Can not click on a touchpad

Question

i bought a cheap Touchpad (Speedlink Sway), but only the pointer works. I can't use the tap, nor the hardware keys.

Device:

Bus 003 Device 008: ID 062a:2901 Creative Labs 

Xinput:

⎡ Virtual core pointer                      id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Paten    USB Gaming Mouse                     id=17   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ HID 0566:3013 Consumer Control            id=14   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ iTouch Pad iTouch Pad Mouse               id=18   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ iTouch Pad iTouch Pad Consumer Control    id=11   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                     id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                                 id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=8    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button                              id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HID 0566:3013 System Control              id=15   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HID 0566:3013 Consumer Control            id=19   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HID 0566:3013                             id=13   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HID 0566:3013                             id=16   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ iTouch Pad iTouch Pad Consumer Control    id=12   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ iTouch Pad iTouch Pad                     id=10   [slave  keyboard (3)]

Props:

xinput watch-props 18
Device 'iTouch Pad iTouch Pad Mouse':
    Device Enabled (177):   1
    Coordinate Transformation Matrix (179): 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000
    libinput Natural Scrolling Enabled (316):   1
    libinput Natural Scrolling Enabled Default (317):   0
    libinput Scroll Methods Available (320):    0, 0, 1
    libinput Scroll Method Enabled (321):   0, 0, 1
    libinput Scroll Method Enabled Default (322):   0, 0, 0
    libinput Button Scrolling Button (323): 1
    libinput Button Scrolling Button Default (324): 2
    libinput Middle Emulation Enabled (325):    1
    libinput Middle Emulation Enabled Default (326):    0
    libinput Accel Speed (327): 0.000000
    libinput Accel Speed Default (328): 0.000000
    libinput Accel Profiles Available (329):    1, 1
    libinput Accel Profile Enabled (330):   0, 0
    libinput Accel Profile Enabled Default (331):   1, 0
    libinput Left Handed Enabled (332): 0
    libinput Left Handed Enabled Default (333): 0
    libinput Send Events Modes Available (301): 1, 0
    libinput Send Events Mode Enabled (302):    0, 0
    libinput Send Events Mode Enabled Default (303):    0, 0
    Device Node (304):  "/dev/input/event9"
    Device Product ID (305):    1578, 10497
    libinput Drag Lock Buttons (318):   <no items>
    libinput Horizontal Scroll Enabled (319):   1

Keys:

xinput get-button-map 18
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 

But xev (nor KeyMon) does not show any reaction if I use the hardware keys or the tap function. Strange thing: I can use tap-hold to use the scrolling-function, but xev also does not show any reaction. Anyway: I can't use the touchpad, because I can't use a left, nor a right click.

Any suggestions? TIA Mierscheid

Answer 1

I seem to recall encountering this too. Have you had a look at system settings > mouse & touchpad > devices > touchpad and then enable "Tap to click"

Answer 2

Of course I had. :-) I can choose whatever I want: Nothing happens.

Answer 3

The problem is still present. But not only on elementaryOS, but on other distros as well (e.g. Mint 21.2).

Interestingly, "xinput --query-state" correctly reports the pressed buttons.

So I have created a little proof-of-concept in Python, which uses "xinput" and "xdotool" to emulate the button presses. This, at least, makes the SWAY Trackpad usable. But be warned: This script executes "xinput" 20 times a second, so do not use this in production.

#!/usr/bin/python3

import os
import subprocess
import time

def put(t): print(t)

DEVICE_NAME = 'iTouch Pad iTouch Pad Mouse'
THROTTLE = 0.05

button_state = {1:None, 2:None}
value_state = {0:0, 1:0}

# Command line to query device state
query_cmds = ['/usr/bin/xinput', '--query-state', DEVICE_NAME]

while True:
    # Query state
    r = subprocess.run(query_cmds, stdout=subprocess.PIPE).stdout
    
    # Parse result lines
    for l in r.split(b'\n'):
        #put('"%s"' % l)
        
        # Handle "button" results
        if l.startswith(b'\tbutton['):
            
            # Extract button_num and value. @TODO: Use regexp
            i_out = l.index(b']')
            button_num = int(l[l.index(b'[')+1:i_out])
            value = True if l[i_out+2:] == b'down' else False
            
            # Issue xdotool if value changed
            old_value = button_state[button_num] if button_num in button_state else None
            if value != old_value:
                cmd = '/usr/bin/xdotool %s %d' % ('mousedown' if value else 'mouseup', button_num)
                os.system(cmd)
            button_state[button_num] = value
        
        elif l.startswith(b'\tvaluator['):
            i_out = l.index(b']')
            # Extract value_num and value. @TODO: Use regexp
            i_out = l.index(b']')
            value_num = int(l[l.index(b'[')+1:i_out])
            value = int(l[i_out+2:])
            
            old_value = value_state[value_num] if value_num in value_state else None
            #if value != old_value: # Call xdotool if value changed
            if value != old_value and button_state[1]:  # Call xdotool if value changed AND only while dragging
                x = value_state[0]
                y = value_state[1]
                cmd = '/usr/bin/xdotool mousemove %d %d' % (x, y)
                os.system(cmd)
            value_state[value_num] = value
            
        
    # Throttle
    time.sleep(THROTTLE)

Hope it helps someone having the same problem (device)