[PATCH xf86-input-synaptics 00/12] Clickpad support

[Chase Douglas]

On 02/22/2012 07:59 PM, Peter Hutterer wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 09, 2012 at 06:52:54PM -0800, Chase Douglas wrote:
>> This patch series adds proper clickpad support. Clickpads are trackpads that
>> have buttons integrated into their touch surface. In order to press the buttons
>> one has to be in contact with the touchpad. This causes all kinds of problems
>> today. For example, pressing with one finger and dragging with another is
>> interpreted as a two-touch scroll (where enabled).
>>
>> This patch set attempts to work across all clickpads. The variants I am aware of
>> are:
>>
>> Apple magic trackpad and unibody macbook trackpads
>> - Whole touch surface is one button
>>
>> Synaptics ClickPads
>> - Whole touch surface is a button
>> - Left and right button areas are painted on
>> - Use "Synaptics Right Button Area" property to set the button area
>> - Taps and clicks in right button area will emit right clicks
>>
>> Dell Synaptics ClickPads
>> - Only seen in older Dell netbooks, will never be produced again (hopefully)
>> - Bottom right of touchpad is left button
>> - Bottom right of touchpad is right button
>> - No other area physically clicks or is interpreted as a button
>> - Use "Synaptics Right Button Area" property so taps emit right clicks
>>
>> Semi-multitouch ClickPads
>> - Some Synaptics ClickPads are semi-multitouch, some aren't
>> - This patchset includes quirk handling for these devices as well
>>
>> These features are the most requested features for trackpads on Ubuntu. As it is
>> today, all clickpads are badly broken when used with xf86-input-synaptics. This
>> patchset should bring some sanity to the situation.
>>
>> Note that there is still one ugly issue remaining on some synaptics trackpads.
>> On my Dell netbook if you release one finger and put another down somewhere else
>> at the same time it thinks the finger has moved. We probably need some better
>> filtering somewhere, but I'm not sure where yet.
>>
>> The patches can be pulled from:
>>
>> git://people.freedesktop.org/~cndougla/xf86-input-synaptics clickpad-synaptics
>
>
> For patches not otherwise commented on: Reviewed-by: Peter Hutterer<peter.hutterer at who-t.net>
>
> Looks sane enough, despite the two-finger touch issue pointed out by Bryce.
> We should find a way around this, but it doesn't need to be in this series.

I've made a few fixes and disabled click action on clickpads since I 
last sent these patches. The click action timeout causes a press and 
drag to behave like a small initial drag during timeout and then the 
press starts once the timeout expires. This causes inaccurate selecting. 
I think a better solution will entail adding heuristics like if touches 
are side by side it's a click action, and otherwise it's a 
press-and-drag, but I don't have time to develop that right now.

I will resend patches soon with fixes, reviewed-by tags, etc.

Thanks,

-- Chase