On Sunday 14 November 2010 15:36:43 Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2010-11-14, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Before you go to great pains to get this working, you do know that hal
> >> is checking out right?
> 
> Yes, I knew that.  Maybe I'll just live without the touchpad until HAL
> goes away for good.
> 
> My question is why did the Gentoo maintainers decide to use HAL
> instead of xorg.conf?

Because that's what upstream decided to do.  You can still use your xorg.conf 
though - just remove any /etc/hal/fdi/policy/* files that you have created.

> >> Even the person who wrote it realized the mess it was and it is dying
> >> pretty soon.  I think it is policykit or polkit or something to that
> >> effect.  If you want to start using that instead, it may save you
> >> some headaches later on when it is no longer a option.
> > 
> > As Dale suggests don't waste your time on hal and its fdi files.
> > xorg 1.8.x will be going stable soon and that does away with hal
> > configuration.  I recommend that you unmask it and see if you can
> > control your touchpad easier using an xorg.conf and evdev.  However,
> > the synaptics driver is there for a reason ...
> > 
> > http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/desktop/x/x11/xorg-server-1.8-upgrade-guide
> > .xml
> > 
> > BTW, if you want to remain with xorg 1.7.x then I recommend you try the
> > following:
> > 
> > 1. Add synaptics to your INPUT_DEVICES in /etc/make.conf - most often
> > 
> >    than not it will just work™ and no further adjustment of
> >    sensitivity is necessary.
> 
> I did that, but the synaptics driver doesn't get used by default. Once
> you've installed it, how do you get the server to use it? I think I
> should abandon HAL and switch to xorg.conf.  It's so much easier to
> use.

You may need to remerge x11-drivers/xf86-input-synaptics.  Then restart xorg 
and check what happens with the touchpad in your Xorg.0.log.


> > 2. Then run lshal to see if your touchpad is recognised.  In my
> > 
> >    laptop (I use hal) it shows this:
> >==================================================
> >
> > udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_d132'
> > 
> >   info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer'  (string)
> >   info.product = 'Core Processor DMI'  (string)
> >   info.category = 'input'  (string)
> >   info.parent =
> >   '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/platform_i8042_i8042_AUX_port'
> > 
> > (string)
> > 
> >   info.product = 'SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad'  (string)
> >   info.subsystem = 'input'  (string)
> >   info.udi =
> > 
> > '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/platform_i8042_i8042_AUX_port_logicaldev_in
> > put' (string)
> > 
> >   input.device = '/dev/input/event6'  (string)
> >   input.originating_device =
> >   '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/platform_i8042_i8042_AUX_port'  (string)
> >   input.product = 'SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad'  (string)
> >   input.x11_driver = 'synaptics'  (string)
> >   input.x11_options.ClickButton1 = '1'  (string)
> >   input.x11_options.HorizEdgeScroll = 'true'  (string)
> >   input.x11_options.MaxTapMove = '2000'  (string)
> >   input.x11_options.TapButton1 = '1'  (string)
> >   input.x11_options.VertEdgeScroll = 'true'  (string)
> >   linux.device_file = '/dev/input/event6'  (string)
> >   linux.hotplug_type = 2  (0x2)  (int)
> >   linux.subsystem = 'input'  (string)
> >   linux.sysfs_path =
> >   '/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/input/input6/event6'
> > 
> > (string)
> >
> >==================================================
> >
> > In the info section above it tells me that touchpad is recognised.
> > Looking into
> > /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/10osvendor/11-x11-synaptics.fdi I see that
> > by installing the synaptics driver a hal configuration file was
> > created.
> > 
> > Copy this to /etc/hal/fdi/policy/11-x11-synaptics.fdi (you can call
> > it something different if you wish) and add an option line to adjust
> >
> > sensitivity:
> ><merge key="input.x11_options.PressureMotionMinZ"
> >type="integer">25</merge>
> >
> > Play with different integer values to see what works and also look at
> > the synaptics man page for different options, in case
> > PressureMotionMin is not what you need.  Each time you make a change
> > you should restart hal or the xserver to see the result.
> > 
> > 3. Without synaptics a lot depends on what the evdev or mouse drivers
> > 
> >    can do - they may not have pressure related options to play with.
> >    Again I would start with their man pages and follow the example
> >    above, as long as lshal shows which driver has captured the
> >    touchpad events.
> 
> So you're saying that without the synaptics driver there is no
> sensitivity adjustment?

Probably not - I don't really know.  On my hardware I can't do much without 
the x11-drivers/xf86-input-synaptics driver.  I can't recall if without it I 
was able to get some basic functionality, i.e. moving the cursor around, but 
was not getting multiple finger gestures, tapping/clicking, and edge scrolling 
for sure.  YMMV.

man synaptics shows you all the different options and functionality offered by 
this driver.

To set it up have a look at this:

http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Synaptics_Touchpad/Xorg_7.3

Finally, if xorg-server-1.8 is around the corner to be stabilised I suggest 
that you unmask it and use the xorg.conf file that we all know and love.  :-)
-- 
Regards,
Mick