3 Posts
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March 24th, 2023 09:00
Latitude E6400 Disable Trackpoint and Touchpad
I have a Dell Latitude E6400 laptop and have just installed a SSD in place of the HDD and updated to Linux Mint 21.1. I’ve been configuring everything like I wish and have come up against an old problem that I have previously failed to fix.
BIOS revision is A30.
I wish to disable the Trackpoint and Touchpad. I have entered BIOS and do not see a choice which will let me make the desired changes there.
Am I missing something? Can I disable those inputs through BIOS? How?
Or do I need to do this through Linux?
Thanks!
Wayne
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filbert
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1.8K Posts
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March 24th, 2023 09:00
There are a few ways to disable the touchpad in Windows. Since you use Mint, obviously those won't work.
I suspect that there is no such setting in your BIOS. I don't have a E6400 to test, but I have a couple of Dell laptops here that are almost as old, and their BIOS has no such setting.
My Mint laptop isn't here at the moment, so I can't check it for you. From what I recall, in Mint settings for mouse/touchpad there is a toggle to disable touchpad when a mouse is attached. You would enable that setting.
I read that of an app, touchpad-indicator, that displays an control that allow you to disable or enable the touchpad. https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/20 ... 18-04-lts/
Otherwise, you would be better served by asking at a Mint forum.
wnjeffers
3 Posts
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March 24th, 2023 09:00
Thanks! I started to post to a Mint forum, but thought I would check here first about a BIOS solution.
I am a noobie with Linux, a couple of years, learning just enough to get by and use a few non-Windows computers. I am never sure whether commands from other versions of Linux are safe and effective for Mint and have heretofore been disinclined to experiment.
Thanks again.
Wayne
wnjeffers
3 Posts
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March 24th, 2023 12:00
I think I fixed it through Linux. I had tried commands to disable the devices, but they did not persist after a reboot. After finding the suggestion in an Ubuntu forum, I used the "Startup Applications" app in Linux Mint and added those commands to the startup. That seems to have worked.