Synaptics touchpad tap-to-click is not working in Ubuntu 15.10(Gnome)

Question

I upgraded my ubuntu gnome installation to 15.10 and everything is kinda good except for the touchpad single-tap functionality. Single-tap-to-click is not working. And I have tried all possible solutions like editing synaptics.conf file.

One thing that I noticed is the following, which is kinda strange. For every input device the schema has an original and deprecated entry but for touchpad it just has deprecated. Is this the cause?

I don't know how to resolve this issue. Please help!

org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.input-devices 
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.keyboard 
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.keyboard.deprecated:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.mouse 
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.mouse.deprecated:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.smartcard 
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.touchpad.deprecated:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.touchscreen 
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.trackball.deprecated:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.wacom:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.wacom.eraser:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.wacom.stylus:/
org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.wacom.tablet-button:/

Below is the screenshot of my mouse&touchpad settings:

Also, my synclient results are like,

$ synclient | grep TapButton

TapButton1   = 0  
TapButton2   = 0  
TapButton3   = 0

my xinput command yields the following,

$ xinput list
Virtual core pointer              id=2  [master pointer  (3)]  
 ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer        id=4   [slave  pointer  (2)]  
 ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad        id=12  [slave  pointer  (2)]  
 ↳ MCE IR Keyboard/Mouse (ene_ir)    id=13  [slave  pointer  (2)]  
Virtual core keyboard             id=3  [master keyboard (2)]  
 ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard    id=5  [slave  keyboard (3)]  
 ↳ Power Button                   id=6  [slave  keyboard (3)]  
 ↳ Video Bus                      id=7  [slave  keyboard (3)]  
 ↳ Power Button                   id=8  [slave  keyboard (3)]  
 ↳ Sleep Button                   id=9  [slave  keyboard (3)]

Results of xinput list-props 12 command:

Answers here suggest that your touchpad may be recognised as a mouse. Some of the solutions listed could help — christopherlovell, Oct 27 '15 at 10:37
I don't think that's the problem. I updated the question with 'xinput' output. Please see! — kmario23, Oct 27 '15 at 11:20
Did you try any of the approaches in the link? xinput has obviously identified the touchpad, but gnome hasn't, so the synaptics drivers are probably functioning incorrectly or are not linked — christopherlovell, Oct 27 '15 at 11:28
Please [edit] your question and add output of xinput list-props 12 terminal command. — Pilot6, Oct 28 '15 at 17:32
Why post a picture? You could post it as text. And it is not full. — Pilot6, Oct 28 '15 at 18:59
It's way too huge text to type. I have a couple of device IDs left but it won't be relevant — kmario23, Oct 28 '15 at 19:25
You can copy the text from a terminal using Ctrl + c. It makes it easier to read your question on mobile devices. And please post the whole output; if it's very long, post in a gist and link to it — christopherlovell, Nov 02 '15 at 11:10

score 39 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 04 '18 at 12:39

39

Open a terminal by pressing ctrl+alt+t and type:

synclient TapButton1=1 TapButton2=3 TapButton3=2

it worked for me...

edited Apr 04 '18 at 12:39

Zanna

70,465

answered Nov 19 '15 at 13:30

ryuffhant

551

Thanks! But it doesn't work after a reboot. is there a way to make it permanent? – kmario23 Nov 19 '15 at 17:51
@kmario23 at a guess, you'll need to set synaptics driver module options. Unfortunately I'm on mobile and can't easily confirm that or look up how to do it, but hopefully that gives an idea where to start. – Darael Nov 20 '15 at 10:38
Thanks! This answer helped me make it persistent: http://askubuntu.com/a/772094 – Gabe Kopley Jun 07 '16 at 22:17

kmario23 · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-03T17:58:50.050

19

I finally found a fix to solve my problem:

I added the following line to my bashrc so that it can compile every time I log in.

synclient TapButton1=1 TapButton2=3 TapButton3=2

Although not a pretty hack, but it works fine. Hope the community fixes the bug..

Update: This hack seems to work fine in Ubuntu 17.04 also, which means the bug isn't fixed yet by the community.

P.S. Also see this great solution

edited Mar 03 '18 at 17:58

answered Nov 20 '15 at 16:15

kmario23

1,019
2
10
20

2

since you have found a working setting it is better way is to override synaptics touchpad configuration at /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-synaptics.conf as outlined here – mzzzzb Jul 23 '16 at 15:14
Brilliant, this worked Ubuntu 17.04 – Ben Winding Apr 18 '17 at 09:31

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 27 '15 at 09:56

11

Have you updated the mouse settings? After updating I had the same issue, but it was just that tap to click had been disabled.

