Greetings,

I am new to Linux. I have just installed debian "Sarge" on my Toshiba note book A15-S157. I would like to disable touch pad "clicking". I think I can do this by using tpconfig. I have installed this package from debian. From what I have read, I should run this program at startup. Could someone provide me with an example of what I should run, and where I should run it. I am not familiar with startup scripts yet so I will need some detailed help. Thanks.

Peter

try to do this and read a bit;

man tpconfig

It should give you a nice file :-)

Or you could take a look in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 and see what it says about your touchpad there :-)

and I have over a period of time tried every suggestion on eliminating it. Most of the time the files I am told to edit either don't exist, or editing them does not eliminate the clicking. I will try this latest suggestion.

As fa as XFConfig-4, mine had nothing that really affects the auto- click functioning.

To make it clear, I am talking that the little square that moves the cursor on a laptop when you run a finger across it, engages in random clicking as if I had left clicked. and no matter how careful I am, it does it, in both Win and linux. i waste a lot of time with this, and it is even worse when it clicks on a POST button before I am ready.

HOwever, the really worst problem is when I am typing, and the slightest touch with my wrist on this square grabs the typing cursor and repositions it somewhere else on the page, thus typing stuff in the wrong place. CTRL-Z should hypothetically undo, but at times that eliminates a large amount of material already types.

In general auto clicking on that cursor square is a bummer.

I know what you mean, and I can see why this is such a big problem. I think you may have a too high tap-time. If i tap my touchpad two times, it works as a right-click on my mouse.

You could try to add the touchpad to your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 , and then just comment the line where the tap-stuff is, or modify it.

Here is what my /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 says about my touchpad:

Here is a sample script I found. How and where do I run it?


#!/bin/sh
# touchpad
# description: Startup script to disable touchpad tapping
# For Synaptics or ALPS touchpads.
#
# $Log$
#
# $Id$
#
#

test -r /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions && . /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions


echo ""
echo -n "Turning off Touch-Pad 'tapping' "

if [ -f /usr/bin/tpconfig ]; then
/usr/bin/tpconfig --tapmode=0
if [ $? ]; then
echo_failure
else
echo_success
fi
else
echo_failure
fi
echo ""
exit 0

Do you have a file called /etc/rc.d/rc.local. If so then you save the script you found someplace as root, maybe /usr/bin, make the file executable chmod 755 filename. Then in your rc.local file add the line:

/usr/bin/filename

This will execute the file upon startup.

HTH

I do not have the above file. I think in debian it is recommended that these type of scripts go into /etc/init.d/rcS. I tried the following:

In /etc/init.d/rcS I have placed /home/peter/touchpad.sh. This does not work, and gives a message seen at start up something like "/etc/init.d/rcS run line 14 /home/peter/touchpad.sh not a file or directory found".

I have actually placed the entire script in /etc/init.d/rcS. This does not work, and gives a message seen at start up something like "can not find /usr/bin/tpconfig".

(note: I see these messages at start up but not in the message or kernel logs, why?)

All this strikes me as a path problem of some sort. The path in /etc/init.d/rcS seem to include /usr/bin. Does the path change as you execute another script?

I do not know why running dpkg-reconfigure tpconfig, and setting in the options "--tapmode=0" does not work. This seems to me like it should work, with no need for this script.

If I do need to use this script I just can not seen to get it right. I sure it is some thing I am doing wrong. Suggestions welcome.

Peter

I am satisfied for now. The following write up was able to answer my newbie type questions concerning debian start up.

http://www.aboutdebian.com/linux.htm

Thanks, Peter