Enable two-finger scrolling on ALPS touchpad

alps touchpad multi-touch gestures

20,451

First of all, to identify which touchpad you have, run

xinput list

If it shows something like

...
↳ AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint                  id=14   [slave  pointer  (2)]
...

then you most probably do not have multitouch support. The Alps touchpads tend not to have multitouch, while they use the same driver as the Synaptic touchpads.

You can use synclient -l to obtain information on your touchpad.

Still, the definitive way to see how many fingers are supported on your touchpad, is to

Enable SHMConfig in your xorg.conf file
Run synclient -m 100, which will show in real time the status of your touchpad. The fifth column labeled f is for fingers, therefore you can see up to how many fingers you can tap at the same time.

To enable SHMConfig in xorg.conf, see http://mjg59.livejournal.com/118588.html and then add

Section "InputClass"
   Identifier "enable synaptics SHMConfig"
   MatchIsTouchpad "on"
   MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
   Option "SHMConfig" "on"
EndSection

to your xorg.conf. You can remove the above snippet once you performed your testing.

20,451

brobrobrobrobro

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

brobrobrobrobro over 1 year

How can I set up two-finger scrolling on an ALPS touchpad that doesn't support multiple fingers?

The relevant output from xinput list is as follows:

⎡ Virtual core pointer                     id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ PS/2 Mouse                                id=12   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint                  id=13   [slave  pointer  (2)]

and the output of synclient -l is:

Parameter settings:
    LeftEdge                = 153
    RightEdge               = 870
    TopEdge                 = 115
    BottomEdge              = 652
    FingerLow               = 12
    FingerHigh              = 14
    FingerPress             = 127
    MaxTapTime              = 180
    MaxTapMove              = 56
    MaxDoubleTapTime        = 180
    SingleTapTimeout        = 180
    ClickTime               = 100
    FastTaps                = 0
    EmulateMidButtonTime    = 75
    EmulateTwoFingerMinZ    = 139
    EmulateTwoFingerMinW    = 7
    VertScrollDelta         = 25
    HorizScrollDelta        = 25
    VertEdgeScroll          = 1
    HorizEdgeScroll         = 0
    CornerCoasting          = 0
    VertTwoFingerScroll     = 0
    HorizTwoFingerScroll    = 0
    MinSpeed                = 1
    MaxSpeed                = 1.75
    AccelFactor             = 0.156495
    TrackstickSpeed         = 40
    EdgeMotionMinZ          = 14
    EdgeMotionMaxZ          = 79
    EdgeMotionMinSpeed      = 1
    EdgeMotionMaxSpeed      = 102
    EdgeMotionUseAlways     = 0
    TouchpadOff             = 1
    LockedDrags             = 0
    LockedDragTimeout       = 5000
    RTCornerButton          = 2
    RBCornerButton          = 3
    LTCornerButton          = 0
    LBCornerButton          = 0
    TapButton1              = 1
    TapButton2              = 3
    TapButton3              = 2
    ClickFinger1            = 1
    ClickFinger2            = 1
    ClickFinger3            = 1
    CircularScrolling       = 0
    CircScrollDelta         = 0.1
    CircScrollTrigger       = 0
    CircularPad             = 0
    PalmDetect              = 0
    PalmMinWidth            = 10
    PalmMinZ                = 99
    CoastingSpeed           = 20
    CoastingFriction        = 50
    PressureMotionMinZ      = 14
    PressureMotionMaxZ      = 79
    PressureMotionMinFactor = 1
    PressureMotionMaxFactor = 1
    ResolutionDetect        = 1
    GrabEventDevice         = 1
    TapAndDragGesture       = 1
    AreaLeftEdge            = 0
    AreaRightEdge           = 0
    AreaTopEdge             = 0
    AreaBottomEdge          = 0

brobrobrobrobro about 13 years

My apologies to everyone who generously contributed their time to this question. My free time for playing around with things like this has virtually disappeared, so I am unable to test any of these answers. Thanks again for your help!
brobrobrobrobro over 12 years

Since installing 11.10, this question once again intrigues me, and I am willing to test.

Martín Casco over 13 years

Ok, but on Ubuntu 10.10 there is not /etc/X11/xorg.conf ... where we have to add those lines for enable SHMConfig? Regards!
user4124 over 13 years

You can create a xorg.conf with this data. Once you complete the testing, you can remove the xorg.conf. Any changes to this file require to restart the X server (typically, logout and log in again).
Martín Casco over 13 years

I've read some people who has created this field on Maverick and X did not start till, with a Live Session, deleted that field.
brobrobrobrobro over 13 years

OK, my touchpad doesn't detect more than one finger, but can I somehow emulate it by detecting more pressure? (e.g. EmulateTwoFingerMinZ/W which I don't know how to use.)
user4124 over 13 years

Sure. Send the output of synclient -l so that we can see what your existing values for EmulateTwoFinger* are. In addition, write the name of your touchpad (the output of xinput list).
brobrobrobrobro over 12 years

Edited into question above.
Severo Raz over 10 years

Can't we use /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/?