IMPORTANT: No control over touchpad on Dell inspiron 15R makes Ubuntu unuseable

[jasminetea]

I have ubuntu 10.04 on a dell inspiron 1525 -- bought with linux on it ...

I ordered a dell Inspiron 15R ... 64 bit etc decent spec ... in europe you cannot order an 'ubuntu' dell anymore .. was a happy customer ...

Ordered it with windows on it .. didn't want windows - wiped it (I will claim a refund when I get round to it) ...

Straight away I notice problems .... 'tap to click' I think it is
is on the 15R causing the touchpad to interrupt your typing by raising the window which the mouse pointer is over (as if you have 'tapped' to click) ...

On the dell inspiron 1525 'system preferences mouse' you get a 'Touchpad' tab. This on standard install the checkboxes 'disable touchpad while typing' checked, also 'enable mouse clicks' with touchpad ... this gives you control over the touchpad and enables you to stop it interrupting what you type ..

On the dell 15R there is no tab there. This means that the touch pad can't be controlled.

I go to the web as to how to fix this and I am given two options

.. for ubuntu intrepid and jaunty edit the file

/etc/hal/fdi/policy/shmconfig.fdi

and insert:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="input.x11_driver" string="synaptics">
<merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">True</merge>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

reboot (some people have reported that it needs a reboot not just an X restart) and you should be able to use

This does not succeed (on jaunty which I have tried)

'gsynaptics' which -- when it doesn't run asks for 'SHMConfig is not set as True '

which you are told you need for later versions ... in order to do this you are told to perfom the following:

edit the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf (on later versions of linux you will have to generate this file) and add Option "SHMConfig" "true" at Input Device section ...


Sample :

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
Option "SHMConfig" "true"
EndSection

^ the general sample from the web ...

1 problem with this ... on the dell 15R there is no section for the 'synaptics touchpad' and even if you put the above in it doesn't work ...

big problem ... rather disappointed because apart from there having been no straight upgrade path from an ubuntu 1525 to the newest standard cheap laptop (15R) this problem exists ...

I have noticed people complaining about this all over the place .. there is even an ubuntu bugfix for it ... why is this not fixed? I have spent over 24 hours on this and am not happy

[jasminetea]

I read eventually that 'gysnaptics' touch pad control has been deprecated -- use gnome gpointing-device-settings ....

there is a debian install file:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/am...tings/download

this debian package does not install ... I get

"Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libgpds0 (>= 1.5.0)"

I'm on 10.04 lucid lynx (64 bit)

[jasminetea]

I read eventually that 'gysnaptics' touch pad control has been deprecated -- use gnome gpointing-device-settings ....

there is a debian install file:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/karmic/am...tings/download

this debian package does not install ... I get

"Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libgpds0 (>= 1.5.0)"

I'm on 10.04 lucid lynx (64 bit)

Right -- you can install libgpds0 from synaptic -- but it's too early a version -- have installed

libgpds0_1.5.1-2_amd64.deb

from: http://ftp.pl.debian.org

....


now debian package install of gpointing-device-settings says:

Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: gconf2 (>= 2.28.1-2)

gconf2 in synaptic says already installed but 2.28.1-0ubuntu1

... is that earlier than 2.28.1-2? -- 0ubuntu1??

trying to uninstall gconf2 has many dependencies - leaving it alone and now trying to install the 'gconf2' it wants.

[jasminetea]

Right -- you can install libgpds0 from synaptic -- but it's too early a version -- have installed

libgpds0_1.5.1-2_amd64.deb

from: http://ftp.pl.debian.org

....


now debian package install of gpointing-device-settings says:

Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: gconf2 (>= 2.28.1-2)

gconf2 in synaptic says already installed but 2.28.1-0ubuntu1

... is that earlier than 2.28.1-2? -- 0ubuntu1??

trying to uninstall gconf2 has many dependencies - leaving it alone and now trying to install the 'gconf2' it wants.

I'm removing gconf2 so I can install the latest version and it's removing lots of other stuff (ongoing) ... is that right? I just want to install the later gconf2 -- have supposed that you have to remove the existing one before the later one -- uninstalling through synaptic.

[jasminetea]

I'm removing gconf2 so I can install the latest version and it's removing lots of other stuff (ongoing) ... is that right? I just want to install the later gconf2 -- have supposed that you have to remove the existing one before the later one -- uninstalling through synaptic.

right I managed to remove the existing gconf2 now It can't install the later gconf2

-- failed to install package gconf2_2.28.1-3_amd64.deb

reasons:

maybe i re-install ubuntu (again) -- start again ....

Selecting previously deselected package gconf2.
(Reading database ... (Reading database ... 5%(Reading database ... 10%(Reading database ... 15%(Reading database ... 20%(Reading database ... 25%(Reading database ... 30%(Reading database ... 35%(Reading database ... 40%(Reading database ... 45%(Reading database ... 50%(Reading database ... 55%(Reading database ... 60%(Reading database ... 65%(Reading database ... 70%(Reading database ... 75%(Reading database ... 80%(Reading database ... 85%(Reading database ... 90%(Reading database ... 95%(Reading database ... 100%(Reading database ... 111811 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking gconf2 (from .../gconf2_2.28.1-3_amd64.deb) ...
Setting up gconf2 (2.28.1-3) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/gconftool-2 to provide /usr/bin/gconftool (gconftool) in auto mode.
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/sbin/gconf-schemas", line 38, in <module>
for f in os.listdir(schema_location):
OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/usr/share/gconf/schemas'
dpkg: error processing gconf2 (--install):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
gconf2

[jasminetea]

maybe this has something to do with not having installed the later gconf2 common - trying that ....

[jasminetea]

maybe this has something to do with not having installed the later gconf2 common - trying that ....

should I try ubuntu 10.10?

this is RIDICULOUS - this is a BASIC ISSUE - ubuntu is non serviceable on the Dell basic laptop

[uRock]

Your first post says you are using 9.04 on this machine. Is that what you are using or 10.04?

[jasminetea]

Your first post says you are using 9.04 on this machine. Is that what you are using or 10.04?

I installed 9.04 to try the earlier fix -- will go back to 9.04 if if fixes this ....

Later documented fixes on 10.04 I run 10.04.

10.04

But I'm now going to try 10.10 because maybe it has the later gconf etc and can run 'gpointing-device-settings'.

[uRock]

I hope 10.10 works out. 9.04 is one of the best I have used, but it will hit the end of its road very soon.

If you install 10.10 and need help with getting things working, then you may want to start a thread here to insure help from people who have been working with the dev version.

Best of wishes,
uRock