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Unfortunately gpointing-device-settings seems to have effectively no documentation whatsover. The man page is essentially empty.

Presumably, there must be some way of setting the default configuration for the GUI but there appears to be no such file on my system (14.04). In particular, I'd like to set things up so that the GUI goes directly to the ALPS touchpad. Also my palm detection setting is lost on reboot.

Thanks for any advice.

Leo Simon
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1 Answers1

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gpointing-device-settings is essentially dead. I contacted the project admins about a year ago on their mailing list asking what has happened to the tool. It hasn't been updated for years and only supports Gtk2, not the more recent Gtk3.

The only answer I received was from one guy who left the team even before the last update and didn't know he still was on the list. Otherwise I haven't received any response and there haven't been any updates since.

So, best forget about gpointing-device-settings and try other tools, e.g. synclient. This is an already installed command line tool and is very well documented. To get a list of supported options and their current values, use

synclient -l

For me, this returns:

Parameter settings:
    LeftEdge                = 1534
    RightEdge               = 5402
    TopEdge                 = 1259
    BottomEdge              = 4613
    FingerLow               = 25
    FingerHigh              = 30
    MaxTapTime              = 180
    MaxTapMove              = 261
    MaxDoubleTapTime        = 180
    SingleTapTimeout        = 180
    ClickTime               = 100
    EmulateMidButtonTime    = 75
    EmulateTwoFingerMinZ    = 282
    EmulateTwoFingerMinW    = 7
    VertScrollDelta         = -119
    HorizScrollDelta        = -119
    VertEdgeScroll          = 0
    HorizEdgeScroll         = 0
    CornerCoasting          = 0
    VertTwoFingerScroll     = 1
    HorizTwoFingerScroll    = 1
    MinSpeed                = 1
    MaxSpeed                = 1.75
    AccelFactor             = 0.0336078
    TouchpadOff             = 0
    LockedDrags             = 0
    LockedDragTimeout       = 5000
    RTCornerButton          = 2
    RBCornerButton          = 3
    LTCornerButton          = 0
    LBCornerButton          = 0
    TapButton1              = 1
    TapButton2              = 3
    TapButton3              = 2
    ClickFinger1            = 1
    ClickFinger2            = 3
    ClickFinger3            = 2
    CircularScrolling       = 0
    CircScrollDelta         = 0.1
    CircScrollTrigger       = 0
    CircularPad             = 0
    PalmDetect              = 0
    PalmMinWidth            = 10
    PalmMinZ                = 200
    CoastingSpeed           = 20
    CoastingFriction        = 50
    PressureMotionMinZ      = 30
    PressureMotionMaxZ      = 160
    PressureMotionMinFactor = 1
    PressureMotionMaxFactor = 1
    ResolutionDetect        = 1
    GrabEventDevice         = 1
    TapAndDragGesture       = 1
    AreaLeftEdge            = 0
    AreaRightEdge           = 0
    AreaTopEdge             = 0
    AreaBottomEdge          = 0
    HorizHysteresis         = 8
    VertHysteresis          = 8
    ClickPad                = 0

You can change a value using 

synclient <option>=<newvalue>

This however is not persistent, so best put all commands you use to change something into a script and have it executed on login.

s3lph
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  • Thanks very much @the_Seppi. Could you recommend which settings would minimize the infuriating way that the cursor jumps around when typiing. It's definitely a touchpad sensitivity issue---on the new Dell E5570 for some reason they made the touchpad impossibly sensitive---and none of the options above look as though they would desensitize the touchpad, except TouchpadOff, which certainly works but throws the baby out with the bathwater. – Leo Simon Apr 01 '16 at 20:35
  • I've never used this feature before, but you may be looking for the PalmDetect option... Just set it to 1 to enable it and then play with the PalmMinWidth and PalmMinZ to find out what works best. – s3lph Apr 02 '16 at 15:47
  • Thanks! In case anybody is reading, I found this useful [forum thread][http://askubuntu.com/questions/205512/touchpad-palm-sensitivity]. Based on it I set PalmMinWidth to the maximum value of 15, and PalmMinZ to the maximum value of 255. The former seems to help some, the latter doesn't seem to make much difference. It's really a pity that these maximum values are set so low, given the ridiculously extreme sensitivity of current touchpads. – Leo Simon Apr 03 '16 at 00:21