Disabling tapping on laptop touchpad with Linux as VirtualBox guest?

vincebs · 08-17-2022, 01:32 PM

Hi everyone,
First post in 10 years here. I'm currently running Kubuntu 22.04 LTS on VirtualBox 6.1.36 with Guest Additions installed, Windows 11 as host.

I have an HP Pavilion x360 14m-dh0xxx laptop.

I'd like to disable tap-to-click on my touchpad. What is annoying is that I'll be typing and then all of a sudden my cursor will jump to where my mouse pointer is. VirtualBox is telling Kubuntu my touchpad is a mouse, which is sort of true because the touchpad area also functions as a huge button (like a Mac mouse), and I'd like to keep that method to click. But it is also not recognizing my touchpad as a touchpad. In Kubuntu settings, it says "No Touchpad Found".

What I've tried is going to /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/40-libinput.conf and adding the following lines:

Code:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "libinput touchpad catchall"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
        Option "Tapping" "False"
        Option "TappingDrag" "False"
        Option "DisableWhileTyping" "True"
        Option "AccelProfile" "adaptive"
        Option "AccelSpeed" "0.4"
        Driver "libinput"
EndSection

I know that this somewhat works because DisableWhileTyping seems to prevent moving of the cursor while I'm in the middle of typing a sentence, but doesn't prevent tapping otherwise.

Any ideas?

ferrari · 08-17-2022, 08:50 PM

The Xorg config file as posted won't work when the Linux guest OS sees a mouse (and not a touchpad).

If you run

Code:

sudo libinput list-devices

you'll see something more like this

Code:

Device:           ImExPS/2 Generic Explorer Mouse
Kernel:           /dev/input/event1
Group:            7
Seat:             seat0, default
Capabilities:     pointer 
Tap-to-click:     n/a
Tap-and-drag:     n/a
Tap drag lock:    n/a
Left-handed:      disabled
Nat.scrolling:    disabled
Middle emulation: disabled
Calibration:      n/a
Scroll methods:   button
Click methods:    none
Disable-w-typing: n/a
Accel profiles:   flat *adaptive
Rotation:         n/a

Anyway, report back with the output, and we can advise further from there.

vincebs · 08-22-2022, 12:26 PM

Here's the output:

Quote:

Device: VirtualBox mouse integration
Kernel: /dev/input/event6
Group: 4
Seat: seat0, default
Capabilities: pointer
Tap-to-click: n/a
Tap-and-drag: n/a
Tap drag lock: n/a
Left-handed: disabled
Nat.scrolling: disabled
Middle emulation: n/a
Calibration: identity matrix
Scroll methods: none
Click methods: none
Disable-w-typing: n/a
Accel profiles: n/a
Rotation: n/a

Device: VirtualBox USB Tablet
Kernel: /dev/input/event5
Group: 5
Seat: seat0, default
Capabilities: pointer
Tap-to-click: n/a
Tap-and-drag: n/a
Tap drag lock: n/a
Left-handed: disabled
Nat.scrolling: disabled
Middle emulation: disabled
Calibration: identity matrix
Scroll methods: none
Click methods: none
Disable-w-typing: n/a
Accel profiles: n/a
Rotation: n/a

Device: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Kernel: /dev/input/event2
Group: 6
Seat: seat0, default
Capabilities: keyboard
Tap-to-click: n/a
Tap-and-drag: n/a
Tap drag lock: n/a
Left-handed: n/a
Nat.scrolling: n/a
Middle emulation: n/a
Calibration: n/a
Scroll methods: none
Click methods: none
Disable-w-typing: n/a
Accel profiles: n/a
Rotation: n/a

Device: ImExPS/2 Generic Explorer Mouse
Kernel: /dev/input/event4
Group: 7
Seat: seat0, default
Capabilities: pointer
Tap-to-click: n/a
Tap-and-drag: n/a
Tap drag lock: n/a
Left-handed: disabled
Nat.scrolling: disabled
Middle emulation: disabled
Calibration: n/a
Scroll methods: button
Click methods: none
Disable-w-typing: n/a
Accel profiles: flat *adaptive
Rotation: n/a

ferrari · 08-22-2022, 02:04 PM

As you can see the pointing device is handled as a mouse, and 'Disable-w-typing: n/a' is not an adjustable parameter.

ferrari · 08-22-2022, 02:14 PM

FWIW, here's an old thread where I shared a script for disabling any kind of pointing device while typing...
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...5/#post5807829