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HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping...)

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penzoiders
Posts: 4
Joined: 2013-02-07 15:49

HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping...)

#1 Post by penzoiders »

This HowTo is about getting ALPS touchpad to work under debian (tested on sid) using a 3rd party driver and dkms.

You can find this touchpads on DELL devices (I have it on my DELL Latitude e6430, but many other Laptops from DELL Vostro series have same device and also a bunch of HP Laptops are reported).
Anyway the problem with this touchpad is that is recognised as standard ps2 wheel mouse instead of synaptic/ALPS touchpad.. so you won't even find the touchpad tab under mouse settings and you get a stupid pad that is unable to scroll or tap to click (because it is seen as wheel mouse, so kernel does not understand gestures).

Check this in your mouse preferences, if you find just "mouse" tab and not "touhpad" and your touchpad is behaving like Neanderthal Man this can be a solution for you:

I found a way to fix this installing a custom 3rd party (but open) driver and using dkms.

download the latest driver source code package from here (currently newest package is 1.2):
http://www.dahetral.com/public-download
(really say thank you to these people who wrote this driver, God bless them)

put it in a folder of your choiche (eg: /home/youruser/alps-driver)
open a Terminal and cd to that folder
ten just run these commands (keep in mind that you have to be in the folder where you placed the file you just downloaded and to replace X.X with the version you downloaded.. at time of this writing is 1.2):

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install dkms
tar -xf psmouse-alps-dst-X.X.tbz
sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/
sudo dkms add psmouse/alps-dst-X.X
sudo dkms autoinstall
sudo rmmod psmouse && sudo modprobe psmouse
now you'll find the TouchPad tab under mouse settings and you can enable scrolling and tapping.. just because now is considered a touchpad and not a PS wheel mouse.
I personally suggest Single Finger Scrolling ad Two Finger Scrolling behaves strange. But these are my 2 cents.

This driver will survive to the kernel updates because we installed it using dkms.

NOTE: if a new driver comes to the site I linked just download the new one and repeat the procedure.
For cleaniniess remove the old one with

Code: Select all

sudo dkms remove psmouse/alps-dst-X.X --all
where X.X is the number of the old version to remove from dkms.
Then you can also remove the relative folder in /usr/src.

Code: Select all

sudo rm -r /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X
hope this helps.

Enjoy! :D

dvandok
Posts: 3
Joined: 2013-03-11 22:48

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#2 Post by dvandok »

I have a DELL Latitude E6430. It came with Ubuntu pre-installed, but I replaced it with Debian. To get the touchpad to work I installed a package that DELL shipped with the laptop specifically for Ubuntu. It's a very funny package called 'glidepoint' which is actually converted from an RPM:
This package was debianized by the alien program by converting
a binary .rpm package on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:45:58 +0800

Copyright:

Information from the binary package:
Name : GlidePoint Relocations: (not relocatable)
Version : 3.6 Vendor: Cirque Corporation
Release : 13 Build Date: Wed 11 Jul 2012 10:45:57 AM CST
Install Date: (not installed) Build Host: pod-desktop
Group : Applications Source RPM: GlidePoint-3.6-13.src.rpm
Size : 2017938 License: Copyright 2012 Cirque Corporation
Signature : (none)
Packager : connie@cirque.com
Summary : GlidePoint 3.6 touchpad driver
Description :
GlidePoint 3.6 touchpad driver for Linux.
This is funny because the cirque FAQ states (http://www.cirque.com/desktoptouchpad/f ... tions.aspx):
Linux and Unix: Will the touchpad work a on Linux or Unix system?
Cirque desktop touchpads are designed to be compatible with Windows operating systems only.
This package comes with several daemons and a userland configuration tool written in Java. I don't like the behaviour of these programs at all, so I'm going to have a look at your solution. It's great that someone has done the reverse engineering!

penzoiders
Posts: 4
Joined: 2013-02-07 15:49

R: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping.

#3 Post by penzoiders »

My laptop came with Ubuntu too and with the same glide point crap.

But this solution is much cleaner (you won't get the 2 fingers scrolling but who cares).

Anyway I tested it both on Debian wheezy and Ubuntu 12.04.

Just for your consideration in Ubuntu 13.04 works out of the box.
No dkms driver needed.. Maybe with 3.8 kernel issue is fixed.

