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I've just installed Ubuntu 13.04 on my Samsung Series 9, and I'm having trackpad issues. The community page for the series 9 indicates that the trackpad (including gestures, etc) works out of the box, but I'm unable to scroll with two fingers, min/max with three, etc. When I open up the mouse/trackpad settings, I see options that only relate to the mouse, almost as though a trackpad is not being detected:

{Not enough reputation points to post image, but I only have settings for 1) primary button, 2) Double-click speed and 3) Pointer speed}

However, looking at the output from xinput list, the touchpad is certainly being detected:

salexander@Sammy:~$ xinput list
 Virtual core pointer                       id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                 id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
   ↳ PS/2 Elantech Touchpad                     id=11   [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)]
    ↳ WebCam SC-13HDL11624N                     id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard              id=10   [slave  keyboard (3)]

Any idea what could be going on? Any reason I would be having issues with the trackpad when the Samsung Series 9 Community page indicates everything is alright? Googling didn't provide much help, and I couldn't find any bug reports with this description (I'll be sure to create one).

Thanks in advance for the help!

sAlexander
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  • Browsing around, I believe this is related to the touchpad being loaded as a PS2 mouse rather than a touchpad... see the bug report here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1166442 – sAlexander May 31 '13 at 15:45
  • What do you see when you run synclient -l? In particular, what is the value of "Touchpad Off" and "ClickPad"? Have you modified any Xorg settings? – Adam Paetznick Jun 02 '13 at 19:48
  • @AdamPaetznick, synclient indicates the driver isn't loaded: "Couldn't find synaptics properties. No synaptics driver loaded?" – Case Jun 10 '13 at 20:16

4 Answers4

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If you download the Synaptics TouchPad driver from the Ubuntu Software Centre (search for synaptiks).

This worked well for me. You have to auto start it by putting it in the Start Up Programmes with synaptikscfg init. Apart from that it's simple and straight forward.

Simon
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  • Thanks for the reply Simon. I've installed synaptiks but unfortunately started with an error about no touchpad found. When running synaptikscfg init, it responds with: error: no touchpad found. – sAlexander May 31 '13 at 15:28
  • That's strange. Have you been in to the configuration? – Simon May 31 '13 at 15:35
  • Hey Simon, opening the configuration throws the same error: no touchpad found. Browsing around, I believe this is related to the touchpad being loaded as a PS2 mouse rather than a touchpad... see the bug report here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1166442 – sAlexander May 31 '13 at 15:44
  • Take a look at this. It could be the answer you are looking for http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2067590 The Thread is for 12.04, but the problem seems to be the same. – Simon May 31 '13 at 16:02
  • Not the same issue: the touchpad from that post is recognized currently by xinput. – Case Jun 10 '13 at 21:30
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Please refer to:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1166442

for a possibly working patch.

kendatsuba
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  • Tried the module mentioned in that post already but it does not work. Even after applying patch to the module to make it work with the new kernel, the touchpad still shows up as PS/2 Elantech Touchpad rather than ETPS. – Case Jun 16 '13 at 23:09
  • Have you tried using the dkms package mentioned in this post on ubuntuforums?

    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2111236&p=12692065#post12692065

    Can you post the exact model number of your Samsung notebook? The patch is reported working on NP900X3E-A02 and NP900X3E-A01SE

     – kendatsuba Jun 17 '13 at 10:21
  • Yes, I have also tried that patch specifically. Better than the others, it actually does cause the trackpad to register correctly in xinput - but the trackpad does not work at all and synclient indicates no synaptics driver is loaded, even after making modifications to xorg.conf.d to add 10-synaptics.conf. My Series 9 is the np900x3e-A02US. – Case Jun 17 '13 at 23:52
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I have a similar issue; it turns out this only happens when it's plugged into an A/C power line. The predominate hypothesis on the internet is that noise from the power line isn't properly filtered out, and it can be worked-around by plugging it into a surge protector (I just verified this myself, as I'm typing this on my Series 9 and just plugged into a surge protector).

I was clued into this from this comment:

*****Final Update***** So it seems that Samsung has been plagued with more issues related to the touchpad and many commenters have related it to something having to do with the power connection. Apparently when the AC adapter is plugged in the touchpad goes wacky. When unplugged it works fine. The solution has been to purchase a cheap power conditioner to put inline with the adapter. I added this update because I wanted to save the reader from reading a very long post only to find the answer to their issue in the comment section. Have a great day!

weberc2
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If you are using gnome try to install gpointing-device-settings and see if you can setup the options there:

sudo apt-get install gpointing-device-settings
gpointing-device-settings

I have Samsung New Series 9 too. Few years ago I have had problems when I was trying to set it up in some conf files. I don't remember which. Now with Ubuntu 15.04 and earlier I don't have to set it up any more. I think I can manage with Settings -> Mouse & Touchpad or with gpointing-device-settings.

nobody
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