On my laptop, in synaptiks I have disabled the touch pad while the mouse is plugged in. Previously, in 13.1 this would also disable the hardware buttons, however after updating to 13.2 this annoyingly no longer seems to work, is there anyway to get it to disable them again?
That is still working for me.
It doesn’t work with a bluetooth mouse. Or it didn’t when I last tried that (probably a year ago). It is working fine with my logitech M325 wireless mouse.
have you tried the cmd synaptiks from within a terminal?
The only way I can get it to work is to tell the Synaptics applet to start with boot. (I think there’s a checkbox…) That’s one more applet you have to exit following boot, but at least it disables the touchpad…
once synaptics is running,
in
- System Settings
– Input Devices (under Hardware)
the option ‘disable the touchpad when mouse is available’
should be available
when selected the touchpad will be disabled on subsequent reboots
addendum to post above
upgraded laptops this morning to openSUSE 20141120
after install the option in
-System Settings
–Input Devices
—Touchpad
to disable the touchpad is no longer available
as the touchpad is still disabled when a mouse is connected
its assumed this function is now automatically implemented
hardware tested, HP Pavilion g7 Quad core AMD, Toshiba SM60 Single core Intel
Thanks for the hint that 20141120 is now available. I had not checked the iso download page yet this morning.
after install the option in
-System Settings
–Input Devices
—Touchpad
to disable the touchpad is no longer available
Weird. That disappeared for me somewhere around opensuse 12.1.
So I think you have been upgrading, rather than doing clean installs. I have always done clean installs, though keeping “/home”. And then I have usually delete “$HOME/.kde4” so that I go completely to the new look.
For me, I think it was 11.4 that the “Input Devices” option stopped working. I had to install “hal” to get it working again. And I think it was 12.1 or maybe 12.2 where “hal” stopped being available. I’ve been using “synaptiks” since then, but I did have to do a search for it to load it, since I don’t recall seeing it in the menus.
I’m guessing that you have been upgrading, and using a left-over “hal”. And, finally, that left-over “hal” was removed because it became incompatible with other software.
as the touchpad is still disabled when a mouse is connected
its assumed this function is now automatically implemented
I’ll test that, after I have updated to 20141120. I’ll test that by deleting “.kde4” and starting a new KDE desktop setup.
when cmd synaptiks is now run from within a gui terminal
a new window opens ‘Configure - synaptiks’
with the ‘Touchpad Management’ options
there does not seem to be an option for doing this from within Yast
NB. only tried on 32bit install
I have just updated to 20141120 (and rebooted my laptop).
I did not see that happen.
I tried as a new user. Well, actually, an old test user account where I deleted “.kde4” and other settings directories and files before starting.
When KDE started, the touchpad kept working.
When I started “synaptiks”, there was no configure window. It was pretty much silent.
Looking at the tray (the hidden items in the tray), I found synaptiks, and clicked on it. That brought up the config window. Then I checked the box to disable the touchpad if there is a mouse plugged in. And that started to work.
This is no different from how it has been for me since 12.1.
I’m pretty sure that if “synaptiks” is silently running (as a hidden tray item), and I then start synaptiks a second time, that will show me the configuration window. So I think that’s what happened to you. Most likely, “synaptiks” is being started automatically from your KDE settings. That’s how it normally works for me, once I have completed setup.
there does not seem to be an option for doing this from within Yast
That makes sense, because it should be a per-user setting and not a global setting.
NB. only tried on 32bit install
My tests were 64-bit.
hi nrickert
in agreement on all points after looking at 64bit install
cheers
A lot of the comments here seems to think that the touchpad is not disabled. However the touchpad itself gets disabled, its just the physical buttons that are still working.
I never thought of testing that. I’ll check it when I next boot my laptop.
Maybe it’s a feature, rather than a bug.
I fired up my laptop.
And yes, the touchpad buttons work but the touchpad itself is disabled (by synaptiks).
I never would have noticed that. While typing, I often brush against the touchpad. Without some sort of disabling, that moves the pointer and sometimes triggers a key click due to tapping. Synaptiks turns those behaviors off.
I never brush against it with enough force to accidentally depress one of the touchpad buttons.
Yea, I don’t think I would would do that on most laptops either, though on my laptop you depress the whole touchpad for the left click, similar to a macbook, and it doesn’t require that much force to do so. Also the middle and right click is done by clicking a specific part of the touch pad and that still seems to work, even when moving the pointer and tap to click is disabled. I figure that might be handled in hardware.