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Synaptics touchpad drivers for linux (vostro V13)
I just bought a vostro V13 and installed Linux Mint on it. Everything works well except for the touchpad which isn't properly configued. The OS doesn't recognize the synaptics touchpad and the result is that it can skips around while writing. The possible fixes I've found to this problem depends on the touchpad being recognized properly by the system. I've looked for linux drivers for the V13, but on the Dell support pages there are so far only windows drivers. This machine is being sold with ubuntu in the US (and Mint which I am using is basically just a version of ubuntu). So does anyone know if there is a driver or another fix in ubuntu which would let the touchpad be recognized correctely?
sjhook
26 Posts
0
March 1st, 2010 20:00
Hi,
Please post if you solve this. I have a v13. I opted to re-install 9.04 on it almost as soon as I received it. I noticed the odd mouse skip as well as an intense screen flicker when you log on and off. Do you see the screen flicker as well as the mouse issue? I am pretty sure the problem with the flicker was present with the Dell Ubuntu installation but do not recall if the mouse was fixed in the original Dell installation.
thanks, Simon
marcin.naglik
2 Posts
0
March 7th, 2010 15:00
Hi,
I have the same problem with my Vostro V13 running different versions of linux. From my research the touchpad is not correctly recognized. Adding i8042.nomux to kernel parameters allow the kernel to properly recognize the touchpad as synaptics but than I got lot of timeout errors and it doesn't work at all. I've ended submitting kernel bug (link below) but I'm trying to find any kind of kernel (i8042) patch for it in the meantime.
http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15416
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics/+bug/380126
Let me also know if you have any progress with fixing it
Thanks,
Marcin
louisiana84
1 Message
0
March 13th, 2010 16:00
We really need to find a fix for this. The Vostro V13 is an excellent Ubuntu machine, and Dell has been so good in support of its linux offerings that I'm sure someone is working on this.
torkjetil
5 Posts
0
March 14th, 2010 08:00
I haven't found a solution to this yet, but hopefully it will be solved with the next ubuntu release in April. Dell sent me this link: http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/karmic/man4/synaptics.4.html But I think this driver has already been incorporated with system updates. At least I find that it's already installed but that still the touchpad isn't correctly identified.
Simon: No, I haven't noticed any screen flickering on my machine.
sjhook
26 Posts
0
March 21st, 2010 19:00
Torkjetil,
I looked at this more closely and I see it when I log off (not when I log on) and when I hibernate. Do you see flickering when you log off or hibernate? Also if you drag down the right side of the touchpad are you able to scroll? On my other linux machines I can scroll web pages by dragging down the right side of the touchpad but not on the v13.
thanks, Simon
vwadhwani
1 Message
0
March 25th, 2010 23:00
I'm running the latest Ubuntu beta (Lucid) and don't have good news for you. On the V13 the synaptics driver still does not load and two finger scrolling and other features do not work:
⤷synclient TapButton1=1
Couldn't find synaptics properties. No synaptics driver loaded?
Apparently this isn't just an Ubuntu issue.. I'm seeing threads across other distros (arch, gentoo) that have the same problem
torkjetil
5 Posts
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March 27th, 2010 15:00
Simon,
No, I haven't noticed any flickering. Is it a brief flash or does it go on for a while?
- Tor Kjetil
marcin.naglik
2 Posts
0
March 28th, 2010 15:00
I do have some flickering and this seems because of acpi errors I see in dmesg.
Did you see the thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1398872 - seems that the touchpad may work in V13...
Marcin
torkjetil
5 Posts
0
March 29th, 2010 05:00
Unfortunately installing gpointing-device-settings doesn't solve the main problem in this case that the synaptics driver doesn't load. The touchpad is still only recognized as a generic PS/2 mouse, so I don't think it can help the issue with the cursor being prone to jump around while writing.
lobotomy42
1 Message
0
May 19th, 2010 13:00
It'd be great if this could get fixed somehow. All I really need is to be able to disable the "tap-to-click" functionality on the touchpad. It's very annoying as it keeps interfering with my typing (my hand accidentally brushes the touchpad, etc) Has anyone found a solution?
sjhook
26 Posts
0
June 2nd, 2010 20:00
This bug has been identified in launchpad:
bugs.launchpad.net
It is bug
Bug #380126
Bug #545565
In order to get it fixed we all need to log in to launchpad, go to the bug and click on the link at the top of the page that says
This bug affects zzz people
You can then select yourself as an additional person. The more people that do this the more chance we have of getting it fixed. So far one of the bug requests has 8 people and the other has 26. Pleeeeeeeeeez add yourself and then we will get it fixed.
thanks much, S.
roginovicci
2 Posts
0
November 10th, 2010 10:00
Is there any news?
torkjetil
5 Posts
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November 30th, 2010 02:00
I installed the latest mint version which released a month ago. It still doesn't load a correct driver for the touchpad so the problem has not been resolved.
As I'm a bit tired of "the skipping cursor syndrome" I guess I'll migrate back to windows for a while and wait to see if this is resolved in future ubuntu/mint releases.
roginovicci
2 Posts
0
January 31st, 2011 13:00
they say this thread could be useful. https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/439491/
bbio345
1 Message
0
February 21st, 2011 17:00
I'm running an Inspiron N7010 under SuSE 11.3 and it started out with the same problem: Cursor jumps around like mad and windows scroll uncontrollably as soon as my hands rest close to the touchpad. (This seems to be a major problem of this hardware and, actually, Dell should take care of it rather than having the users run a forum.) There is a utility "syndaemon", and the command "syndaemon -k" mostly takes care of the problem. If one wants to inactivate the touchpad complete (do everything with a mouse), one can use "syndaemon -k -i 120" (stay idle for 120 seconds after last keystroke). There is also a utility "gsynaptics" with a graphical interface: Enable Tapping with Tapping time: Long, and disabling scrolling completely seems to mostly solve the problem.
Good luck!