Disable touchpad when mouse plugged in

[tornadof3]

So, brushing against the touchpad is obviously very annoying and can lead to the cursor jumping around whilst typing, and I nearly always use a usb mouse. So is it possible to have it automatically turn off when mouse is active, and automatically on when mouse not plugged in? The difficulty with disabling touchpad in the system -> preferences -> mouse menu is that if I boot up without a usb mouse, I can't click into the menus!!

Any ideas appreciated.

[BramWillemsen]

I am very interested in this too. I'm sorry if this is considered o be thread necromancy but the question is very relevant to me.

[gcvisel]

Bump this one for me too. I'm new to laptops, and am always touching the derned touchpad with my thumb as I type. I can manually turn it off, but having it automatically shut off when there is a usb mouse is a beautiful idea!

[efausett]

Bump this one for me too.
Such an option would be very nice in the mouse control section.

[xMarine73]

This script works in Ubuntu 8.04, 8.10, and 9.04. Just make it executable, add it to your startup applications, and don't look back.

Basically it detects when a mouse is plugged in (you need to modify the script in one spot to do this - it's documented in the file) and disables the touchpad. Unplugging the mouse then re-enables the touchpad. I've also included a touchpad delay when it's active and you begin typing.

Hope it helps!

[cmmckoy]

I know my noob is showing, but how do you make it executable?

EDIT: Nevermind, I saw that you right-click and in the properties there is a checkbox for making it executable. But I do have another question. I'm assuming that in the line where it says

if xinput list 'Microsoft Microsoft? 2.4GHz Transceiver v5.0';

I need to put my mouse's device name, is this correct? If it is, where can I find that?

[cmmckoy]

I read the script all the way this time, saw the thing about xinput list. When I type xinput list, I get this:

ghost@ghost-laptop:~$ xinput list
"Virtual core pointer" id=0 [XPointer]
Num_buttons is 32
Num_axes is 2
Mode is Relative
Motion_buffer is 256
Axis 0 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 0
Axis 1 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 0
"Virtual core keyboard" id=1 [XKeyboard]
Num_keys is 248
Min_keycode is 8
Max_keycode is 255
"AT Translated Set 2 keyboard" id=2 [XExtensionKeyboard]
Num_keys is 248
Min_keycode is 8
Max_keycode is 255
"Video Bus" id=3 [XExtensionKeyboard]
Num_keys is 248
Min_keycode is 8
Max_keycode is 255
"Macintosh mouse button emulation" id=4 [XExtensionPointer]
Num_buttons is 32
Num_axes is 2
Mode is Relative
Motion_buffer is 256
Axis 0 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 1
Axis 1 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 1
"HID 04b4:0033" id=5 [XExtensionPointer]
Num_buttons is 32
Num_axes is 2
Mode is Relative
Motion_buffer is 256
Axis 0 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 1
Axis 1 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 1
"SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" id=6 [XExtensionPointer]
Num_buttons is 12
Num_axes is 2
Mode is Relative
Motion_buffer is 256
Axis 0 :
Min_value is 1472
Max_value is 5472
Resolution is 1
Axis 1 :
Min_value is 1408
Max_value is 4448
Resolution is 1


When I unplugged my USB mouse, the HID 04b4:0033 wasn't there when I ran the xinput list again, so I'm assuming this is my mouse? If so, do I replace 'Microsoft Microsoft? 2.4GHz Transceiver v5.0' with 'HID 04b4:0033'? This is what I have done, and I get this when I run it in the terminal:

X loaded
"HID 04b4:0033" id=5 [XExtensionPointer]
Num_buttons is 32
Num_axes is 2
Mode is Relative
Motion_buffer is 256
Axis 0 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 1
Axis 1 :
Min_value is -1
Max_value is -1
Resolution is 1
Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?
syndaemon: no process killed


Can someone help me? I don't know what SHMConfig is, and I don't want to go messing with something unless I know what I'm doing.

[xMarine73]

The HID is the one I would use, yep.

[xMarine73]

SHMConfig information can be found on this page a little ways down. It should tell you everything you need to know and how to get it running.

[TheSundering]

I followed all the steps but there seems to be a problem with the script. I get this error when I run it.

X loaded
"Logitech USB RECEIVER"    id=7    [XExtensionPointer]
    Num_buttons is 32
    Num_axes is 2
    Mode is Relative
    Motion_buffer is 256
    Axis 0 :
        Min_value is -1
        Max_value is -1
        Resolution is 1
    Axis 1 :
        Min_value is -1
        Max_value is -1
        Resolution is 1
Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?
syndaemon: no process killed

I would LOVE to be able to disable the touchpad. Note: I'm running Linux Mint 7 if that makes a difference.