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I just installed Ubuntu on an old Dell laptop where Windows 10 was out of service life. This computer is a touch screen. The screen has been cracked for years. Whenever I did a major window upgrade I had to go into device drivers and disable the touch screen and all was fine. How can I do this with Ubuntu? I'm having the old screen issues with Ubuntu. I'm a newbie. Thanks, Dave

DaveB
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5 Answers5

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As this article states, there is a kernel Module called "hid_multitouch" which handles Touchscreen stuff. Try opening a Terminal, and typing sudo modprobe -r hid_multitouch, then hit Enter, and type your Password. Now see if your Touchscreen still works.

Yes, it does still work: sorry, in this case I can't help you any further.

No, it doesn't work anymore: Great! but there's still a small problem: you would have to do this every time when the system boots up. To make this permanent, go into a Terminal, and do sudo -i, and enter your password to become Administrator, then do echo "blacklist hid_multitouch" >> /etc/modprobe.d/hid_multitouch and finally reboot to restart. After rebooting your System and see if Touchscreen stays disabled.

Greetings Eric

Letsric
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  • Eric, Thanks. The command to disable the touchscreen seemed to work. Making it permanent and my being a newbie, not sure specifically how to enter this command to make it permanent. Also, once I get that done on what type of new installation will I need to redo this process? echo "blacklist hid_multitouch" >> /etc/modprobe.d/hid_multitouch – DaveB Feb 19 '22 at 23:19
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    Open a Terminal, than type sudo -i and hit enter. Confirm your Password. Then, paste the echo "blacklist hid_multitouch" >> /etc/modprobe.d/hid_multitouc and hit enter. You shouldn't get anything back. Next, reboot your system. The Touchscreen should be disabled permanently now. – Letsric Feb 20 '22 at 09:04
  • Eric, Thanks, that did it. Appreciate your help. Touchscreen is disabled. – DaveB Feb 20 '22 at 15:59
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Disabling touch screen on Linux

I have a dell inspiron 5557 laptop with broken touchscreen. The cursor jumps and clicks randomically each few seconds making the BIOS utility and graphic interfaces unusable and here is how I disabled it:

Solution:

  • Press Alt+F3 to open a console;
  • Edit /etc/rc.local to disable the touchscreen device;
  • Make /etc/rc.local executable and reboot.
$ sudo nano /etc/rc.local
  #!/bin/sh
  ls -1 /sys/bus/hid/drivers/hid-multitouch | grep 2A94:5241 > /sys/bus/hid/drivers/hid-multitouch/unbind
$ sudo chmod +x /etc.rc.local
$ reboot

How to find the correct device:

If your laptop is not exactly the same as mine, you may need to find the correct usb device to disable it:

$ lsusb | grep -i touch
  Bus 001 Device 006: ID 2a94:5241 G2Touch Multi-Touch(...)
$ cd /sys/bus/hid/drivers/hid-multitouch
$ ls -1
  0003:2A94:5241.0006
  0018:06CB:7621.0001
  bind
  (...)

then, test it:

$ sudo bash
$ cd /sys/bus/hid/drivers/hid-multitouch
$ echo "0003:2A94:5241.0006" > unbind
$ killall -9 Xorg

In my case, the gnome become unresponsive when I disabled the device. That is why I include a killall -9 Xorg in the above example.

If your device is AAAA:BBBB:CCCC:DDDD, use the AAAA:BBBB:CCCC or BBBB:CCCC as deviceid on the /etc/rc.local script. The last 4 digits changed often to me.

Lucas
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The solution from @Lucas worked for me.

Just to add, when I initially chose a device to unbind, my mouse became unresponsive so I had to use the touchscreen to get back to my shell. I was able to rebind to make it work again.

From his example of devices, it was equivalent to:

echo "0003:2A94:5241.0006" > bind

I then tried the next one and it was the correct one to unbind. Created rc.local, rebooted and it worked!

I have a Dell XPS 15 9520 running Ubuntu 22.04.2

af001
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Disabling the module did not do it for me. Instead this worked https://www.blackmoreops.com/2021/09/24/how-to-disable-touchscreen-on-ubuntu/

sudo nano /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-disabletouch.conf
Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "Touchscreen catchall"
    MatchIsTouchscreen "off"
EndSection
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Just try this method:

  1. Go to your system BIOS menu( Power off laptop and restart, press F1 continously till open BIOS menu)
  2. Search Touchscreen option and disable it. (It is in system related options)
  3. Apply or save changes and Exit from BIOS. It is surely starting and now your touch screen is disable.

Happy Coding.