(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

You can use this to adjust Synaptics touchpad driver options. I've fixed a bug that caused a segfault and added a few options such as Two Finger Scrolling and Drag Locking. This package adds a script to /root/Startup that loads your saved touchpad configuration each time you login.

It can be a bit difficult to get all the settings right so be patient with it.

You need to install both synclient and flsynclient for it to work.

I've posted a new version. I added a few more options and cleaned up the gui a bit.

# flsynclient
incorrect size of shared memory error. incompatible driver version?
this is running it while still booting cd. not sure if this matters or not.

also this is using puppies-431.1 that has firefox installed if that matters.
older dell 1150 laptop.

If you get that error it means either the synaptics driver is not loading or you're running a puplet that needs a different version of the synclient. Are you sure your touchpad is Synaptics (I think it is on Dells)? If you check /var/log/Xorg.0.log you can see if the driver is loading or not (and maybe what version it is). I think Puppies did not mess with Xorg, but I'm not 100% sure.

"Can't access shared memory area. SHMConfig disabled?"

Well, I don't remember disabling it!

Heh.

Thanks,

--97T--

I installed Synclient first.

Can you take a look at /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and see if the Xorgwizard configured the Synaptics driver on your machine?

Also be sure you are using Xorg; the synclient doesn't work in Xvesa.

Thanks for your reply!

Anyone ever tell you you're an angel?

Anyhow, it looks like Puppy's Xorg wizard auto-generated the following:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Mouse"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "LeftEdge" "120"
Option "RightEdge" "930"
Option "TopEdge" "120"
Option "BottomEdge" "650"
Option "FingerLow" "14"
Option "FingerHigh" "15"
Option "MaxTapTime" "220"
Option "MaxTapMove" "110"
Option "VertScrollDelta" "20"
Option "MinSpeed" "0.3"
Option "MaxSpeed" "0.75"
Option "AccelFactor" "0.030"
Option "EdgeMotionMinSpeed" "200"
Option "EdgeMotionMaxSpeed" "200"
Option "UpDownScrolling" "1"
Option "CircularScrolling" "1"
Option "CircScrollDelta" "0.1"
Option "CircScrollTrigger" "2"
EndSection

The mouse movement works, tapping doesn't, and neither does scrolling.

--97T--

Well that's odd, it's supposed to also contain this option. You might be able to add it manually and get Flsynclient to work, but it will be overwritten any time you run xorgwizard. Editing the xorgwizard script may be the only way to fix it permenently.

I can't understand why that would be.

I don't think the change would last for too long for me on this machine.

The xorgwizard runs at boot sometimes, unbidden. A problem with my video hardware not really being supported, I think.

Thanks for answering me, though.

Jemimah, can't you or someone else knowledgeable in creating packages like this make it run for us xvesa users? I can't use xorg because it created problems for my dell inspiron 1100 laptop.

I want touchpad scrolling. I like it because it's very convenient to use for quick scanning on a website or document. I don't know why so many people don't like it.

Anyway, if any of you know of an xvesa gui for advanced touchpad diagnostics, or can just tell me how to use xvesa to make my touchpad scroll, I'd appreciate the forward! Thanks!

Jemimah, can't you or someone else knowledgeable in creating packages like this make it run for us xvesa users? I can't use xorg because it created problems for my dell inspiron 1100 laptop.

I want touchpad scrolling. I like it because it's very convenient to use for quick scanning on a website or document. I don't know why so many people don't like it.

Anyway, if any of you know of an xvesa gui for advanced touchpad diagnostics, or can just tell me how to use xvesa to make my touchpad scroll, I'd appreciate the forward! Thanks!

The limitation is with Xvesa, not Flsynclient. As far as I know there is no advanced touchpad driver for Xvesa.

I think your best bet is to try to fix Xorg. What kind of problems did you have?

