[ltp] Touchpad smarts?

[Andreas Ntaflos]

On Wed, Aug 24, 2005 at 05:49:09 -0400, Steven J. Owens wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 23, 2005 at 10:12:21PM -0400, Noah Dain wrote:
> > the touchpad is made by synaptics.  There is a rather powerfull driver
> > for them available for xfree/xorg.  Ubuntu comes with it, although
> > it's in a separate package.  There is also a command-line
> > configuration program, and those configs can be put into
> > XF86Config/xorg.conf.
> > 
> > http://web.telia.com/~u89404340/touchpad/index.html
> 
>      I'm not sure what "Ubuntu comes wtih it, although it's in a
> separate package" means.  Do you mean it is part of the default
> install, although in a differnt package than the xfree/xorg package?
> 
>      In which case, does that mean I don't need to install it and I
> already have all the benefits?

IIRC you need to install the synaptics package (x11-misc/synaptics on
Gentoo Linux, for example), put 

Load "synaptics"

in the "Modules" section of your xorg.conf and then configure an
"InputDevice" section for the touchpad. Have a look at this nice HOWTO
on Gentoo-Wiki (ignore the Gentoo-specific parts if you don't use
Gentoo): http://gentoo-wiki.com/HARDWARE_Synaptics_Touchpad

The official docs of the synaptics package are a good read as well, as
all available options are explained in detail (/usr/share/doc/synaptics-x.xx 
usually). Don't forget the command line tool (synclient) 

It's a really powerful driver and you can configure your touchpad just
the way you like it. I especially love the coasting feature where
vertical scrolling continues at the same speed after you remove your
finger from the pad until you touch it again. 

Don't forget the command line tool (synclient) when configuring and
testing the various options, no need to restart your X server for every
change :).

HTH
-- 
Andreas "daff" Ntaflos 
daff AT dword DOT org
Vienna, Austria