New feature for tablet-mode!

As You might have notices (or if not, I'm gonna tell You now anyway), there are 2 updates for tablet-mode. Version 1.5.1 ist out. Version 1.5.0 fixed some package-internal things (particularly with the config file and the postinst script) and introduced a new feature. Thanks to Nicolò's comment, the new tablet-mode package gives You the possibility to turn off Your laptop's touchpad (that mouse-replacement, not the touchscreen) when entering tablet mode (e.g. when putting Your screen onto Your keyboard). According to him, this should fix the crazy pointer movements some people might have experienced when not turning it off. After updating the package, You should have a look at the configuration file /etc/tablet-mode/tablet-mode.conf and check if the options are set they way You want them to be.
So that was the first update. What about the second? Turned out I messed up a script (again) so the postinst script would not insert the right values into tablet-mode.conf upon updating. I corrected that and everything should be working again.
Just update by the usual means.

That's it! You're done!

"Modern" touchpads V2

Ubuntu 10.10 came out about 2 weeks ago. There were no big changes, at least no visibly remarkable ones. However, some things that worked in 10.04 stopped working in Maverick. One example are the new Synaptic ClickPads integrated into many of the newer notebooks such as my HP TouchSmart tm2-1090eg. According to the comments in Bug #582809, the psmouse driver module does not correctly recognize the ClickPad and treats it as a "regular" Synaptics Touchpad. Fortunately, someone going by the name of "pauls" uploaded a patched source archive for the psmouse module and posted a detailed guide how to install the new module.
I tried it and it works™!
Here's how (copied from pauls' comment in the linked bug report):
Note: You need root privileges to do most of the things

1. Download the patched source archive

   Code:
   $ wget https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/582809/+attachment/1675262/+files/psmouse-2.6.35-22-generic-patched.tar.bz2

2. Unpack the source to /usr/src/

   Code:
   $ tar -xjv -C /usr/src/ -f psmouse-2.6.35-22-generic-patched.tar.bz2

3. Install dkms

   Code:
   $ apt-get install dkms

4. Add the source to dkms, build it and install the module

   Code:
   $ dkms add -m psmouse -v 2.6.35-22-generic
   $ dkms build -m psmouse -v 2.6.35-22-generic
   $ dkms install -m psmouse -v 2.6.35-22-generic

5. Reboot.
   

You can always check wether the module is installed using

Code:
$ dkms status -m psmouse -v 2.6.35-22-generic

If the module is not installed, You can use the steps again to rebuild and reinstall it.
You can also remove the module when a fixed kernel has been released:

Code:
$ sudo dkms uninstall -m psmouse -v 2.6.35-22-generic
$ sudo dkms remove -m psmouse -v 2.6.35-22-generic --all

For more information, updates and troubleshooting, consult the bug report and its comments.
That's it! You're done!

"Modern" touchpads

My new laptop has a fancy new touchpad. The buttons are part of the pad themselves. The whole pad is a button, the action depends on where you press it down. The only thing that separates the buttons from the rest of the touchpad is a small white line (so basically nothing). The touchpad supports multitouch, which works quite well on Windows but doesn't work at all on Linux. When staying on the "button area" with one finger while trying to move the cursor with another finger, the result is a jumping pointer which does everything but move the way I want it to. I finally found a workaround.
This has been tested on my Synaptics touchpad and I have no idea wether it works for anyone else.

1. Check your synclient values and save them somewhere.

   Code:
   $ synclient -l > synclient-values

2. Make the touchpad area smaller so that moving the finger over the buttons doesn't move the cursor.

   Code:
   $ synclient AreaBottomEdge=<value>

   where <value> is a value between the values of BottomEdge and TopEdge. Experiment with the values until you reach the optimal result. Mine was 3836
   
3. Change the value of JumpyCursorThreshold. I have no idea what exactly this value is or what exact effect changes on this value have. I only know that setting this value to 100 made my pointer much calmer than before.

   Code:
   $ synclient JumpyCursorThreshold=100

   You may find that other values provide better results for Your laptop and Your touchpad. Feel free to experiment, You can always reset the values either manually or by rebooting.

You can write a shell script and add it to Your startup programs if You want to keep the settings.
Hint: It is not possible to rotate Your touchpad orientation (could be useful if screen can be rotated), since synclient prevents You from setting values for BottomEdge that are smaller than the value of TopEdge and so on...
Hint 2: It is also impossible to change the area of the buttons. If You need to always press the bottom 0.1mm of the touchpad to perform a click, You better get used to it (or write a patch for the synaptics driver).
That's it! You're done!