Bye

Fab
Posts: 1
Joined: 2013-08-30 09:02

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#4 Post by Fab »

Thank's for this great tutorial it was the cleanest solution I could find to my touchpad issue (DELL latitude E5530).
Howewer I'd like to make a few notes :
When I installed the driver on my laptop the driver was the 1.3 version and their name as changed a bit.
Therefore

Code: Select all

sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/
should be

Code: Select all

sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alpst-X.X/
to avoid issue with the dkms.conf included (else autoinstall will never complete).
the tar lign should also be changed accordingly.
It probably an obvious comment for advanced user but it bugged me for one hour.

penzoiders
Posts: 4
Joined: 2013-02-07 15:49

#5 Post by penzoiders »

Details are always welcome. Sometimes also advanced users skip important points because of "too much knowledge". Thanks.

Inviato dal mio Galaxy Nexus con Tapatalk 4

escribblings
Posts: 1
Joined: 2013-10-02 21:44

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#6 Post by escribblings »

penzoiders wrote:This HowTo is about getting ALPS touchpad to work under debian (tested on sid) using a 3rd party driver and dkms.

You can find this touchpads on DELL devices (I have it on my DELL Latitude e6430, but many other Laptops from DELL Vostro series have same device and also a bunch of HP Laptops are reported).
Anyway the problem with this touchpad is that is recognised as standard ps2 wheel mouse instead of synaptic/ALPS touchpad.. so you won't even find the touchpad tab under mouse settings and you get a stupid pad that is unable to scroll or tap to click (because it is seen as wheel mouse, so kernel does not understand gestures).

Check this in your mouse preferences, if you find just "mouse" tab and not "touhpad" and your touchpad is behaving like Neanderthal Man this can be a solution for you:

I found a way to fix this installing a custom 3rd party (but open) driver and using dkms.

download the latest driver source code package from here (currently newest package is 1.2):
http://www.dahetral.com/public-download
(really say thank you to these people who wrote this driver, God bless them)

put it in a folder of your choiche (eg: /home/youruser/alps-driver)
open a Terminal and cd to that folder
ten just run these commands (keep in mind that you have to be in the folder where you placed the file you just downloaded and to replace X.X with the version you downloaded.. at time of this writing is 1.2):

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install dkms
tar -xf psmouse-alps-dst-X.X.tbz
sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/
sudo dkms add psmouse/alps-dst-X.X
sudo dkms autoinstall
sudo rmmod psmouse && sudo modprobe psmouse
now you'll find the TouchPad tab under mouse settings and you can enable scrolling and tapping.. just because now is considered a touchpad and not a PS wheel mouse.
I personally suggest Single Finger Scrolling ad Two Finger Scrolling behaves strange. But these are my 2 cents.

This driver will survive to the kernel updates because we installed it using dkms.

NOTE: if a new driver comes to the site I linked just download the new one and repeat the procedure.
For cleaniniess remove the old one with

Code: Select all

sudo dkms remove psmouse/alps-dst-X.X --all
where X.X is the number of the old version to remove from dkms.
Then you can also remove the relative folder in /usr/src.

Code: Select all

sudo rm -r /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X
hope this helps.

Enjoy! :D
Fab wrote:Thank's for this great tutorial it was the cleanest solution I could find to my touchpad issue (DELL latitude E5530).
Howewer I'd like to make a few notes :
When I installed the driver on my laptop the driver was the 1.3 version and their name as changed a bit.
Therefore

Code: Select all

sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/
should be

Code: Select all

sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alpst-X.X/
to avoid issue with the dkms.conf included (else autoinstall will never complete).
the tar lign should also be changed accordingly.
It probably an obvious comment for advanced user but it bugged me for one hour.

Thank you.

I registered with these forums, just to say thank you for this thread, which I found after Google searching for an answer.

I have a Sony Vaio PCG-7A1M, and have just put a fresh install of Wheezy on it.

Under XFCE4, the mouse and touchpad utils showed the touchpad as an Alps Glidepoint. It was also scrolling vertically, but there was no tap/click. Also, I couldn't find that option in the menu.

However, after following the above instructions, and modifications, it works flawlessly.

Like Fab, I also noticed that the filename nomenclature had changed. However, for the most part this is a moot point as starting to type the filename and then pressing [TAB] will auto-fill the filename, whatever format it may take.

Also, to save on typing I took the shocking decision to become root (su) instead of sudoing every command.

penzoiders
Posts: 4
Joined: 2013-02-07 15:49

#7 Post by penzoiders »

Sorry for not updating filenames.. But process is same so won't matter what name the file has.

Glad it helped!

I moved to mint due to ppa software needs so I don't know the current status of this issue in Debian but I assume is still there.

With kernel 3.8 issue is fixed by default so if you dare you can use a newer kernel :-)
Didn't tested it on Debian, but it may enhance your notebook on many aspects, so maybe worth a try.