Otherwise, according to this thread it could be worth logging out and back in.

answered Oct 27 '15 at 09:56

christopherlovell

969

Thanks! But I don't see those three options[tap to click, two finger scroll, natural scrolling] under touchpad. But scrolling and everything works fine but tap-to-click does not – kmario23 Oct 27 '15 at 10:03
can you please tell me the procedure to update the settings? – kmario23 Oct 27 '15 at 10:16
move your mouse to the top right, click on the settings button, go to mouse & touchpad , settings should be there – christopherlovell Oct 27 '15 at 10:18
I don't see that option there. Please see updated question. – kmario23 Oct 27 '15 at 10:26

score 9 · Answer 4 · edited Sep 10 '19 at 12:46

9

I had same problem in Ubuntu GNOME 16.04 and solved it with similar technique mentioned in Eliah Kagan's answer which was adapted from a comment but with some differences:

Launch "dconf Editor" app. (if not installed, run: sudo apt-get install dconf-tools)
Go to: org→gnome→desktop→peripherals→touchpad
Enable tap-to-click.

edited Sep 10 '19 at 12:46

Kulfy

17,696

answered Nov 20 '16 at 20:31

Jalil Hamdollahi Oskouei

91

works like a charm!! – kmario23 Mar 03 '18 at 17:57
I met a similar problem after installing 18.04. It seems that since my mouse was connected during install, the system saw touchpad as a mouse also. Editing the wanted settings with this method and rebooting without my mouse connected fixed it. – Al F Nov 05 '18 at 11:14
not work in gnome shell 41 – alireza Feb 10 '22 at 04:32

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 20 '15 at 13:59

I had same problem, after I upgraded to ubuntu GNOME wily werewolf. so I make custom shortcut in keyboard for getting back functionality of touchpad, just fill synclient TapButton1=1 on command also fill the name form then choose your favorite keyboard combinations. it's fine enough for a while and wait for update.

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 04 '17 at 17:54

2

I just upgraded to Ubuntu 17.04, a few days ago and face the same issues. This does the trick:

    sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics

It only needs to download this stuff, nothing else.

answered Oct 04 '17 at 17:54

Fthi.a.Abadi

739

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Nov 01 '15 at 09:00

1

In the settings window allows users to setup the mouse. But I need to configure the touchpad. The console helps to first reboot or sleep "synclient tapbutton1 = 1"

As I understand it, the system incorrectly identifies the device,It looks like a bug.

answered Nov 01 '15 at 09:00

Tamahome Mamonov

21

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 30 '18 at 21:37

I have created a script to automate this process. It will be automatically started when the system starts. So, you don't have to run the same command again and again. The link of the script is github.com/Ryko-git/click-on-touchpad .

The installation process is very easy. It is given on the github page.

score 0 · Answer 9 · edited Nov 18 '15 at 04:42

Give this a try, it worked for me on UbuntuGnome 15.10 so i made an entry in startup applications.

Using your favorite editor, create a script with the following contents and save it as e.g. touchpad.sh.

#!/bin/bash

xinput --set-prop --type=int --format=32 "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" "Synaptics Two-Finger Pressure" 4

# Below width 1 finger touch, above width simulate 2 finger touch. - value=pad-pixels
xinput --set-prop --type=int --format=32 "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" "Synaptics Two-Finger Width" 8

# vertical scrolling, horizontal scrolling - values: 0=disable 1=enable
xinput --set-prop --type=int --format=8  "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" "Synaptics Two-Finger Scrolling" 1 1

# vertical, horizontal, corner - values: 0=disable  1=enable
xinput --set-prop --type=int --format=8  "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" "Synaptics Edge Scrolling" 0 0 0

# stabilize 2 finger actions - value=pad-pixels
xinput --set-prop --type=int --format=32 "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" "Synaptics Jumpy Cursor Threshold" 250

# pad corners rt rb lt lb tap fingers 1 2 3 (can't simulate more then 2 tap fingers AFAIK) - values: 0=disable 1=left 2=middle 3=right etc. (in FF 8=back 9=forward)
xinput --set-prop --type=int --format=8  "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" "Synaptics Tap Action" 0 0 0 0 1 2 3   

exit

Make the script executable:

chmod +x touchpad.sh

Now run the script and see if it works.

Original Information found here: http://www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php?title=Configuring_the_touchpad_with_xinput

thanks! But if i do that, tap to click works but scrolling doesn't. any suggestions? — kmario23, Nov 18 '15 at 04:16

score 0 · Answer 10 · edited May 28 '17 at 15:08

0

As an end user, the easiest way I found is to change to " Primary button" right click in mouse touchpad settings.

Double tap still works as primary left, tap in the button area works as right tap.

Ubuntu 17.04.

edited May 28 '17 at 15:08

0xF2

3,154

answered May 28 '17 at 14:25

jeff

1

Synaptics touchpad tap-to-click is not working in Ubuntu 15.10(Gnome)

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