xf86-input-mtrack: The Other Multitouch Trackpad Driver

[eelcoh]

I managed to bind the three finger down swipe to show activities by using xvkbd and xbindkeys.

"xvkbd  -text "\[Alt_L]\[F1]""
       m:0x0 + b:9

However, it seems that the swipe down is directly followed by a swipe up, unless the swipe is really fast and short. Is there anyway to make that less sensitive?

[buzzboy]

Yeah, I knew it was a crap shoot. I'll just wait till you have a lucid release because this is something I'm really needing in my Ubuntu Life

[BlueDragonX]

I managed to bind the three finger down swipe to show activities by using xvkbd and xbindkeys.

"xvkbd  -text "\[Alt_L]\[F1]""
       m:0x0 + b:9

However, it seems that the swipe down is directly followed by a swipe up, unless the swipe is really fast and short. Is there anyway to make that less sensitive?

You could increase the SwipeDist value. The default value is pretty sensitive.

Yeah, I knew it was a crap shoot. I'll just wait till you have a lucid release because this is something I'm really needing in my Ubuntu Life

I've put together some experimental Lucid packages. Try them out. http://www.dev.fatalmachine.org/xf86...mtrack/ubuntu/

[BlueDragonX]

I've put together some experimental Lucid packages. Try them out. http://www.dev.fatalmachine.org/xf86...mtrack/ubuntu/

Anyone have an update on how the Lucid packages are working? I know at least two people out there have downloaded them...

[v41]

Anyone have an update on how the Lucid packages are working? I know at least two people out there have downloaded them...

The lucid packages depend upon libmtdev1 which does not seem to be available for lucid.

[v41]

Using the appletouch driver on a macbook-4.1, I get 2-finger scrolling and 2/3-finger tapping. So it seems that this trackpad has some multi-touch functionality. But it is not supported by the bcm5974 driver, so presumably it cannot be used with xf86-input-mtrack?

[BlueDragonX]

The lucid packages depend upon libmtdev1 which does not seem to be available for lucid.

I'll have the Lucid packages for mtdev uploaded in a bit.

Using the appletouch driver on a macbook-4.1, I get 2-finger scrolling and 2/3-finger tapping. So it seems that this trackpad has some multi-touch functionality. But it is not supported by the bcm5974 driver, so presumably it cannot be used with xf86-input-mtrack?

The Synaptics driver may support some multitouch-like features but that does not indicate whether or not the underlying driver implements the slotted multitouch protocol which is required for full multitouch support (see the readme for more info).

Do an lsusb -v and see what model of trackpad you have and what driver it's using. However, I don't believe the 4,1 hardware or earlier supports multitouch (I've got an early 2008 Black MacBook which I'll can take a look at though, it's a 4,1).

[v41]

To satisfy my curiosity, I found an explanation here for why older trackpads are not truly multi-touch,

most Synaptics touchpads are not truly multitouch. They can provide information on how many fingers are touching the touchpad, but they can't provide the locations of each of the individual fingers. Thus, you can do two-finger scroll and three-finger tapping because you only need one set of coordinates to perform those functions. But you can't do pinch to zoom or rotate because the device doesn't give you the locations of all the fingers.

I'm pretty sure the Macbook-4.1 falls into this category. FWIW, lsusb shows that the trackpad product ID is 0x0229, version 0x111.

[Nopstnz8]

So I've been using the driver from post 39, and it works pretty well, but I know tap-drag isn't fully working yet, dev confirmed v2 will be more stable, but I've been noticing a bug when typing that is really bothering me. When I am typing in say an address bar, facebook comment, or something similar, if the mouse pointer isn't in the box at the same time, or I think when the box scrolls down to show more space, it won't allow me to type anymore, or I will end up continuing to type, but on the completely wrong line. Is anyone aware of this? Is there an even better driver out yet?

[BlueDragonX]

So I've been using the driver from post 39, and it works pretty well, but I know tap-drag isn't fully working yet, dev confirmed v2 will be more stable, but I've been noticing a bug when typing that is really bothering me. When I am typing in say an address bar, facebook comment, or something similar, if the mouse pointer isn't in the box at the same time, or I think when the box scrolls down to show more space, it won't allow me to type anymore, or I will end up continuing to type, but on the completely wrong line. Is anyone aware of this? Is there an even better driver out yet?

That happens at times, and it's quite annoying, but it's not a bug. You're accidentally tapping the trackpad as you type. You may want to increase the pressure requires to trigger a tap and/or decrease the palm detection size (or turn it on if you have it disabled).

The next feature release, v0.2.0, will include support for disabling the touchpad while typing.