Synaptics Touchpad in Absolute Mode

Gaudi · July 7, 2016 at 1:20 AM

Hi, I am fairly new to LibreELEC, but participated many times in the former OpenELEC forums.

At this time, I am facin an ackward issue. I cuurently am using v7.90.2 on my ThinPad T440p, and have noticed that the Synaptics touchpad behaves in absolute mode, as opposed to the "usual" relative mode. This proves to be very unconvenient for using Chromium, and would like to revert the behavior to the former relative mode. Absolute mode makes almost imposible to simultaneously select an item in any corner or edge of the screen and click it, as there are no physical mouse buttons available.

I am not sure if this is a bug, or a desired design feature, but in any case, I would rather have a way to chose which mode I like the best.

Some debugging information:

dmesg output:
baFG

kodi.log output (in debug mode):
eKCc

Your help or troubleshooting guidance will be appreciated.

Thank you

**lrusak** · July 7, 2016 at 7:26 AM Official Post

would you mind testing this old milhouse build? LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-8.0-Milhouse-20160423121110-#0423-gf1aef79.tar

I ask because it uses libinput instead of evdev. Perhaps it will work better with your trackpad.

Gaudi · July 7, 2016 at 7:40 AM

Quote from lrusak

would you mind testing this old milhouse build? LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-8.0-Milhouse-20160423121110-#0423-gf1aef79.tar

I ask because it uses libinput instead of evdev. Perhaps it will work better with your trackpad.

Thank you. Tried to download the file, but it is not there. Checked the folder and oldest file is dated from June. Have you got any other link for download?

Is there any chance to check the evdev config in the newer builds to see if it is messed up/broken? (If such config file exists)

Thanks

**chewitt** · July 8, 2016 at 8:37 PM Official Post

Links were down for a bit due to some hosting changes. Everything is working again now.

Gaudi · July 9, 2016 at 9:07 PM

Quote from lrusak

would you mind testing this old milhouse build? LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-8.0-Milhouse-20160423121110-#0423-gf1aef79.tar

I ask because it uses libinput instead of evdev. Perhaps it will work better with your trackpad.

Thanks Irusak, tested the mentioned build and the touchpad works as expected. libinput seems to do the trick.
Is there any chance to check evdev config of the newer builds.
It has to be something related.

Also, tested brightness controls as reported in other thread but they do not work with the indicated build.

Regards

Gaudi · July 14, 2016 at 5:34 PM

Any chance for you to take a look at this issue?
Seems to be related to evdev config.

Thanks

valdi74 · July 26, 2016 at 9:35 PM

Same problem with Synaptics touchpad on Toshiba Satellite Pro 40-C. Currently I'am using Milhouse build #0724.

Gaudi · August 10, 2016 at 10:52 PM

So far no response.
Any chance to provide some troubleshooting steps?

As confirmed, it looks like evdev is the culprit, as I have tested an old build using libinput as suggested by Irusak and issue is fixed.

Thabks

valdi74 · November 22, 2016 at 12:45 PM

Problem is lack of synaptics driver in LE:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=269815&pid=2460825#pid2460825

Gaudi · November 22, 2016 at 10:30 PM

Quote from valdi74

Problem is lack of synaptics driver in LE:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=269815&pid=2460825#pid2460825

It looks like it won't be fixed, as Synaptics driver is considered "bloatware".

valdi74 · November 25, 2016 at 1:46 PM

Gaudi
I compiled LibreElec grom git master with "bloatware" Synaptics driver Here is my patch with libs: LibreELEC_synaptics_patch.tar.bz2
I did it the first time in my life and I do not know if it will work I will not have my Toshiba laptop for a few days, so I can't test the patch by myself. You can test it on your ThinkPad if you want, or wait for my tests.
I wrote small shell script to apply my patch to Milhouse build. You can set variable BUILD_ARCH to any Milhouse build.

Bash

#!/bin/sh


BUILD_ARCH="LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-8.0-Milhouse-20161127233733-#1127-g7eafbcc.tar"


HTTP_PATH="http://milhouse.libreelec.tv/builds/master/Generic/"
BUILD_DIR=${BUILD_ARCH/Milhouse/devel}
BUILD_DIR=${BUILD_DIR/.tar}
BUILD_DEST_ARCH=${BUILD_ARCH/Milhouse/MilhouseValdi}
IMAGE="target/SYSTEM"
IMAGE_MD5="${IMAGE}.md5"
IMAGE_PATH=${BUILD_DIR}/${IMAGE}
SQUASHFS_ROOT="squashfs-root"
PATCH_LINK="http://valdi.piastlan.net/LE/LibreELEC_synaptics_patch.tar.bz2"
PATCH_DIR="xf86-input-synaptics-1.9.0/.install_pkg"
DEBUG_ECHO=""


curl "${PATCH_LINK}" | tar -xvj
${DEBUG_ECHO} wget "${HTTP_PATH}${BUILD_ARCH/\#/%23}"
${DEBUG_ECHO} tar -xf "${BUILD_ARCH}"
${DEBUG_ECHO} unsquashfs "${BUILD_DIR}/${IMAGE}"
${DEBUG_ECHO} cp -r "${PATCH_DIR}"/* "${SQUASHFS_ROOT}"


${DEBUG_ECHO} mv "${IMAGE_PATH}" "${IMAGE_PATH}.old"
${DEBUG_ECHO} mksquashfs "${SQUASHFS_ROOT}" "${IMAGE_PATH}" -noappend -comp gzip
${DEBUG_ECHO} rm "${IMAGE_PATH}.old"


${DEBUG_ECHO} cd "${BUILD_DIR}"
${DEBUG_ECHO} md5sum "${IMAGE}" >"${IMAGE_MD5}"
${DEBUG_ECHO} cd ..


