Arch Linux

jdubs

Member

Registered: 2015-04-12

Posts: 9

Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

For some reason, I decided it was a good idea to go in via GNOME, under Mouse & Touchpad settings and disable the touchpad. Of course, I immediately was unable to move the mouse, but more frustratingly, the setting for the touchpad also disappeared. Now, I'm unable to figure out how to re-enabled the touchpad! I've tried xinput and synclient to no avail. When I reboot and hit the login screen (using gdm), the touchpad is useable, but once I login it's once agian disabled.

How can I permanently re-enable the touchpad???

Strike0

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-09-05

Posts: 1,491

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

What a tricky GUI! Try this: Open a terminal in gnome and run

$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad send-events enabled

jdubs

Member

Registered: 2015-04-12

Posts: 9

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

you're a gentleman and a scholar. thanks for the easy fix. I'm almost embarrassed how upset i got about this today.

Dowefu

Member

Registered: 2014-03-25

Posts: 68

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

This is only a part of the problem. Firstly, It's impossible to restore this setting in the GNOME configuration tool for further use. Secondly, when I use a hardware hotkey to enable/disable the touchpad on my laptop, GNOME freezes with the message: “Oh no, something goes wrong...”.

Does anybody observe the same behaviour?

epinephrine

Member

From: Frankfurt

Registered: 2012-10-18

Posts: 92

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

jdubs, this just happened to me, I am happy you asked. Strike0, thanks for the quick fix!
This is worth a bug report upstream.

Dowefu

Member

Registered: 2014-03-25

Posts: 68

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

As it turned out, it's needed to install the xf86-input-libinput package. This returned the touchpad setting back to the GNOME configuration tool and also solved the problem with the DE freezes.

However, This didn't solve the problem with the hardware hotkey to enable/disable touchpad. When I press the hotkey (Fn + F1 in my case), the touchpad activity indicator shows up and it always displays that touchpad is inactive. The touchpad itself also doesn't change its state by pressing the hotkey.

Is there any solution for that?

brix

Member

Registered: 2014-05-26

Posts: 69

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

1

As it turned out, it's needed to install the xf86-input-libinput package. This returned the touchpad setting back to the GNOME configuration tool

Worked for me, thanks! Shouldn't it be a dependency, or at the least an optional dependency, of gnome-control-center?

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Enough is more.

ooo

Member

Registered: 2013-04-10

Posts: 1,638

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

As it turned out, it's needed to install the xf86-input-libinput package. This returned the touchpad setting back to the GNOME configuration tool

This worked for me as well.

Shouldn't it be a dependency, or at the least an optional dependency, of gnome-control-center?

You can use gnome without X and any xf86 drivers, so not hard dependency. Also not everyone has laptop/trackpad.  It should at least be mentioned in the wiki though.

Strike0

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-09-05

Posts: 1,491

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

As it turned out, it's needed to install the xf86-input-libinput package. This returned the touchpad setting back to the GNOME configuration tool

This worked for me as well.

Interestingly, having it installed or not makes no difference here, i.e. the button to re-enable the touchpad disappears. I'd say this is a GUI bug.

Bugs are filed for the button disappear easter-egg: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=747502
and a crash with using hotkeys: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=747739

brix

Member

Registered: 2014-05-26

Posts: 69

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

Interestingly, having it installed or not makes no difference here

Nor for me until I logged out and in again -- but you've no doubt done that to no effect.

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Enough is more.

Strike0

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-09-05

Posts: 1,491

Re: Arch + GNOME : Disabled trackpad, setting gone. How to re-enable?

Yup, no difference.