Dec
10
I just found this new tweak today and I’m really excited about it. The more I look into what is possible with an Ubuntu desktop the more amazed I am. Honestly, if you haven’t tried Ubuntu before (or you know someone who hasn’t) you REALLY should. Things just don’t get easier than this.
This tutorial will outline how to configure your synaptics touchpad (for laptops) via a nice pretty GUI interface. Allowing configuration for general settings (on / off, etc) to scrolling and tapping. You can even change the settings so that you can do a 360 around your touchpad to scroll up/down! Now we’re talking!
First of all, as we do with anything related to the desktop and graphics we MAKE A BACKUP. You might want to use the below command to backup your current xorg.conf file.
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-backup
We then add one simple line to the xorg configuration. Simply look for this area of your file:
Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”
Driver “synaptics”
Option “SendCoreEvents” “true”
Option “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option “Protocol” “auto-dev”
Option “HorizScrollDelta” “0″
EndSection
and add one more option to the bottom above “EndSection”
Option “SHMConfig” “on”
At this point save the new file and restart your desktop using: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm restart or ctrl-alt-backspace.
After you’ve logged back into your system (Ooh, if for some reason X does not work after rebooting you can simply revert your changes by replacing the backup file again. Use: sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf-backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf) we’ll need to add the package that allows us to configure everything. Install QSynaptics using the command below (or find it using Synaptic Package Manager)
sudo aptitude install qsynaptics
After the installation is complete you can very easily manage tweak your laptop’s touchpad. Some of the options are:
- On / Off
- Scrolling On / Off, Normal or Circular
- Horizontal & Vertical Scrolling speeds
- One, Two or Three Finger tapping options
Press “ALT-F2″ and type “qsynaptics” to run the QSynaptic GUI Manager and config to your hearts content. If someone reminds me I’ll edit this to include a desktop menu launcher.
Adjust your settings the way you’d like them and make your desktop your own! This is one cool hack–one of my favorites!
technorati tags:synaptic, touchpad, laptop, notebook, ubuntu, configure
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17 Responses to “Tweaking your Synaptics Touchpad (laptops) : Ubuntu (6.06.1 / 6.10)”
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[...] My source for this information is Tweaking your Synaptics Touchpad (laptops) : Ubuntu (6.06.1 / 6.10) at ubuntu-tutorials.com. Thanks! [...]
[...] Next problem: Synaptics touchpad. I’ve experienced this one previously. The touchpad works from the off, but it behaves in an awkward fashion. You can’t change its sensitivity or scrolling behaviour. Cue some more xorg.conf editing and package installation! [...]
at first i was one of the people for whom X failed to restart, instead coughing up a debug screen in a nice shade of death-blue… if that happens to you, see if perchance your sPelliNG & kAPitalisAshun is anally correct… i inserted this line:
SHMConfig “On”
i should have put:
SHMConfig “on”
now everything works. death to tapping!
thanks for this page.
[...] e500, which happens to use the Synaptics touchpad. i hate tapping, so i wanted to disable it. this is what i had to do. one caveat, the spelling was important. in order to get past the “Can’t access shared [...]
All I wanted to do was change sensitivity. I hate this touch pad, but it was tolerable when I could change sensitivity. Now I have to almost smack my computer to get a left-click. Oh well. Sure beats that MS thingy.
The qsynaptics fix works fine, except when I first start up Ubuntu. It seems that the touchpad reverts to its old state. I’ve found that I have to invoke qsynaptics, then immediately close it, to get the touchpad to work the way I want it to. Is there a way to do something like this during startup?
Thanks for your help.
[...] Tweaking your Synaptics Touchpad (laptops) : Ubuntu (6.06.1 / 6.10) : Ubuntu Tutorials : Breezy - Da… (tags: howto linux ubuntu touchpad) [...]
Randy, I had the same problem with Synaptic losing the double-tap settings on restart. I added this line to /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Option “TapButton1″ “0″
What if your entire section for Input devices touchpad is missing. I am new to ubuntu and have been impressed up till now. This touchpad problem is far to complicated for a new user to figure out.
Thanks - great tip.
Dood, this rocks. I hate tap to click and now it’s off. Glad someone put this up on the internet.
my section for touchpad devices was also missing, i have put these lines in xorg.conf:
Section “InputDevice”
Identifier “Synaptics Touchpad”
Driver “synaptics”
Option “SendCoreEvents” “true”
Option “Device” “/dev/psaux”
Option “Protocol” “auto-dev”
Option “HorizScrollDelta” “0″
Option “SHMConfig” “on”
EndSection
and in the section:
Section “ServerLayout”
i have changed
InputDevice “Configured Mouse”
into this:
InputDevice “Synaptics Touchpad”
then i installed qsynaptics
i can start it but it doesnt change anything.. i cant scroll horizontal
what can i do about this?
i found out that i cant scroll horizontal but when i scrol horizontal i go to the previous or to the next site in the internetbrowser,
can anyone help me?
thanks
In the server section of xorg.conf.
Just add another line (you can leave the input device configured mouse line in)
“input device” Synaptics Touchpad”.
Then assuming you have added the complete initial section (in original post).
Restart X with CTL-ALT-BACKSPACE.
Check that SHMconfig et.al. is running by entering:
synclient -l .
This should give you a complete list of options - and NOT SHMconfig not running
errors.
Now to turn off a tap on the touchpad emulating a mouse click enter:
synclient MaxTapTime=0
Finally, you probably want to put the applicable synclient options in your bash startup scripts
More Synaptic touchpad configuration tips for Ubuntu…
Depending on the distro, the Alps touchpad on the $0 Laptop — a Gateway Solo 1450 — reacts completely differently. It usually allows a tap on the touchpad to be interpreted as a left-click. At first it’s annoying, and later……
Thank you so much for posting this. Fantastic!
Update: On Edgy, I can see this part of GNOME’s preferences. Not sure if it’s available on previous Ubuntu’s (GNOMEs) or not. But anyway. System => Preferences => Mouse. Then click on “Touchpad”.
Cheers,