# Strange touchpad behaviour.. driving me insane.

## hanj

Hello All

I'm losing my mind on my touchpad problem. This problem has been around for about a month.. not sure what caused it (either kernel or synaptic upgrade).

The problem:

Intermittent freezing of the mouse/touchpad. Meaning it'll work fine.. then all of a sudden the mouse is frozen for a few seconds (no longer 3-5 seconds) and then returns to working state. I can confirm that X is not freezing.. all my apps still respond with keyboard. I also see a pattern of freezing associated with form controls. "Clicking" into a tab control.. filling the data.. then the mouse will freeze for a bit. This happens with various apps (firefox, any X app, etc). I'm at a loss on trying to figure out how to fix this.

Here is my info:

```
cat /proc/bus/input/devices

I: Bus=0011 Vendor=0001 Product=0001 Version=ab41

N: Name="AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"

P: Phys=isa0060/serio0/input0

H: Handlers=kbd event0 

B: EV=120013 

B: KEY=4 2000000 3802078 f840d001 f2ffffdf ffefffff ffffffff fffffffe 

B: MSC=10 

B: LED=7 

I: Bus=0011 Vendor=0002 Product=0008 Version=0000

N: Name="PS/2 Mouse"

P: Phys=isa0060/serio1/input1

H: Handlers=mouse0 event1 

B: EV=7 

B: KEY=70000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

B: REL=3 

I: Bus=0011 Vendor=0002 Product=0008 Version=6337

N: Name="AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint"

P: Phys=isa0060/serio1/input0

H: Handlers=mouse1 event2 

B: EV=f 

B: KEY=420 0 70000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

B: REL=3 

B: ABS=1000003 
```

```
Linux Comp 2.6.13-gentoo-r5 #1 Sun Oct 30 10:54:36 MST 2005 i686 Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 - M CPU 2.20GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
```

The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 8500.

I tried moving up to the latest/greatest synaptics.. no change.

```
[ebuild   R   ] x11-misc/synaptics-0.14.3  -dlloader 121 kB
```

