[SOLVED] Synaptiscs touchpad not in /proc/bus/input/devices but in lsusb

drghirlanda · 08-01-2020, 02:15 AM

Hi,

I have Slackware current on a Thinkpad X1 Yoga 5th gen and the touchpad is not working. It is listed by lsusb:

Code:

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 06cb:00bd Synaptics, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 13d3:5405 IMC Networks Integrated Camera
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 056a:51bf Wacom Co., Ltd Pen and multitouch sensor
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 8087:0026 Intel Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

But it is not in /proc/bus/devices and it does not appear in /var/log/Xorg.0.log.

Any help is appreciated in troubleshooting this!

ondoho · 08-01-2020, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drghirlanda

Code:

ID 06cb:00bd Synaptics, Inc.

No search results for slackware afaics, but: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=linux+%220...bd%22+touchpad
I don't see anything problematic, although ArchWiki reports some quirks for other laptops using the same (06cb:00bd) touchpad.
I think there might be some relevant dmesg entries?

drghirlanda · 08-01-2020, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

No search results for slackware afaics, but: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=linux+%220...bd%22+touchpad
I don't see anything problematic, although ArchWiki reports some quirks for other laptops using the same (06cb:00bd) touchpad.
I think there might be some relevant dmesg entries?

Thanks for the suggestions! I can't see anything related to the touchpad in dmesg. It does not show up in xinput --list, so I can't set any properties as one of the pages you pointed to suggests.

As additional information, I am using the stock huge kernel and I can see in /proc.config.gz that the synaptics support is compiled in.

I have also tried to load modules uinput, synaptics_usb and synaptics_i2c at boot (from /etc/rc.d/rc.local.modules) but that did not do anything. The modules load without complaints, but nothing happens.

Any insight appreciated, is it possible that the kernel does not recognize the hardware at all? It seems strange with such a common and well supported touchpad, but I can't think of anything else.

drghirlanda · 08-01-2020, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drghirlanda

Thanks for the suggestions! I can't see anything related to the touchpad in dmesg. It does not show up in xinput --list, so I can't set any properties as one of the pages you pointed to suggests.

As additional information, I am using the stock huge kernel and I can see in /proc.config.gz that the synaptics support is compiled in.

I have also tried to load modules uinput, synaptics_usb and synaptics_i2c at boot (from /etc/rc.d/rc.local.modules) but that did not do anything. The modules load without complaints, but nothing happens.

Any insight appreciated, is it possible that the kernel does not recognize the hardware at all? It seems strange with such a common and well supported touchpad, but I can't think of anything else.

As a further update, I have installed fwupd but there do not seem to be any firmware updates available for my machine.

ondoho · 08-01-2020, 12:18 PM

Some simple math:
How long has your machine and/or the touchpad been on the market?
How old is your current kernel version?
Assuming the latter is older than the former, can you upgrade the kernel to at least half a year after the device hit the market?

drghirlanda · 08-01-2020, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

Some simple math:
How long has your machine and/or the touchpad been on the market?
How old is your current kernel version?
Assuming the latter is older than the former, can you upgrade the kernel to at least half a year after the device hit the market?

Thanks for this suggestion. The model came out in January this year, so maybe that could be the problem. I currently have kernel 5.5.54 which is the latest available in Slackware current, but it's from before the latptop was released. I might have to compile a new kernel myself (haven't done that in a few years).

By the way, I have figured out that the Synaptics lsusb entry seems to be for the fingerprint reader, and the touchpad is supposedly Elantech. Support for this is compiled into the kernel but it is still not detected. I have seen a couple of posts about imperfect support for Elantech touchpads but the fixes suggested there start from a situation where at least the kernel detects something. I don't have any dmesg line related to Elantech or touchpad.

ferrari · 08-01-2020, 04:10 PM

I agree with all that ondoho speculated. Not yet supported by the running kernel. Something like the following would likely confirm the issue...

Code:

dmesg | egrep -i "input|firmware"

ondoho · 08-02-2020, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drghirlanda

I have figured out that the Synaptics lsusb entry seems to be for the fingerprint reader, and the touchpad is supposedly Elantech. Support for this is compiled into the kernel but it is still not detected.

Aha!
With that in mind try looking through the search results I posted earlier.
I think I remember there was something relevant in those Arch wiki entries. Something about latest firmware.

Archlinux' kernel is at 5.7.11 now, it's not too far behind what you have, and this same touchpad (06cb:00bd) has been used in other models. If anything I'd guess it's the detection that isn't working, not the driver itself.

All in all, yes, trying to get an even newer kernel might be prudent.

drghirlanda · 08-02-2020, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

Aha!
With that in mind try looking through the search results I posted earlier.
I think I remember there was something relevant in those Arch wiki entries. Something about latest firmware.

Archlinux' kernel is at 5.7.11 now, it's not too far behind what you have, and this same touchpad (06cb:00bd) has been used in other models. If anything I'd guess it's the detection that isn't working, not the driver itself.

All in all, yes, trying to get an even newer kernel might be prudent.

Thanks, I have tried several kernels up to 5.8-rc7 but nothing has changed. Nothing in dmesg and nothing in /proc/bus/input/devices. I'll go through the Arch Wiki entries, but if it's a detection problem do you have any tips on how to solve it?

drghirlanda · 08-02-2020, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drghirlanda

Thanks, I have tried several kernels up to 5.8-rc7 but nothing has changed. Nothing in dmesg and nothing in /proc/bus/input/devices. I'll go through the Arch Wiki entries, but if it's a detection problem do you have any tips on how to solve it?

