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Synaptics touchpad settings from xorg.conf are not applied

id flag
Alan

I can't set options for my touchpad's synaptics driver. Sorry if this looks like a duplicate but I tried solutions from other questions and none worked. I focused on doing it the 'right way' so using a separate conf file in /etc. The laptop is ThinkPad T480, Ubuntu 20.04.3.

I tried using files:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/synaptics.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-synaptics.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/71-synaptics.conf

Permissions:

-rw-r--r--   1 root root  1776 Jan  9 11:38 xorg.conf

With contents copied from:

/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-synaptics.conf

Also, placing changes directly in this file has no effect.

For a start I just edited a single option, TapButton2. Excerpt from the file:

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "touchpad catchall"
    Driver "synaptics"
    MatchIsTouchpad "on"
# This option is recommend on all Linux systems using evdev, but cannot be
# enabled by default. See the following link for details:
# http://who-t.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-to-ignore-configuration-errors.html
    MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
    Option "TapButton2" "0"
EndSection

Relevant(?) lines from ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log file:

[   101.539] (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
[   101.539] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[   101.540] (==) No Layout section.  Using the first Screen section.
[   101.540] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.

Making config changes from command line with synclient [option]=[value] works. The changes are reset after restart.

After restart the option always comes back to TapButton2=3. Is there something I am missing here? Perhaps config syntax is not correct?

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mchid avatar
bo flag
mchid
If you're using the default Ubuntu desktop, I believe it runs Wayland instead of Xorg. First, try logging into an Xorg session instead of a Wayland session by selecting the desktop from the gear menu or wherever on your login screen to see if that is the problem.
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mchid avatar
bo flag
mchid
When you click the gear icon on the login screen, you should see **Ubuntu** and **Ubuntu on Wayland**. Select **Ubuntu** and **do not select Ubuntu on Wayland**. Does the problem still persist?
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id flag
Alan
I run Ubuntu(non-Wayland) desktop by default so unfortunately this is not it.
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vanadium avatar
cn flag
vanadium
Nowadays, libinput is used rather than the synaptics driver, which is why these settings do not take effect.
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id flag
Alan
@vanadium I previously installed synaptics driver, libinput was the default one. `xinput list` returns `Synaptics TM3276-022 id=12`; `xinput list-props 12` returns properties starting with `Synaptics (...)`.
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vanadium avatar
cn flag
vanadium
Perhaps you may need to remove libinput before synaptics comes in effect?
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id flag
Alan
@vanadium I think I need libinput for the keyboard. In any case, synaptics driver is running because when I change config options with `synclient [option]=[value]` then it works.
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avatar Ubuntu
id flag
Alan

This is not a desired or proper solution but it's for everyone who is stuck as I was and just need to use their touchpad for now.

Edit your ~/.profile and append these commands inside in the following way:

sleep 10 && synclient TapButton2=0 &
sleep 10 && synclient [property]=[val] &

These settings will be applied 10 sec after each login. In my case it's long enough for synclient to load. && means that synclient will wait for sleep to exit. & means that the preceding command is executed in background(subshell), it won't halt other login tasks.

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