xorg.conf

```
Section "ServerLayout"

        Identifier     "XFree86 Configured"

        Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0

        InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"

        InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection

Section "Files"

        RgbPath      "/usr/lib/X11/rgb"

        ModulePath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/ttf-bitstream-vera/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/terminus/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/corefonts/"   

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/freefont/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/local/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/CID/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/encodings/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/util/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/sharefont/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/lfp-fix/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"

        FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/unifont/" 

EndSection

Section "Module"

        Load  "record"

        Load  "extmod"

        Load  "dbe"

        Load  "dri"

        Load  "glx"

        Load  "xtrap"

        Load  "type1"

        Load  "freetype"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

        Identifier  "Keyboard0"

        Driver      "kbd"

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

        Identifier      "Mouse0"

        Driver          "synaptics"

        Option     "SendCoreEvents"       "yes"

        Option     "Device"               "/dev/input/mouse0" 

        Option     "Protocol"             "auto-dev"

    Option     "SHMConfig"            "on"

    Option     "LeftEdge"             "120"

    Option     "RightEdge"            "830"

    Option     "TopEdge"              "120"

    Option     "BottomEdge"           "650"

    Option     "FingerLow"            "8"

    Option     "FingerHigh"           "9"

    Option     "MaxTapTime"           "200"

    Option     "MaxTapMove"           "150"

    Option     "MaxDoubleTapTime"     "200"

    Option     "ClickTime"            "100"

    Option     "FastTaps"             "0"

    Option     "EmulateMidButtonTime" "75"

    Option     "VertScrollDelta"      "20"

    Option     "HorizScrollDelta"     "20"

    Option     "MinSpeed"             "0.5"

    Option     "MaxSpeed"             "0.8"

    Option     "AccelFactor"          "0.05"

    Option     "EdgeMotionMinZ"       "30"

    Option     "EdgeMotionMaxZ"       "160"

    Option     "EdgeMotionMinSpeed"   "200"

    Option     "EdgeMotionMaxSpeed"   "200"

    Option     "EdgeMotionUseAlways"  "0"

    Option     "UpDownScrolling"      "0"

    Option     "TouchpadOff"          "0"

    Option     "GuestMouseOff"        "0"

    Option     "LockedDrags"          "0"

    Option     "RTCornerButton"       "0"

    Option     "RBCornerButton"       "0"

    Option     "LTCornerButton"       "0"

    Option     "LBCornerButton"       "0"

    Option     "TapButton1"           "1"

    Option     "TapButton2"           "2"

    Option     "TapButton3"           "3"

    Option     "CircularScrolling"    "0"

    Option     "CircScrollDelta"      "0.1"

    Option     "CircScrollTrigger"    "2"

    Option     "CircularPad"          "0"

    Option     "PalmDetect"           "0"

    Option     "PalmMinWidth"         "10"

    Option     "PalmMinZ"             "200"

    Option     "CoatingSpeed"         "0"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"

        Identifier   "Monitor0"

        VendorName   "SEC"

        ModelName    "3150"

        Modeline     "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087

EndSection

Section "Device"

        Identifier  "Card0"

        Driver      "ati"

        VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"

        BoardName   "Radeon R250 Lf [Radeon Mobility 9000 M9]"

        BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"

        Option "NoDDC"

EndSection

Section "Screen"

        Identifier "Screen0"

        Device     "Card0"

        Monitor    "Monitor0"

        DefaultDepth    24

        SubSection "Display"

                Depth     1

        EndSubSection

        SubSection "Display"

                Depth     4

        EndSubSection

        SubSection "Display"

                Depth     8

        EndSubSection

        SubSection "Display"

                Depth     15

        EndSubSection

        SubSection "Display"

                Depth     16

        EndSubSection

        SubSection "Display"

                Depth     24

                Modes "1680x1050"

        EndSubSection

EndSection

Section "DRI"

        Group 0

        Mode 0666

EndSection
```

```
emerge info

Portage 2.0.51.22-r3 (default-linux/x86/2005.0, gcc-3.3.6, glibc-2.3.5-r2, 2.6.13-gentoo-r5 i686)

=================================================================

System uname: 2.6.13-gentoo-r5 i686 Mobile Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 - M CPU 2.20GHz

Gentoo Base System version 1.6.13

dev-lang/python:     2.3.5-r2, 2.4.2

sys-apps/sandbox:    1.2.12

sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.59-r6

sys-devel/automake:  1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.6.3, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r1

sys-devel/binutils:  2.15.92.0.2-r10

sys-devel/libtool:   1.5.20

virtual/os-headers:  2.6.11-r2

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="x86"

AUTOCLEAN="yes"

CBUILD="i686-pc-linux-gnu"

CFLAGS="-O2 -mcpu=i686 -pipe"

CHOST="i686-pc-linux-gnu"

CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3.3/env /usr/kde/3.3/share/config /usr/kde/3.3/shutdown /usr/kde/3.4/env /usr/kde/3.4/share/config /usr/kde/3.4/shutdown /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/lib/X11/xkb /usr/lib/mozilla/defaults/pref /usr/share/config /var/qmail/control"

CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/env.d"

CXXFLAGS="-O2 -mcpu=i686 -pipe"

DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"

FEATURES="autoconfig candy distlocks sfperms strict"

GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/gentoo"

PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"

PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"

PORTDIR="/usr/portage"

PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/local/portage"

SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"

USE="x86 X aalib acpi alsa apache2 apm arts avi berkdb bitmap-fonts cdr chroot crypt cups curl dba dillo dvd eds emboss encode esd ethereal fam flac foomaticdb fortran gd gdbm gif gpm gps gstreamer gtk gtk2 i8x0 imagemagick imlib inifile innodb java jpeg libg++ mad motif mozilla moznoxft mp3 mpeg mysql ncurses nls odbc ogg oggvorbis opengl opens oss pam pcmcia pdflib perl php png posix pwdb python qt quicktime readline samba sdl session slang snortsam sockets spell ssl svga tcltk tcpd tiff truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts udev vorbis xface xine xml xml2 xmms xv zlib video_cards_radeon userland_GNU kernel_linux elibc_glibc"

Unset:  ASFLAGS, CTARGET, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, LINGUAS, MAKEOPTS
```

Let me know if you need any other information. Thanks in advance.

hanji

----------

## mikegpitt

Try to run 'top' in a terminal and then do something that will make the mouse freeze.  Maybe there is something that has gone awry in the kernel and loads up on the CPU when the mouse hangs.

----------

## hanj

Hello

I should have mentioned that in my original post.

I currently have top on the desktop as well as gkrellm running in the slit. When the mouse freezes.. I do not see anything unusual. No programs bounce to the top, nor is there a spike in CPU usage. I'll try to keep a close eye on it the next time to totally confirm this.

Thanks for your replay.

hanji

----------

## hanj

Hello

Mouse just froze again.. and I carefully watched top. X was at the top of the list.

hanji

----------

## mikegpitt

Have you recently changed kernels?  Maybe your IO scheduler is messed up, and giving a low priority to desktop related events.  Also have you tried to re-emerge xorg, or do a revdep-rebuild?