Maybe I found a clue following the Arch Wiki info. None of the suggestions are directly applicable to me but some mention setting the protocol for a serio device. I have looked at my serio devices and serio1 is recognized as the trackpoint by psmouse:

Code:

$ sudo dmesg|grep psmouse
[    5.528544] psmouse serio1: trackpoint: ALPS TrackPoint firmware: 0x26, buttons: 3/3

And serio0 is recognized as the keyboard:

Code:

$ sudo dmesg|grep serio0
[    4.064360] input: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard as /devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input0

This is running kernel 5.8-rc7. I am not an expert here, but should there be a serio device for the touchpad? In case this is helpful, here is some more info:

Code:

$ /bin/ls /sys/devices/platform/
ACPI000C:00  INT3400:00  PNP0C14:01  PNP0C14:05  coretemp.0	    intel_rapl_msr.0  reg-dummy     snd-soc-dummy
INT0E0C:00   PNP0C0D:00  PNP0C14:02  PNP0C14:06  efi-framebuffer.0  microcode	      regulatory.0  thinkpad_acpi
INT33A1:00   PNP0C0E:00  PNP0C14:03  PNP0C14:07  efivars.0	    pcspkr	      rtc-efi.0     thinkpad_hwmon
INT33D5:00   PNP0C14:00  PNP0C14:04  USBC000:00  i8042		    power	      serial8250    uevent

Given all this, can we conclude that the touchpad is still not recognized by the latest kernel?

Thanks!

drghirlanda · 08-03-2020, 05:30 PM

I have an update, if not a solution: I have tried a live Fedora 32 and the touchpad works great, so it must be an issue of configuration rather than lack of support. I have looked at the the lsmod output for the Fedora kernel but I can't make much sense of it. These seem to be the relevant entries in /proc/bus/input/devices, as detected by the Fedora kernel:

Code:

I: Bus=0018 Vendor=06cb Product=cd8b Version=0100
N: Name="SYNA8006:00 06CB:CD8B Mouse"
P: Phys=i2c-SYNA8006:00
S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.1/i2c_designware.1/i2c-1/i2c-SYNA
8006:00/0018:06CB:CD8B.0003/input/input20
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=mouse3 event7 
B: PROP=0
B: EV=17
B: KEY=30000 0 0 0 0
B: REL=3
B: MSC=10

I: Bus=0018 Vendor=06cb Product=cd8b Version=0100
N: Name="SYNA8006:00 06CB:CD8B Touchpad"
P: Phys=i2c-SYNA8006:00
S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.1/i2c_designware.1/i2c-1/i2c-SYNA
8006:00/0018:06CB:CD8B.0003/input/input21
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=mouse4 event8 
B: PROP=5
B: EV=1b
B: KEY=e520 10000 0 0 0 0
B: ABS=2e0800000000003
B: MSC=20

I don't have anything like this when running either the Slackware current kernel or the latest 5.8-rc7 kernel I compiled myself. I tried to get the source for the fedora kernel (5.6.6) and compile it myself using the Fedora kernel config file, but that did not even boot

I: Bus=0018 Vendor=06cb Product=cd8b Version=0100
N: Name="SYNA8006:00 06CB:CD8B Mouse"
P: Phys=i2c-SYNA8006:00
S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.1/i2c_designware.1/i2c-1/i2c-SYNA
8006:00/0018:06CB:CD8B.0003/input/input20
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=mouse3 event7
B: PROP=0
B: EV=17
B: KEY=30000 0 0 0 0
B: REL=3
B: MSC=10

I: Bus=0018 Vendor=06cb Product=cd8b Version=0100
N: Name="SYNA8006:00 06CB:CD8B Touchpad"
P: Phys=i2c-SYNA8006:00
S: Sysfs=/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.1/i2c_designware.1/i2c-1/i2c-SYNA
8006:00/0018:06CB:CD8B.0003/input/input21
U: Uniq=
H: Handlers=mouse4 event8
B: PROP=5
B: EV=1b
B: KEY=e520 10000 0 0 0 0
B: ABS=2e0800000000003
B: MSC=20

Any help appreciated!

drghirlanda · 08-10-2020, 09:32 PM

In the end I solved this by noticing that the Fedora kernel from the live USB stick detected the touchpad correctly, so I installed the same kernel version using the Fedora config (that is kernel 5.6.6 and it is marked as build 300 in the Fedora config). Just copying the I2C parts that I guessed relevant was not enough, and the diff between configs is too much for me to understand right now. Now the touchpad works, but I have some other minor issues with this kernel that I will have to debug.

Thanks to everyone who contributed!

business_kid · 08-16-2020, 11:55 AM

That behaviour sounds like a firmware issue to me … A mouse is hardly worth having firmware for, but that's about the only way you get an lsusb entry without the thing working.

drghirlanda · 08-16-2020, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

That behaviour sounds like a firmware issue to me … A mouse is hardly worth having firmware for, but that's about the only way you get an lsusb entry without the thing working.

I tried updating the firmware with fwupd but it did not find anything for the mouse. Also, I copied only the config from the Fedora kernel, nothing else, so I don't think I have changed any firmware. I think this machine needs a quirky combination of kernel config settings...

Thanks!