This is on a Dell Laditude D531, and I don't have a functional touchpad.

I have a generic USB driver and using my external mouse, slightly decreasing portability because of one extra component to carry.

Here is my kernel config: https://www.zerobin.net/?8e2136f7e34...RGo7H79Ca/Mxs=

Any help is appreciated!

EDIT: If you know which kernel option to enable or disable, please tell me as much as you can, because compiling the kernel takes up to four hours on this laptop.

If you have an answer please be certain about it! Thanks!

when working on the antiX kernel, we enabled

CONFIG_RMI4_I2C=m

to get a finicky touchpad enabled. However, that was a 4.10 kernel rather than the 4.9 you posted. we also enabled CONFIG_RMI4_SMB in that kernel.

and therein is the extent of my kernel config knowledge.

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And you're certain that the hardware is good? I ask because I've used these in the past, and even with 3.2 kernel (aka debian wheezy) the touchpad worked with the synaptics drivers, and I wouldn't imagine they would have removed it.

I enabled every single option relating to I2C and Synaptics...

Nothing still.

It's been a little more than 1 1/2 months since last message on this thread. I have installed Slackware 14.2 on an Acer Aspire One Cloudbook 431, using legacy MBR boot, and the text-based programs work fine. That does not include gpm, however, or anything to do with the mouse (touchpad). I was not able to discover the exact device of the touchpad with either lspci or lsusb (which is not there). I presume that it is a Synaptics touchpad, or a clone by another manufacturer. The Slackware mouseconfig does not even list Synaptics in its menu, and it defaulted to imps2. I went back to menuconfig, and enabled everything having to do with synaptics (usb,i2c) as modules. I loaded them both, and then each separately, and never got the pointer to move. When I invoke Xwindows, everything is frozen, because the pointer won't work.

Any tips on:
---how to discover what the actual device is (lspci, lsusb, ....)
---whether any _other_ modules are required
---whether some value must be echoed to /proc/who-knows-what
---or anything else related to waking up this device?

I also have another Acer Laptop (722), and it has a Fn key (not F1 - F12) that can suspend the functioning of the mouse. The Cloudbook (431) has the same keyboard layout. Perhaps the device is "suspended" because the memory location that gets toggled by the Fn-F7 combination does not have the "allow-mouse" value in it?

I also noticed that Slackware mouseconfig must rewrite a template for /etc/rc.d/rc.gpm according to what menu option is chosen while running mouseconfig. On my Acer Laptop 722, I have noticed something on bootup like SynPS2, or something like that. Currently rc.gpm has mouse type imps2. I'm pretty sure that imps2 is wrong.

PS: this machine is nearly brand new.

Thanks!

My laptop is definitely not brand new, but I solved the issue by enabling CONFIG_MOUSE_PS2 in the kernel since older laptops have touchpads following the PS2 route.

gpm does detect your mouse as a PS2 touchpad. Try enabling PS2 in the kernel and see what happens.