----------

## hanj

Hello

I've done revdep-rebuild recently.. nothing there. I'll go ahead and try to re-emerge xorg.

Thanks!

hanji

----------

## hanj

Hello

Been watching top.. every time the mouse freezes, 'X' was at the top. I also re-emerged xorg.. no change.

 *Quote:*   

> Have you recently changed kernels? Maybe your IO scheduler is messed up, and giving a low priority to desktop related events.

 

I do believe it is kernel issue as well.. seems like it may have happened within the last few versions.

I know it was doing it on the following kernels:

bzImage-2.6.13-gentoo-r5

bzImage-2.6.12-gentoo-r6

Not sure where else to look or explore.

Thanks for the help

hanji

----------

## dtor

Is there anything (like gkrellm) that is periodically poll battery status?

----------

## hanj

Hello

I did have 'battery' checked in my gkrellm. I disabled that.. and while I was typing this message.. my mouse froze. I think I'm going to try to roll back to the oldest kernel where the mouse is functioning properly.

I'll let you know what kernel the behaviour changes.. unfortunately, it'll probably take me a while to determine this since the freeze is intermittent.

Thanks!

hanji

----------

## hanj

Hello

I'm receiving the 'hangin' touchpad on all of my available kernels...

```
2.6.12-gentoo-r4

2.6.12-gentoo-r6

2.6.13-gentoo-r5
```

So now I'm back to thinking it's not a kernel thing.

hanji

----------

## Voltago

Hi hanj!

There's a simple test you can do to isolate the cause of your problem: 

Go to a console with Ctrl+Alt+F1, do

```
cat /dev/input/<device>
```

and fool around with your mouse for a while. Some garbage will be printed on screen. Do you get the same freezes?

----------

## hanj

 *Voltago wrote:*   

> Hi hanj!
> 
> There's a simple test you can do to isolate the cause of your problem: 
> 
> Go to a console with Ctrl+Alt+F1, do
> ...

 

Hello Voltago.. Thank you very much for replying!

I ran your test.. and I was not able to reproduce the 'freeze'. I'm not sure if that is an accurate test.. since my freezes are usually event driven. For example if I jump from 'screen' to 'gaim' it almost freezes everytime. It seems like it wants to freeze when input controls gain 'focus'. I'm not sure. But to answer your question/test I was not able to get it to freeze. I ran it with activity for about 5 minutes. When I restarted X and started firefox.. it immediately froze for a second.

Thanks again!

hanji

edit...

Actually... I think it is a carriage return 'after' focus that freezes the mouse. If I type a command in screen.. hit enter.. it freezes. Then I move to gaim to type a message.. hit enter.. it freezes. This does not happen 100%, but enough to make me think there is a pattern.

----------

## KingTaco

No one has mentioned the WM.  Try switching to a different one like twm and see if the issue still exists.

----------

## hanj

 *KingTaco wrote:*   

> No one has mentioned the WM.  Try switching to a different one like twm and see if the issue still exists.

 

Hello KingTaco!!

That's a very interesting point. I'm using fluxbox.. and the last emerge (Oct30 fluxbox-0.9.14-r1) is approximately when things started to act weird. I'm emerging fluxbox-0.9.13 as I type now. I'll give that a shot for a few hours... and see if anything changes.

Thanks for the new direction.

hanji

----------

## hanj

Hello

Thought we were onto something there with the WM. I rolled back to 0.9.13 (down from 0.9.14-r1). I thought it was working awesome.. but the freeze happened again. I might trying rolling back further?? Not sure if it'll change.

Thanks

hanji

----------

## KingTaco

 *hanj wrote:*   

> Hello
> 
> Thought we were onto something there with the WM. I rolled back to 0.9.13 (down from 0.9.14-r1). I thought it was working awesome.. but the freeze happened again. I might trying rolling back further?? Not sure if it'll change.
> 
> Thanks
> ...

 

try a different WM all together.

----------

## attrezzo

I'm having the same problem, was there a solution to the problem? Workaround? 

I'm using fluxbox as well so I guess that's it. Is there a way I can change the X driver to get it back in working order? What alternatives do you all suggest?

----------

## attrezzo

I looked into it and adding Load "synaptics" to the module portion of xorg.conf helped ALOT, but it didn't fix the problem. I'm going to try disableing acpi next although I'd rather not... seems like a shitty trade off...

----------

