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Configuration of the Synaptics Touchpad on SUSE Linux 9.1

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Posted: 29 Oct 2004 		 

On notebooks with a Synaptics touchpad, it has not been possible to perform any actions with a double click ("tap") on the touchpad since the installation of SUSE Linux 9.1. In addition, the tool tpconfig, which was previously used to configure behavior, is no longer available. Since SUSE Linux 9.1, tpconfig has not been used, because it is not compatible with kernel 2.6.x.

You can configure the touchpad in one of two ways:

Configuration of the touchpad using SaX2

You can configure the touchpad with SaX2. This option is preferred to the kernel parameter, described later, because the Synaptics driver provides special functions and can thus be used to influence the behavior of the touchpad. For more information on SaX2, see the article "X Server Configuration with SaX2 (8.1 or Higher)" (http://support.novell.com/techcenter/sdb/en/2002/11/wessels_sax247.html). If you use the Synaptics driver for the touchpad, you no longer have to enter the kernel parameter in /boot/grub/menu.lst (grub) or /etc/lilo.conf (if you use LILO).

Proceed as follows to use the Synaptics driver for the touchpad:

  1. Start SaX2
  2. Click on Change Configuration
  3. Select the input devices
  4. Start the dialog for configuring the mouse
  5. Click on Change Configuration
  6. Choose Properties
    Here, you can select Synaptics as the manufacturer with the related driver (Touchpad).

Use of an additional, external mouse

If you want to use an additional mouse as well as the touchpad, you must configure this separately with SaX2. In order to avoid unnecessary (hardware) problems, we recommend that you use a USB mouse.

This could be configured as follows.

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "synaptics"
  Identifier   "Mouse[0]"
  Option       "AccelFactor" "0.0010"
  Option       "BottomEdge" "4000"
  Option       "Device" "/dev/psaux"
  Option       "Edges" "1900 5400 1800 3900"
  Option       "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
  Option       "Finger" "25 30"
  Option       "FingerHigh" "30"
  Option       "FingerLow" "25"
  Option       "InputFashion" "Mouse"
  Option       "LeftEdge" "1900"
  Option       "MaxSpeed" "0.18"
  Option       "MaxTapMove" "220"
  Option       "MaxTapTime" "180"
  Option       "MinSpeed" "0.02"
  Option       "Name" "Synaptics;Touchpad"
  Option       "RightEdge" "5400"
  Option       "SHMConfig" "on"
  Option       "TopEdge" "1900"
  Option       "VertScrollDelta" "100"
  Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
  Option       "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "mouse"
  Identifier   "Mouse[3]"
  Option       "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
  Option       "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
  Option       "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
  Option       "InputFashion" "Mouse"
  Option       "Protocol" "imps/2"
  Option       "Vendor" "Sysp"
  Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
  Option       "SendCoreEvents" "yes"
EndSection

If required, make further improvements/settings (monitor, 3D etc.), and close the configuration.

Optimization of driver settings

If you want to modify the driver settings, you must edit file /etc/X11/XF86Config with an editor of your choice and configure the section in line with your requirements. 

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "synaptics"
  Identifier   "Mouse[3]"
  Option       "AccelFactor" "0.0010"
  Option       "BottomEdge" "4000"
  Option       "Device" "/dev/psaux"
  Option       "Edges" "1900 5400 1800 3900"
  Option       "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
  Option       "Finger" "25 30"
  Option       "FingerHigh" "30"
  Option       "FingerLow" "25"
  Option       "InputFashion" "Mouse"
  Option       "LeftEdge" "1900"
  Option       "MaxSpeed" "0.18"
  Option       "MaxTapMove" "220"
  Option       "MaxTapTime" "180"
  Option       "MinSpeed" "0.02"
  Option       "Name" "Synaptics;Touchpad"
  Option       "RightEdge" "5400"
  Option       "SHMConfig" "on"
  Option       "TopEdge" "1900"
  Option       "VertScrollDelta" "100"
  Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Settings required for second mouse

Please note that if you use two mice, one must always be designated as the CorePointer, i.e. the primary device. If you want to make the above changes manually, please note that you must also modify the section Section "ServerLayout" accordingly:

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier   "Layout[all]"
  InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[0]" "CorePointer"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[3]" "SendCoreEvents"
  Option       "Clone" "off"
  Option       "Xinerama" "off"
  Screen       "Screen[0]"
EndSection

With regard to the InputDevice "Mouse[*]" entries, make sure that the mice are designated correctly. If the additional mouse is added via SaX2, all entries are made automatically.

For more information, see the aforementioned SaX2 article or the article "Setting up an Additional Mouse" .

Detailed documentation on the driver is available at /usr/share/doc/packages/gpm/README.synaptics.

Using the touchpad with kernel parameter

Start your system with kernel parameter psmouse.proto=imps. To do this, enter the aforementioned kernel parameter on the initial screen. Please note that in some cases, an international keyboard layout may have been loaded on the initial screen. You can use F4 to select a different keyboard layout.

To make this option a fixed part of the startup process, please proceed as described in the article "Inserting Boot Options Permanently".

For more information, see this TID.


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