[gentoo-user] Re: How to configure thochpad sensitivity (using hal)?

[Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@gmail.com>]

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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?

>> 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.

> 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_input'  
> (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?