Getting touch working properly in Ubuntu.

[kinsago]

Right. Here is the plan (and hopefully in the right part of the forum).

I have a Packard Bell Butterfly Touch (screen flips round to be a tablet). It has the following hardware:

• Celeron SU2300 CPU
• Cando Multi touch panel (2 points)
• 3Gb RAM
• Some kind of onboard VGA - good enough for basic tasks
• Rotation/Orientation sensor. Not sure of the make. I think windows said it was ST something...

Now this currently runs Windows 7 and multitouch on Win 7 works very well out of the box. The point of this thread is to get the same level of functionality on Ubuntu so I can liberate my PC!! I'll be starting with a clean copy of Ubuntu 12.04. The only change I'll be starting with is switching to Gnome 3 as I prefer it to Unity.

The functionality I need to be able to remove windows is:

-Multi touch (mainly pinch-zoom): This currently works in pretty much every application. Browsing is when I need it most but when navigating folders it is also a useful tool.

-Rotate: Windows 7 uses an orientation sensor and flips the screen accordingly.

-Click & drag navigating through file explorer/nautilus: I want to be able to navigate through folders without touching the scroll bars. I also want to be able to highlight multiple folders (draw a box round them), double-click to enter folders etc...

-Hold down on screen to right-click: Self explanatory I think.

-On screen keyboard: Windows 7 touch keyboard sits 'docked' a few pixels in from the side of the screen and pops up when you click a text field. it supports multi touch and can be called up by simply clicking on the protrusion. Closing the window simply returns it to 'docked' mode.

(I may update this list as I think of more things)

Hopefully, with a little help, I can achieve this and, in turn, help others to do the same. I'll try and document every significant step. I'd really appreciate any input from the community. I've about 20 tabs open with bits of info to consolidate so I'll add these here as and when.

Thanks in advance.

Kinsago

[kinsago]

Right. First Update:

ST Micro make the G-Sensor but I can't find it when I probe for devices, but I'll look into this later.

For some reason, Precise is being really slow and buggy on my laptop with frequent lockups. I'm going to downgrade to 11.10 and see if this helps.

I've tried playing around with Gnome3 on-screen keyboard but as it's been so unstable I'm ignoring my findings for now.

[linuxninja39]

I just got a Lenovo ThinkPad Twist. I'm trying to get most of what you're talking about working as well. I'm running 12.10. Any luck on finding how to tell when the laptop changes direction?

[LuciferRex]

Any updates on this? I'm fairly curious how it's working out.

[stevebag]

I just got a Lenovo ThinkPad Twist. I'm trying to get most of what you're talking about working as well. I'm running 12.10. Any luck on finding how to tell when the laptop changes direction?

Are you having luck with 12.10 on the Twist. Just got one and want to do the same. I ran Bodhi from the USB and the it seems to work ok with the touchscreen elements. It also has a tablet mode that I briefly played with and seemed to work OK...looking for more feedback and your experience. What worked, what didn't?

[mihaiteo]

Hi guys

I have also a thinkpad twist but it came ith win 8 pro wich is nice.

Saw today the new ubuntu touch and is awsome. Does any one know if it is compatible with this type of laptop (convertible) and how can i install it?

Thx, Mihai