4 ms·

This is still the most frustrating thing about Linux for me. I have two Thinkpads, a T460 running Windows from my employer, and a T560 running Ubuntu as my pers

This is still the most frustrating thing about Linux for me. I have two Thinkpads, a T460 running Windows from my employer, and a T560 running Ubuntu as my personal. Their touchpad hardware is, of course, identical. The experiences couldn't be more different. When I first got the machine, I spent weeks fighting with the driver, trying to figure out how a single number can represent four lines on two dimensions to define a region where palm-touch should be ignored. I still haven't gotten pointer precision where I'd like it; I simply know that getting within ten pixels is the best I can hope for without infuriatingly slow rocking and coaxing my finger around. It's disappointing to say the least. Honestly what I'd like most, is a WINE-like shim to simply let me run the Windows driver in some sort of sandbox and take its mouse-events to the Linux input system. Synaptics has clearly done the work to make the thing behave the way I'd like, and it would be the coolest thing if identical settings were equivalent and portable between machines.

ChuckMcM 6y ago
This is one of the reasons I like WSL, it uses the windows drivers for things but I get the Linux user land (and much of the kernel with WSL2).
segfaultbuserr 6y ago
Am I the only one who finds the Synaptics trackpads on many laptops are simply a nightmare in itself regardless of the operating system due to the physical design? Not all Synaptics trackpads are created equal, on some machines, the surface friction just doesn't feel correct, making the pointer acceleration difficult to control. I know I was probably using it wrong and I should've spent an hour tweaking the parameters in the Synaptics Windows Driver, but I don't really know what's the best for me. Even worse, some Synaptics trackpads have cheap plastic that worn out after a year or so, creating an uneven friction, making the navigation a difficult experience. I know I could replace it, but making the touchpad as a consumable item is not a good design. Also, on many ultralight machines, the available space is simply too small to have an adequate space for plamrest. Finally, as a matter of personal preference, I found clicking the button on the touchpad is never a good experience - the pad is clickable, but only on its edge, or you could touch-click, but you need to constantly lifting your finger. The touch gestures are confusing as well, to this day I never figured out any of the gesture I could use. The device driver really should come with an animated tutorial. The only feature I found was scrolling at the edge or double-finger scrolling, but it's only useful if you want to scroll a few lines, rolling the entire page is a tiresome experience (unlike the middle-button scrolling on a TrackPoint). As a result, I only use the TrackPoint on Thinkpad laptops. Although the TrackPoint is not completely free from the pointer acceleration issue in general on Linux (although I never found it to be an issue for me), the overall usability is much better because it doesn't have the physical design issues.
- emmelaich 6y ago
  The trackpad on Macs is one of the major reasons I stick with Mac laptops.
  - PunksATawnyFill 6y ago
    Except it's way too big now, resulting in spurious cursor-jumps, erroneous right-clicks... it's dumb. Even dumber is that Apple didn't do the obvious thing to make the giant trackpad pay off: Make the Pencil work on it! DUHHHH
    - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      > Even dumber is that Apple didn't do the obvious thing to make the giant trackpad pay off: Make the Pencil work on it! DUHHHH I really don't think the trackpad is large enough for this to be broadly useful. Now, if they'd just put a damn touch screen on their laptops...
      - neal_jones 6y ago
        I remember yelling at my computer screen during some Apple announcement while some VP pontificated about how touch is the natural, convenient, intuitive, superior etc. approach all while ignoring the GIANT SCREEN. Honestly I am not wanting for a touchscreen but if you are going to rant about how great “touch” is just swap the screen with an iPad and shut up. While I’m ranting, the other year when I saw the Microsoft Surface Studio (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microsoft+surface+studio&t=iphone&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microsoft+surface+studio&t=iphone&...) I thought, “10 years ago if you made me guess who made that machine I would have said Apple”
  - spacephysics 6y ago
    Same, despite the overheating issue with my model, and the copious amount of OS issues with the more recent releases, I’ve yet to find a laptop that comes close to Apple’s track pad. To a point where sometimes I prefer the track pad over a mouse.
hossbeast 6y ago
So are you backing the project then?
- myself248 6y ago
  I read everything I could about what the project aims to accomplish, and none of it sounds like the things I find frustrating. Making it "more like a Mac" will not solve a single one of my issues. Palm touch ranked super low and pointer precision wasn't even mentioned. So, no.

ChuckMcM 6y ago

This is one of the reasons I like WSL, it uses the windows drivers for things but I get the Linux user land (and much of the kernel with WSL2).

segfaultbuserr 6y ago

Am I the only one who finds the Synaptics trackpads on many laptops are simply a nightmare in itself regardless of the operating system due to the physical design? Not all Synaptics trackpads are created equal, on some machines, the surface friction just doesn't feel correct, making the pointer acceleration difficult to control. I know I was probably using it wrong and I should've spent an hour tweaking the parameters in the Synaptics Windows Driver, but I don't really know what's the best for me. Even worse, some Synaptics trackpads have cheap plastic that worn out after a year or so, creating an uneven friction, making the navigation a difficult experience. I know I could replace it, but making the touchpad as a consumable item is not a good design. Also, on many ultralight machines, the available space is simply too small to have an adequate space for plamrest. Finally, as a matter of personal preference, I found clicking the button on the touchpad is never a good experience - the pad is clickable, but only on its edge, or you could touch-click, but you need to constantly lifting your finger. The touch gestures are confusing as well, to this day I never figured out any of the gesture I could use. The device driver really should come with an animated tutorial. The only feature I found was scrolling at the edge or double-finger scrolling, but it's only useful if you want to scroll a few lines, rolling the entire page is a tiresome experience (unlike the middle-button scrolling on a TrackPoint). As a result, I only use the TrackPoint on Thinkpad laptops. Although the TrackPoint is not completely free from the pointer acceleration issue in general on Linux (although I never found it to be an issue for me), the overall usability is much better because it doesn't have the physical design issues.

emmelaich 6y ago
The trackpad on Macs is one of the major reasons I stick with Mac laptops.
- PunksATawnyFill 6y ago
  Except it's way too big now, resulting in spurious cursor-jumps, erroneous right-clicks... it's dumb. Even dumber is that Apple didn't do the obvious thing to make the giant trackpad pay off: Make the Pencil work on it! DUHHHH
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    > Even dumber is that Apple didn't do the obvious thing to make the giant trackpad pay off: Make the Pencil work on it! DUHHHH I really don't think the trackpad is large enough for this to be broadly useful. Now, if they'd just put a damn touch screen on their laptops...
    - neal_jones 6y ago
      I remember yelling at my computer screen during some Apple announcement while some VP pontificated about how touch is the natural, convenient, intuitive, superior etc. approach all while ignoring the GIANT SCREEN. Honestly I am not wanting for a touchscreen but if you are going to rant about how great “touch” is just swap the screen with an iPad and shut up. While I’m ranting, the other year when I saw the Microsoft Surface Studio (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microsoft+surface+studio&t=iphone&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microsoft+surface+studio&t=iphone&...) I thought, “10 years ago if you made me guess who made that machine I would have said Apple”
- spacephysics 6y ago
  Same, despite the overheating issue with my model, and the copious amount of OS issues with the more recent releases, I’ve yet to find a laptop that comes close to Apple’s track pad. To a point where sometimes I prefer the track pad over a mouse.

hossbeast 6y ago

So are you backing the project then?

myself248 6y ago
I read everything I could about what the project aims to accomplish, and none of it sounds like the things I find frustrating. Making it "more like a Mac" will not solve a single one of my issues. Palm touch ranked super low and pointer precision wasn't even mentioned. So, no.