${DEBUG_ECHO} tar cf "${BUILD_DEST_ARCH}" "${BUILD_DIR}"

Display More

PS Script is working with files in current directory, so it is good to create a temporary directory for this:

Code

mkdir /tmp/LE_patch
cd /tmp/LE_patch

Gaudi · November 25, 2016 at 1:49 PM

Quote from valdi74
Gaudi
I compiled LibreElec grom git master with "bloatware" Synaptics driver Here is my patch with libs: LibreELEC_synaptics_patch.tar.bz2
I did it the first time in my life and I do not know if it will work I will not have my Toshiba laptop for a few days, so I can't test the patch by myself. You can test it on your ThinkPad if you want, or wait for my tests.
I wrote small shell script to apply my patch to Milhouse build. You can set variable BUILD_ARCH to any Milhouse build.
Bash
#!/bin/sh


BUILD_ARCH="LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-8.0-Milhouse-20161124210732-#1124-g405c39f.tar"


HTTP_PATH="http://milhouse.libreelec.tv/builds/master/Generic/"
BUILD_DIR=${BUILD_ARCH/Milhouse/devel}
BUILD_DIR=${BUILD_DIR/.tar}
BUILD_DEST_ARCH=${BUILD_ARCH/Milhouse/MilhouseValdi}
IMAGE="target/SYSTEM"
IMAGE_MD5="${IMAGE}.md5"
IMAGE_PATH=${BUILD_DIR}/${IMAGE}
SQUASHFS_ROOT="squashfs-root"
PATCH_LINK="http://valdi.piastlan.net/LE/LibreELEC_synaptics_patch.tar.bz2"
PATCH_DIR="xf86-input-synaptics-1.9.0/.install_pkg"
DEBUG_ECHO=""


curl ${PATCH_LINK} | tar -xvj
${DEBUG_ECHO} wget ${HTTP_PATH}${BUILD_ARCH}
${DEBUG_ECHO} tar -xf ${BUILD_ARCH}
${DEBUG_ECHO} unsquashfs ${BUILD_DIR}/${IMAGE}
${DEBUG_ECHO} cp -r ${PATCH_DIR}/* ${SQUASHFS_ROOT}


${DEBUG_ECHO} mv ${IMAGE_PATH} ${IMAGE_PATH}.old
${DEBUG_ECHO} mksquashfs ${SQUASHFS_ROOT} ${IMAGE_PATH} -noappend -comp gzip
${DEBUG_ECHO} rm ${IMAGE_PATH}.old


${DEBUG_ECHO} cd ${BUILD_DIR}
${DEBUG_ECHO} md5sum ${IMAGE} >${IMAGE_MD5}
${DEBUG_ECHO} cd ..


${DEBUG_ECHO} tar cf ${BUILD_DEST_ARCH} ${BUILD_DIR}
Display More

I am quite illiterate in terms of compiling software, so I guess I will have to wait for your tests.
In any case, I dislike the idea to set aside from "official" builds doing my own or using a different one.

valdi74 · November 25, 2016 at 2:23 PM

Quote from Gaudi

I am quite illiterate in terms of compiling software, so I guess I will have to wait for your tests.

It's precompiled (by me) patch, so you don't have to compile anything. Script gets Milhouse build, decompress it, copies new files with synaptic driver into it and compress back. You can wait for my tests few days. I will let you know if it works.

Quote from Gaudi

In any case, I dislike the idea to set aside from "official" builds doing my own or using a different one.

I don't like the idea doing my own builds also, but for now it's only way to get our touchpad to work. You can try to convince the developers to add the driver to the official release. I have failed to do that
In fact, I did official buld from LE git master

**milhouse** · November 25, 2016 at 3:05 PM

Submit a PR to LE master, and let's review it on github. Even if it's not accepted it gets the changes out in public where others may find it useful for their own custom builds.

valdi74 · November 28, 2016 at 6:18 AM

Quote from milhouse

Submit a PR to LE master, and let's review it on github. Even if it's not accepted it gets the changes out in public where others may find it useful for their own custom builds.

OK, I'll do it after positive tests on my laptop. Thanks for advice.

EDIT: My touchpad is working fine with synaptics driver Now I'm learning how to submit a PR to LE.

EDIT2: I submitted pull request. I tried to follow instructions in CONTRIBUTING.md, but I do not know if I did it correctly. I'm not familiar with git and it was my first multifile commit.

**milhouse** · November 29, 2016 at 12:32 AM

valdi74 thanks, I've included it in my Generic test builds.

Gaudi · November 30, 2016 at 1:49 AM

Quote from milhouse

valdi74 thanks, I've included it in my Generic test builds.

Thank you!
I can confirm that it works perfect on my ThinkPad t450.

Am still missing the brightness control.

LibreELEC