Inviato da un telefono a gettoni con Tapatalk 4

humpf
Posts: 9
Joined: 2013-09-29 12:16

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#8 Post by humpf »

hello

running wheezy / kde on a dell laptop vostro 3555, where the alps touchpad is'nt recognized (acts like seen as a regular mouse)

i've followed the installation via dkms of the module and it works fine... But i do not have any "touchpad" tab in the mouse configuration of kde after running the modprobe command.

kernel is : Linux portable 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.46-1+deb7u1 x86_64 GNU/Linux

xorg.conf contains :

Code: Select all

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier     "aticonfig Layout"
        Screen      0  "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
EndSection

Section "Module"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
        Option      "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
        Option      "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
        Option      "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
        Driver      "fglrx"
        BusID       "PCI:0:1:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
        Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
        Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
        EndSubSection
EndSection
As i don't know where to search i would be gratefull for any help !

au6usto
Posts: 1
Joined: 2013-11-18 20:37

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#9 Post by au6usto »

Hello!
I'm running Debian Jessie on a Dell Inspiron r14. I'm trying to follow your guide but I got this error.
Image

kleinpakstoofvlees
Posts: 1
Joined: 2013-12-16 18:52

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#10 Post by kleinpakstoofvlees »

Works like a charm on Debian Wheezy, Dell E5530.

Also, I love you

dpt
Posts: 2
Joined: 2013-12-26 05:01

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#11 Post by dpt »

Thanks for posting this! Just an update: This code or something just like it seems to be included in the latest unstable kernel (linux-image-3.12-1). However, it does not yet recognize my HP Revolve 810 touchpad.

sasanrose
Posts: 4
Joined: 2009-08-30 14:42

Re: HOWTO: Fix Touchpad for ALPS devices (scrolling, tapping

#12 Post by sasanrose »

penzoiders wrote:This HowTo is about getting ALPS touchpad to work under debian (tested on sid) using a 3rd party driver and dkms.

You can find this touchpads on DELL devices (I have it on my DELL Latitude e6430, but many other Laptops from DELL Vostro series have same device and also a bunch of HP Laptops are reported).
Anyway the problem with this touchpad is that is recognised as standard ps2 wheel mouse instead of synaptic/ALPS touchpad.. so you won't even find the touchpad tab under mouse settings and you get a stupid pad that is unable to scroll or tap to click (because it is seen as wheel mouse, so kernel does not understand gestures).

Check this in your mouse preferences, if you find just "mouse" tab and not "touhpad" and your touchpad is behaving like Neanderthal Man this can be a solution for you:

I found a way to fix this installing a custom 3rd party (but open) driver and using dkms.

download the latest driver source code package from here (currently newest package is 1.2):
http://www.dahetral.com/public-download
(really say thank you to these people who wrote this driver, God bless them)

put it in a folder of your choiche (eg: /home/youruser/alps-driver)
open a Terminal and cd to that folder
ten just run these commands (keep in mind that you have to be in the folder where you placed the file you just downloaded and to replace X.X with the version you downloaded.. at time of this writing is 1.2):

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install dkms
tar -xf psmouse-alps-dst-X.X.tbz
sudo mv usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/ /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X/
sudo dkms add psmouse/alps-dst-X.X
sudo dkms autoinstall
sudo rmmod psmouse && sudo modprobe psmouse
now you'll find the TouchPad tab under mouse settings and you can enable scrolling and tapping.. just because now is considered a touchpad and not a PS wheel mouse.
I personally suggest Single Finger Scrolling ad Two Finger Scrolling behaves strange. But these are my 2 cents.

This driver will survive to the kernel updates because we installed it using dkms.

NOTE: if a new driver comes to the site I linked just download the new one and repeat the procedure.
For cleaniniess remove the old one with

Code: Select all

sudo dkms remove psmouse/alps-dst-X.X --all
where X.X is the number of the old version to remove from dkms.
Then you can also remove the relative folder in /usr/src.

Code: Select all

sudo rm -r /usr/src/psmouse-alps-dst-X.X
hope this helps.

Enjoy! :D
Thanks a lot. I used your solution. Right now I can see AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad under xinput --list. Besides, I can see the alps touchpad in my gpointing-device-settings. However, not all the functionality work. For instance, although tapping is enabled under gpointing-device-settings, it doesn't work. Do you have any suggestions?
I also have a DualPoint Stick in my gpointing-device-settings. I thought this might be the root of my problem. But, I am unable to remove or disable this device.

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