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(Possible) error in xfce4-settings/mouse: Synaptics driver is (not) required
Status:
RESOLVED: MOVED
Product:
docs.xfce.org
Component:
General

Comments

Description Bob Collins 2020-02-15 19:33:31 CET
In the "Xfce settings -> mouse and touchpad" online documentation I saw this note: "Currently only touchpads using the Synaptics driver are supported."

I don't think this is true. The Synaptics driver has been deprecated in favor of libinput and is no longer being maintained. On my Arch install the "xf86-input-synaptics" package is not installed as a dependency for anything.
Comment 1 Kevin Bowen editbugs 2020-02-18 22:47:18 CET
Thanks for the feedback. Do you have any supporting documentation that we might be able to point to that would better inform end users? For example, some info on the deprecation and replacement by libinput? I'd be glad to update this with a brief summary of yours. I currently don't have any touchpads that _aren't_ using Synaptics drivers to test with,
Comment 2 Bob Collins 2020-02-19 03:37:32 CET
Hi Kevin,
Here is the original source of my info: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Touchpad_Synaptics with the note, "Warning: xf86-input-synaptics is no longer actively updated. If possible, use libinput."

Checking the Arch page on the "xf86-input-synaptics" package, I see the last update was 2018-06-03.

I did spend some time looking at the code in the Xfce settings, pointer module. There are conditional compilation ifdefs labeled HAVE_LIBINPUT. I also played with the CLI tool for libinput, xinput, on my system to see what the driver could do.

The Synaptics TM3053-004 touchpad on my ThinkPad T450s seems to work fine with XFCE and libinput, though there are missing touchpad settings which are the subject of a couple of XFCE bug submissions including 14793 and 13301.

I was first wondered if these missing setting were a libinput issue, but I now believe that they are a Xfce settings issue. When I saw the documentation not even acknowledging libinput, I wondered where the breakdown was. I don't see libinput/touchpad issues listed in the issues-to-be-addressed, so I am not sure where the awareness needs to go.

Cheers
Comment 3 Git Bot editbugs 2020-05-20 18:32:24 CEST
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Bug #16454

Reported by:
Bob Collins
Reported on: 2020-02-15
Last modified on: 2020-05-20

People

Assignee:
Kevin Bowen
CC List:
0 users

Version

Version:
unspecified

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