Touchpad gone hay-wire - openSUSE 11.0 - Dell XPS M170
 

Fellow openSUSE users,

Heres my current setup...
I have a Dell XPS M170 Laptop
running openSUSE 11.0 w/ KDE 4.0
and ran auto-config in the setup process.

Heres the problem...
My touchpad mouse on my laptop seems be completely FUBAR! Sometimes it responds when I move it, sometimes it doesn't. Other times is so sensitive that when I click on the programs list I can't even navigate because it won't even let me get up to the programs due to the fact when I try to move it up there, it takes it as I'm clicking on the programs menu again and collapses it. Also when I try to Shutdown, I click on the icon in the bottom right hand corner, then try to navigate to the middle of the screen and it takes it as another click before I can get to Shutdown, Restart, or anything else and then the Shutdown options go away. Please offer a config that might work with my laptop and current configuration... or which mouse driver I should select from the hardware options. It really makes the whole OS un-usable in its current state. I appreciate any assistance... Thanks so much.

From Iraq,
~Rich

P.S. I can't download openSUSE 11.1 due to the sucky'ness of the bandwidth out here, it always stalls after about 2gigs or so ;-( Please support your troops! ;-P

Hi Rich, thanks for your service! :)

It sounds to me like one of two problems: the psmouse driver loaded twice (assuming it's on that interface) or a flaky pad. When the machine is running, try (from console) to remove the mouse driver (rmmod psmouse) and then, once you're sure it's gone, put it back on (modprobe psmouse).
If the problem still persists, you may need to try the Synaptics-specific driver out there (I can't remember the URL, but lots of places have it).

Just bear in mind you may just have bad hardware there: it is a pad, and you're out there in the harsh desert--it's an ordinary laptop not, say, a Panasonic Toughbook or something.

Mike