compatible external touchpad mouse
 

Hi Friends,
Having used a Windows operating systems since Win95, I've decided to make the switch to Linux. I haven't settled on a particular distro yet.

For as long as I've used Windows, I've used an external touchpad mouse. But my early research (which includes looking through the HCL on this site) shows that there are not any touchpad mouse drivers that work on a Linux system. I'm hoping someone here can prove that to be wrong.

The mouse I'm currently using (Cirque Smart Cat Pro), and another mouse that I found by internet search/shopping (Logitech Wireless Rechargeable Touchpad T650) will provide basic mouse and click, but not any extra features (that are provided by the driver).

(For example, special features of the Cirque mouse include: running a finger up/down the right border of the touchpad scrolls up/down. Side to side along the top edge is page back/page forward. Side to side along the bottom scrolls side to side. And along the left edge zooms. Then there are 5 programmable tap zones, which I use continuously as well. And also a 3rd button which is programmable too.)

I can't imagine that there's no advanced mouse features which Linux supports, for a touchpad mouse. Does anyone know of a fully featured external touchpad mouse that Linux supports?

Thank you very much :)

Linux has synaptic driver. A quick google revealed lots of hints and success stories with T650. Didn't look up rest of hardware you mentioned.

There is a program called flsynclient that allows you to change many things on your synaptics touch pad. Once you find the settings you need and want, you can edit xorg.conf and store your settings so they are applied at the next boot. I have had to do this for a touchpad on my netbook.

Thanks for the replies.

If I'm not mistaken, Synaptics is the type of mouse that comes preinstalled as part of a laptop computer. I'm not talking about built in mouses. (Whose body can actually use one of those, if the laptop is actually being used on your lap??)

I'm asking about external touchpad mouse.

What makes you think the hardware installed inside of a computer requires different driver when installed externally?

Because the external mouse always comes with its own driver - a cd. If the driver on that cd isn't installed, I wouldn't be able to program the various buttons. And it's the driver that isn't supported by Linux systems.

Maybe it's different with Linux. But on Windows, there's no way for the external mouse to access the controls for the built-in mouse.

Are you wanting to use an external MOUSE, or an extenal TOUCHPAD? You keep saying both, and I'm confused as to which you actually want to use??

I've never used an external mouse that didn't work with at least the basic 5 buttons (l-click, r-click, m-click, forward side button, back side button).

I've used a few external touchpads that worked fine with the synaptics drivers, although they did need to have a custom xorg config to enable multi-finger tapping, multi-finger scrolling, etc.

Forget what you know about Windows and your life with Linux will be much easier. If the same device is connected the same way (say, USB) it will work with the same driver.

What's the difference? When I say "mouse" I mean "input interface device". To me, anything that controls the pointer is a mouse, and there are all different kinds of mice (traditional, touchpad, trackball are all mice).

After the driver is installed, I have available a control center, which is a dialog with 5 or 6 tabs. I can control things like how hard of a tap will make a "click", how fast of a double tap makes a double-click, how fast (or slow) the pointer moves and accellerates. I can program 4 custom tap zones plus the 3rd button. There's an option to ignore it when you accidentally drop your hand or finger on the mouse, I can opt in or out of gestures and customize the gestures. 1 entire tab is to program sounds, if you like to hear various sounds with the mouse (which I personally detest, but at least I can disable them!)

I won't actually know which features I will or won't have, if I use this mouse with Linux (until I actually do it). But a good guess would be everything that the driver provides. The mouse still works without having a driver installed. But it works without all those programmable features.

I don't understand why I have to explain all this. And I don't understand why there aren't some people who use Linux who want advanced mousing using a touchpad input interface device (rather than traditional mouse). I have the impression that a lot of people who use Linux, use Linux so they get all the bells and whistles and have a lot of control. And it seems like that should extend to mice too. So I must be missing some major kind of perspective about this. I'm starting to feel like I've landed on a different planet.

