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Thread: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

  1. #1
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    Lightbulb new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    xf86-input-multitouch status:
    beta1 has been released. rc1 scheduled for July 20th.




    The Multitouch X Driver driver uses the kernel MT protocol to bring multi-touch gestures to the Linux desktop.

    You need an MT-enabled touchpad in order to use this driver.




    Features
    • 2-Finger Scrolling
    • Click with one Finger, Drag with another
    • Tap-to-Click
    • 3-Finger-Swipe: BTN 8 through 11
    • Resize: BTN12 and 13
    • Rotate: BTN15 and 15
      -------------
    • On-the-fly configuration (like synclient)
    • Region for "thumb-click -> index-finger drag" should not be fixed size, but rather depending on relative positions.



    Installation

    if you're keen to try it out, grab the sources, and build them:
    Prerequisites:
    Code:
    sudo aptitude install xserver-xorg-dev


    Code:
    git clone http://bitmath.org/git/multitouch.git
    cd multitouch
    make && sudo make install
    afterwards add the following to your "/etc/X11/xorg.conf":
    Code:
    Section "InputClass"
            MatchIsTouchpad "true"
            Identifier "touchpad"
            Driver "multitouch"
    EndSection
    Note: when you run into problems, please think for a moment, before asking. e.g. when ubuntu says, that it doesn't know "git", than that is something you can probably figure out without asking questions here...


    Changelog
    • 15JUN2010 Multitouch v1.0-beta1 released. Tap-to-Click, Tap-and-Hold for Dragging, ... see here
    • 15MAY2010 Multitouch v1.0-alpha3 released. Thumb detection, better support for integrated button trackpads, scaling and rotation gestures.
    • 15APR2010 Multitouch v1.0-alpha2 released. Kudos to Arturo Castro for work on the integrated button trackpad.
    • 01FEB2010 The Multitouch X Driver is now in alpha stage. You are welcome to contribute gestures to the project.



    Disclaimer: this driver is mainly developed by Henrik Rydberg (kosumi68 ), not me. a few people (including me) contributed minor fixes - for more information see the git-log.
    Last edited by bobbytables; June 19th, 2010 at 02:21 AM. Reason: update

  2. #2
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    You should definitely get in contact with Henrik Rydberg since I know he has looked at similar issues in the past and would be the most familiar with all of this (ie multitouch and synaptics etc). He's the one who developed the existing BCM5974 driver for Macbooks and has been looking at multi-touch for a while.

    He's on launchpad as rydberg and also these forums as kosumi68.

  3. #3
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    745

    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    UPDATE 15MAY2010:

    Multitouch X Driver v1.0-alpha3 is released:
    http://bitmath.org/code/multitouch/

    You need an MT-enabled touchpad in order to use this driver. For macs, install the bcm5974-dkms package from the Mactel PPA. To compile the code, you need the xserver-xorg-dev package. Compiling is reported to work for most, and a "sudo make install" puts the driver in the right place. Depending on lucid / karmic, the setting up in Xorg is different, you will find answers throughout this thread.

    The beta1 will be released 15JUN2010, so if you want to contribute, now is the time.

    Happy hacking
    Last edited by kosumi68; May 15th, 2010 at 02:02 PM.

  4. #4
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    Do you mind me asking if there are any package dependencies that could aid in getting it working? I got it compiled and installed from GIT, but my trackpad (MacBookPro5,5; a.k.a. June 2009 Unibody MBP) only clicks and doesn't move. On the positive side, Xorg logs show that it's running. Very interesting developments.
    Sincerely,
    Zachary Waldowski
    Dizzy Technology

  5. #5
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    745

    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    The multitouch (MT) protocol was introduced in the 2.6.31 kernel, but there are only a few MT-enabled input drivers so far, and none of them are available in 2.6.31, which karmic is based on.

    I updated the karmic version of bcm5974-dkms in the ppa to the 2.6.33 kernel version, which is MT-enabled. That should help.

  6. #6
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    Alpha 1 of the multitouch X driver is now released.

    I run it daily instead of the synaptics driver. It has all the features i normally use, which include two-finger scrolling, three-finger swipe, two-finger click and three-finger click. For those of you running the all-in-one trackpad with integrated button, this driver should be the place to implement the hack you are currently using.

  7. #7
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    Kudos on the release... but, still, any hints on dependencies? I actually got errors in compiling this time, which is suprisingly good news. Do I need to install the Xorg SDK? Is there a package for that?
    Sincerely,
    Zachary Waldowski
    Dizzy Technology

  8. #8
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    Try installing xserver-xorg-dev

  9. #9
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    Okay have finally tested it - after compiling multitouch from git and installing it, and installing bcm5974-dkms from the mactel support ppa, I then had to remove /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/11-x11-synaptics.fdi to stop the synaptics driver getting loaded in place of the multitouch driver.

    I can confirm 2 finger vertical scroll works, as does right and middle click using 2 and 3 finger clicks respectively. 2 finger horizontal scroll doesn't appear to work, whilst 3 finger swipe produces a slow vertical scroll in chrome at least but doesn't do forwards / backwards as expected.

    Running xev reports no events during 2 finger horizontal scrolling, but button 6 / 7 events during 3 finger horizontal swipe. I have enabled horizontal scrolling under Mouse preferences (and this works fine with the synaptics driver).

    @kosumi68 - does this sound about right? I'm using current git head at 0627d6038e1e460a1ec279c5670eda2e7f044c94.
    Last edited by alexmurray; February 3rd, 2010 at 12:52 PM.

  10. #10
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    Re: new xf86-input for macbooks and other multitouch-touchpads.

    Great! Yep, spot on. The two-finger horizontal scroll is not implemented, so the behavior is quite expected. I use a custom fdi file in /etc/hal/fdi/policy/11-touchpad.fdi, which loads the multitouch driver instead of the synaptics driver, otherwise my setup is very similar.

    I have been thinking a little bit about the two-finger click versus the drag-and-drop problem on the integrated trackpads, and I wonder about the behavior under some extreme conditions. The questions should determine if the basic behavior is to recognize fingers from different hands, or if the position on the trackpad is more important. So, in OSX,

    1. Place one finger in the center of the pad. Place one finger from the other hand beside the first finger, and press. What is happens?

    2. Place one finger in the center of the pad. Place one finger from the other hand at the very bottom of the pad, move it around a bit, then press. What happens?

    3. Place one finger in the center of the pad. Use the thumb of the same hand to press at the bottom of the pad. What happens?

    4. Place two fingers from the same hand on the pad and press. What happens?

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