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Touchpad must die!!!

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Mike Jones

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Nov 22, 2009, 7:56:13 PM11/22/09
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Crappy old Toshiba laptop (good machine actually), with Slack 12.2.

Trying to kill the touchpad without using a crowbar or power tools.

Found loads of "install this" "install that" "enable the other" "how to
do anything but actually *kill the thing dead*" stuff, most of which
involve reams of multiple config jiggery pokery, but nothing simple.

Annoyingly, I've just wiped an old VectorLinux install in which I'd
already sorted this one out some time back with some config cludgery
involving being pretty specific about the mouse, but can't recover it
now, nor remember what I did. (Some switch from "mice" to "mouse" AFAIKR.)

Anybody got any favourite tricks before I take this thing into the garage
for some "fine tuning"?

--
*=( http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
*=( For all your UK news needs.

notbob

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Nov 22, 2009, 8:05:21 PM11/22/09
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On 2009-11-23, Mike Jones <N...@Arizona.Bay> wrote:

> Trying to kill the touchpad without using a crowbar or power tools.
>

> Anybody got any favourite tricks before I take this thing into the garage
> for some "fine tuning"?

Heh heh....

As a person who despises touch pads, I'll be watching this thread. I
was actually considering a Toshiba laptop, but not if a crap-pad is the
only option.

Is there any laptop in existence that comes with ANYTHING other than
that POS touchpad? I know thinkpads come with that good ol' j-stick
(touchpoint?), but that's along with the much dreaded touchpad. I'm
talking N0/NONE/NADA touch pad and all the friggin real estate it
wastes/takes up.

nb

Aaron W. Hsu

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Nov 22, 2009, 9:36:01 PM11/22/09
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Mike Jones <N...@Arizona.Bay> writes:

>Crappy old Toshiba laptop (good machine actually), with Slack 12.2.

>Trying to kill the touchpad without using a crowbar or power tools.

What do you mean "kill the touchpad?" Do you mean that you wish to
disable it while using X Windows? If so, you should just be able to edit
your xorg.conf file, and remove the reference to the mouse device, and
instead, explicitely specify your external mouse for use.

Aaron W. Hsu

Aaron W. Hsu

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Nov 22, 2009, 9:37:26 PM11/22/09
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notbob <not...@nothome.com> writes:

>Is there any laptop in existence that comes with ANYTHING other than
>that POS touchpad? I know thinkpads come with that good ol' j-stick
>(touchpoint?), but that's along with the much dreaded touchpad. I'm
>talking N0/NONE/NADA touch pad and all the friggin real estate it
>wastes/takes up.

There are thinkpad models that come with only the trackpoint. There are
other Thinkpad models that come with a built in graphics tablet as well
as a trackpad and a track point.

Aaron W. Hsu

notbob

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Nov 22, 2009, 10:15:53 PM11/22/09
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On 2009-11-23, Aaron W Hsu <arcfide@local> wrote:
>
> There are thinkpad models that come with only the trackpoint.

Which models would that be? After scouring their site, I've yet to
find it. Your help would be appreciated.

nb

Helmut Hullen

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Nov 23, 2009, 1:05:00 AM11/23/09
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Hallo, notbob,

Du meintest am 23.11.09:

>> There are thinkpad models that come with only the trackpoint.

> Which models would that be? After scouring their site, I've yet to
> find it. Your help would be appreciated.

Thinkpad T2*, p.e.

Viele Gruesse
Helmut

"Ubuntu" - an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".

Mike Jones

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Nov 23, 2009, 5:34:06 AM11/23/09
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Responding to Aaron W. Hsu:

Yup! Pretty much what I just did. (Though I'd like to /destroy/ it! >:)

# Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mouse1"

The trick is in the /dev/input dir, where I have mouse0 mouse1 mouse2

Just pick the one you want, instead of "mice" which gets you everything.

The touchpad is dead! Long live the USM mouse! Wuhoo!

(I just KNEW there was a one line solution!)

Thomas Ronayne

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Nov 23, 2009, 10:36:05 AM11/23/09
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Mike Jones wrote:
> Anybody got any favourite tricks before I take this thing into the garage
> for some "fine tuning"?
Look and see if you've got the sysclient utility; if you don't, get
http://slackbuilds.org/repository/12.1/system/xf86-input-synaptics -- it
may already be installed in 12.2 (it is for sure in 13.0).

Execute

synclient TouchpadOff=1

and your &*$&^$^# touchpad turns off.

Mike Jones

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Nov 23, 2009, 10:58:58 AM11/23/09
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Responding to Thomas Ronayne:


No, it doesn't. Not unless you want to spend several hours figuring out
what doesn't work that should, and (re)constructing a list of configs,
etc.

Its not just me either, as many of my search results featured this kind
of overkill solution (which often just caused more problems for the other
solution seekers), and all the messing about that entails.

See my "make notbob happy" post for my one-line solution.

Cheers.

goarilla

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Nov 23, 2009, 2:25:08 PM11/23/09
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enterprise dell's come with a trackpoint and a touchpad

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