, you should be back at the shell prompt.

First thing to do is to make a copy of your original xorg.conf. Use whatever method you want, but command line:

Code:

cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup

Next, open the original xorg.conf in a text editor and make the following changes.
In the first section, add one line:

Code:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier     "X.org Configured"
InputDevice    "Synaptics Touchpad"  # <- ADD THIS LINE
Screen          0  "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Then add this section below the original "Mouse0" InputDevice section:

Code:

Section "InputDevice"
 Identifier    "Synaptics Touchpad"
 Driver        "synaptics"
 Option        "SendCoreEvents"    "true"
 Option        "Device"            "/dev/psaux"
 Option        "Protocol"          "auto-dev"
 Option        "SHMconfig"         "true"
 Option        "HorizScrollDelta"  "0"
 Option        "VertEdgeScroll"    "1"
 Option        "TapButton1"        "1"
EndSection

Save the file, exit to prompt and use startx to bring up the GUI. In a terminal, enter: (small L, not 1)

Code:

synclient -l

If you get this working, you can use synclient to turn off the touchpad, as well as making a number of other customizations.
If you need to restore the original configuration, just copy the xorg.conf.backup file to xorg.conf.