Maybe I will forget how to use Windows, after a while. But for now, it's all I know and it's the only frame of reference I have currently.

No, it will not work with its driver. I've spoken with the guy who wrote and maintains the driver, and he said what I've already explained - the driver isn't compatible with Linux. The mouse will do very basic things, but it won't be able to use the driver.

That's for the Cirque mouse.

But the system specs for the Logitech mouse specifically only list Windows. And I posted in the Logitech forum asking about it, and they said the very same thing. On Linux, the mouse will do basic things, but the driver isn't compatible.

So I'm looking for an external input interface device of the touchpad style, which has a driver that's compatible with Linux. :)

What are you talking about? Windows again? Why you talk about Windows driver? Hello! These are Linux forums, we discuss Linux here. It works with synaptics driver, above was explained already how to configure it.

The difference is what it is. Is the keyboard a mouse? No. Is the monitor a mouse? No. a Touchpad is not a mouse. It's an input device, yes, but so is the keyboard, so is the microphone. Not that it makes a huge difference, but it's easier to know what someone's asking if they call it only what it is.

As far as the "bells and whistles", I have all that in linux. I have multiple touchpads (8 of them of varying types), and every one works with single finger tapping, 2-finger tapping, 3-finger tapping, 2-finger scroll, edge scroll (although I turn that off), and most of them work with multi-finger "gestures" as well, the only 1 that doesn't it because it's so old that it predates having gestures being supported from the hardware side.

As has been mentioned multiple times now by multiple people, the windows driver will not be used. What part of this do you not understand? Windows drivers DO NOT work in linux (with some minor exceptions). The touchpad will use the synaptics driver, which if it works with the device (multiple people say it does, I don't know if I have this device since I don't know what ANY of my touchpads are as far as the hardware), you'd just need to configure all the advanced features that you want to use. Nearly EVERY touchpad in existence that works with linux uses the synaptics driver. Doesn't matter if it's a synaptics, an elantech, Alps, or... something else since that's all I can think of. It uses the synaptics driver.

YES! I know that. I'm the one saying it! And I've said it multiple times (despite Emerson's claim that it does). What is it that YOU don't understand?

So you're saying that there is only 1 mou....excuse me "input device" driver that works on Linux, and that is Synaptics? What I don't understand is how a device made by one company is automatically going to work with a driver made for another device by another company. And you're saying the same driver works on multiple different kind of input devices? I'm having a hard time understanding that....especially because these are proprietary devices. I think it would be really rare for proprietary driver to work with anything except its own device. Maybe it would work with any device made by that company. But it's hard to imagine it would work with a device made by another company.

I don't mean to insult your intelligence, and I don't mean to say that I don't believe you. I mean to say that I just don't understand. This seemed like a good place for a new Linux user to to start learning, but maybe I misunderstood that too.

So I think what you're all saying (in your own language), is that there is no Linux compatible driver for an external touchpad input device (except for Synaptics).

No, there are MANY input device drivers. There is only 1 common TOUCHPAD driver (ergo why it was important if you're trying to use a mouse or touchpad, mice use completely different drivers). Synaptics. It has the capability to work with Alps, Elantech, Synaptics, etc. devices. Just about anything touchpad it will work with. It does not work with anything OTHER than touchpads, however. Yes, this driver will work with different proprietary devices, because those proprietary devices still (usually) follow a common set of controls, so it just needs to know how to read the device, and how to interpret it. Sometimes EXTREMELY new or rare hardware will not work with it, but after enough people have them so that the developers get to test them, then support is added. BASIC functionality is all that is (usually) present without a xorg configuration file, but if the hardware supports a feature, it can probably be turned off or on in said config file.

What? I never said Windows driver works. I do not think Windows, I even do not remember much of Windows any more! I said synaptics is the driver and it works despite your device being internal or external. It obviously takes a Windows-infected brain to misunderstand Linux talk.

Well, I guess it's hopeless then. After 20 years with Windows, how dare me consider using Linux.