Dell XPS L702X - unable to deactivate touchpad

Hi DELL-Ravi Ch,

and thanks for the quick reply.

It probably didn't come out clearly in my opening: with Win 7 it works this way, the LED indicates it's deactivated and it actually IS deactivated.

With Win 8 it also indicates the touchpad is deactivated, but it simply isn't.

It's just a bit troublesome when writing and accidentally touching the touchpad. I had hoped to also be able to deactivate it in BIOS, but wasn't able to find an option there.

So I guess that a  driver- / software-update will solve this issue sometime soon.

Thanks again and best regards

Sadly no .. it doesn't work like that.

Dell uses a propriotary WMI code to detect when touchpad has to be disabled (when you press Fn+F3). This code is declared in ACPI tables so it's hardcoded by Dell and Synaptics drivers have no idea how to treat it.. same with the LED action.

It used to work with Dell's original driver in Windows 7, however if you were to install the driver from Synaptics (I hated Dell's scrolling implementation so I tried installing the original driver) then only LED gets activated above the touchpad but the cursor still moves. Now with new Dell drivers in Windows 8 touchpad cannot be disabled from Fn+F3, LED come one but the cursor remains active. The only option to disable it would be going into the driver by having the mouse connected and setting the option to off:

I must say however that new driver at least support Windows 8 related function such as calling for charm bars and such .. also palm detection is superb, the cursor hardly moves when you type.

Don't hold your breath waiting for a Dell upgrade. Go to the site of whatever pad you have and look for newer drivers, These drivers often work in most computer brands. A newer driver may have better controls for pad sensitivity.

An easy answer is to download the freebe, TouchFreeze. It works very well, shutting off the pad as soon as you begin typing.

Dear KirkD, until reading Dolnor's reply I was hopeful that your tip might be what I was looking for. :-(

Dear Dolnor: I didn't even have this settings-window in Win 7 (or at least never saw it or had it open...). Is your screenshot one of the Windows 7 - application or already Windows 8? If the latter already, could you please be so kind to post a download-link?

Thanks in advance and best regards

Sadly it didn't fix the issue. Probably because the driver is not meant for my (and your) laptop in the firs place so the WMI code it expect to disable the surface is somewhat different from ours, hence it doesn't work..

But what else Dell expects me to use if they haven't released anything new in term of Input drivers for my machine .. and yours equally supporting Windows 8 ? Pathetic..

In Windows 8, much like in Windows 7 you go to Control Panel > Mouse and the first tab you see is Dell Toucpad

http://puu.sh/1o7Yb

There's a huge toucphad button on this tab which when pressed opens up the driver's GUI.

In windows 7 the driver looked like this:

http://puu.sh/1o7Xr

In Windows 8 they have upgraded the GUI to a more sleek one that I had posted above and I quite like it actually.

But .. the Fn+F3 combination doesn't work with it .. only way to disable touchpad is choosing that On/Off feature you  see on the screenshot.

There's no driver posted for our machines (I have a Vostro 3450) so I had to look up a driver from another machine - Inspiron 5423.

Also while attempting to provide you the link I have just stumbled upon a driver of same version and same name over at Dell's support which has these changes noted in the Enchantments section:

Fix Fn+Fn3 cannot disable touchpad

Here is the link for your convenience:

www.dell.com/.../inspiron-14z-5423

I will be installing this shortly to see if it indeed fixes the Fn+F3 issue!

Thanks for the link, although you're right that it doesn't fix the "Fn + F3"-issue. Nonetheless, I can at least now deactivate the touchpad, even if it's the longer and less comfortable way. That makes waiting for an update easier.

Best regards

Turns out the touchpad's PID (product id) for my Vostro  is missing from this driver's ini, so it explains why it's not supported properly (ie 3-finger gestures are not functional and no disable feature from the hotkey)  because driver has no idea how to treat devices with IDs of

http://puu.sh/1ox4J

Will try adding this ID into the driver's config file .. maybe this will enable the Fn+F3 feature.

That driver only works in Windows 7 and not in Windows 8. It dosen´t work under Windows 8 so try to fix a driver to the touch pad again thank you!

In windows 8 the drivers on Dells support page don´t work with te l702x maschine. It only want to go with standard MS drivers for ps/2 mouse and that makes the pointer live it´s own Life.

So i think Dell don´t know what they are doing when it comes to windows 8 and drivers. Why can´t dell do like most other computer manufactors and do a driver package for windows 8 with all drivers that you need and then i meen all the drivers in one .exe file. Why make it so hard for standard consumers?

You can usually find drivers on the touch pad manufacturer's web site. I have been able to find updated ALPS drivers on the Toshiba site that work fine with my 5 year old M1530, These drivers usually have many more options than the old Dell drivers. Dell generally WILL NOT update old drivers for new operating systems.

Since driver, installed on win 7, still works on win 8 wich was installed via WAU, i knew, that it's possible. Finally, i did it.

First step.

I took the synaptic distributive for win7 from dell.com for l702x, then i unpacked it by 7z arhciver. I took WinWDF/x64/ folder, and edited synpd.inf in it.

Added string

%PS2.SynDeviceDesc% = Dell_GROUP19_PS2_Inst,*DLL0571

on "Manufacturer Sections", in [SynMfg.NTamd64] section.

Second step.

I deleted synpd.cat. Then via inf2cat from windows driver frameworks, downloaded from microsoft.com, i made new  a new cat-file. (I still even didn't sure, that it's important).

Third step.

Can be used any guide "How to install an unsigned driver on Windows 8". I rebooted my PC to turn off the driver sign check.

Then -  "upgrade driver" - find driver manually - choose driver from list of installed drivers - turn off "only compatible devices" - press button "install from drive" - then i choose my /winwdf/x64 folder, and installed driver "Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad". Windows show me error about unsigned driver, and asked me about it. I press "install anyway", and.. Nothing.  LED still lights, TP still works... I rebooted my PC... And hooray! After FN+F3 TP is off!

Nevertheless, i still didn't sure about GROUP19 (many of groups in inf-file used v3 enabling-disabling hotkey system) and step two. But it works, and it's enough for me.

Sorry4broken english btw, but i really haven't enough time to write this properly now)

Fn+F3 doesn't work on my Dell Inspiron with Windows 8. The annoying thing is that I know how to disable it using the control panel but many times, when I restart the computer, it enables it again. I HATE TOUCHPADS. I"ve tried turning it off and/or making it less sensitive to my hands being near it while typing.

IMO, this is a BUG that needs fixing.

I would remove the driver completely, but in an emergency, I WANT to be able to use the touchpad if my mouse fails.