You know, I don't quite recall what the specific problems with Xorg were, but I know that when I first installed Puppy and chose Xorg, it wouldn't load, and I think I was brought to a terminal prompt, in which I tried to edit Xorg.conf, but I couldn't do anything.

But then, maybe there was a different problem, and what I recall about that first boot after the installation isn't all clear.

I would say I'd like to try switching back to Xorg so I can see if it works or not and maybe replicate the problem from before, but I hate reinstalling stuff and having to go through manual editing of the files. I'm not very Linux-savvy. I have a Dell Inspiron 1100 and my first delve into Linux was the new Ubuntu 9.10, but that had weird issues apparently related to Xorg. And then 9.04 also had some problems, mainly with streaming video, which apparently involved Xorg as the culprit again. All versions of Ubuntu kept giving me problems, or if the OS worked, then it wouldn't work for something else (ie. wireless connection--I use a USB stick--or weird random problems).

I'm so incredibly happy that Puppy is working for me that I don't dare mess with anything, especially after that whole rigamarole, you know what I mean? Well, I suppose to be perfectly honest, I have to admit that the choppy video issue is still sorta there with Puppy, but it's not as bad as it was with the Ubuntus I tried, and I also figure that has a lot to do with my 256 RAM, which I don't want to upgrade so I should just stop complaining and be quiet!

However... if I test out Xorg and can provide you with all of the details you need to help me troubleshoot, then maybe I'm willing to give it another go.

Can your laptop boot from USB? I do all my testing with usb frugal installs.
Or you can just boot from the CD, mess with Xorg, and don't save if it doesn't work. The good news is, most anything you screw up in Xorg won't affect Xvesa.

Jemimah, I tried booting off the CD and chose Xorg. It never seemed to work. I don't know which resolution to choose, but I chose a lot of them, and none of them worked. With some researching about Dell Inspiron 1100 and video problems with Linux, most people seemed to be using 1024x768x24 with slightly different vertical refresh rate than what I saw in the Xorg.conf file.

Oh, and yes, I tried changing the Xorg.conf file, but changing just the refresh rate didn't seem to help.

What exactly happens? Each time I tried a different resolution, and would test it, the test results would be blank at the top of that wizard window, and then if I chose "finished" it would bring me to a terminal whereby I would type "xwin" which would either try to load X but not work and would take me back to the prompt, or it would load a blank screen.

Any tips or suggestions? I know that some tweaking of Xorg.conf has been made to work for Dell Inspiron 1100s, but can I copy/paste the Xorg.conf file that, say, an Ubuntu user is using for their Dell Inspiron 1100 and use it for my Puppy?

Sorry if this topic is being muddled by my video issue. Would it be better to move this to another topic?

More people will see if if you post on the Beginners or Users forum. Have you tried Quirky? It has both a newer kernel and a newer Xorg. Is the 1100 really old? If so, maybe the you'd have better luck with Tuxxx's 214X, which has an older Xorg and an older kernel.

ha, so it was a simple matter of downloading and installing the Xorg_full_dri-7.3 package and then restarting X. Xorg is working fine now after I chose the 1024x768, but not 24 and instead the lower value (was it 16?). Anyway, I also downloaded your program and I've got two-finger scrolling working! Excellent! Thanks for the program.

Now I'm just looking for a way to make my desktop not look so cartoonie...

Thanx for this jemimah. Couldn't get it to work using ttuuxx's 4311/w firefox but having reverted to standard 431 is now working.

Good Job Kevin! That's the first time I've heard of that solution.

Daftdog, I wonder if Tuxx updated the Synaptics driver on his puplet. If he did, he might be able to provide the correct version of the Synclient.

jemimah wrote:

Daftdog, I wonder if Tuxx updated the Synaptics driver on his puplet.

It seems to be an earlier version than the one on 431! Going by dates anyway. ttuuxx built this puplet on 430 I think.
No problem; I'm switching back to the standard 431 anyhow.