Mouse pad option

[Ed_P]

I'm very close to giving up on this. Starting LXTerminal after every boot to see if the autostarts ran, starting FireFox to find the command to check on syndaemon, having the cursor jumping all over until I manually find the commands and run them in LXTerminal is getting old. Very old. Is there a way to create a desktop (root) shortcut/symlink that I can click on that will at least minimize the crap I'm going thru? Something that automatically runs when dbl clicked rather than automatically opening LeafPad?

What I want to run are:

synclient PalmDetect=1 PalmMinWidth=4
synclient LeftEdge=30 RightEdge=1385 TopEdge=0 BottomEdge=600
synclient MinSpeed=.2
syndaemon -i 2 -d

The desktop things I have created in the past did not show on the desktop or did not execute.

[brokenman]

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Touchpad_Synaptics

In the link it explains where to put your config file with your options for synclient. I just tested and it works fine here. My config file is below. I strongly suggest that you install Porteus on a USB device (or to HD) and test your stuff there, then return to booting from the ISO file later.

root@porteus:/home/guest# cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf

Code: Select all

 Section "InputClass"
       Identifier "touchpad"
       Driver "synaptics"
       MatchIsTouchpad "on"
              Option "TapButton1" "1"
              Option "TapButton2" "2"
              Option "TapButton3" "3"
              Option "VertEdgeScroll" "on"
              Option "VertTwoFingerScroll" "on"
              Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "on"
              Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll" "on"
              Option "RTCornerButton" "3"
 EndSection

You can't put the syndaemon command in this file. It is only for your synclient command. For syndaemon i can only offer you the syndaemon.desktop file route. Good luck.

[Ed_P]

Hi brokenman.

I appreciate your help but I don't think I'm ready for Linux.

I like Porteus. And have spent more time with it than all the other distros I've tried over the years put together!! I love that it works on my netbook hardware, especially the WiFi NIC. And if it supported my Dell notebook's Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini-PCI Card I might try it more. But it doesn't.

The problems with Porteus and my touchpad are not Porteus's fault. My cursor jumps periodically when typing even on Windows 7. And changing the touchpad's settings isn't hard once I found synclient. What was/is hard is knowing what to change the settings to when there is a range of values, like the Left Edge, RightEdge, and having to reboot to test their .desktop file changes. If you develop an app for touchpads brokenman be sure to have it show or test for the limit values for the commands with ranges.

It doesn't help that Porteus associates .sh files with Leafpad rather than /bin/sh and not knowing how to change that. If I had more experience I suspect it would be a nit but for me it was another stone wall. Having desktop files invoking FireFox when they were configured to invoke .sh files was also a problem.

As for why the autostart .desktop files no longer autostarting for me I have no idea. And I don't want to beg for more help.

I enjoyed all the terminal time and commands I got to try. How many I will remember remains to be seen.

I like the Razor desktop.
I like Leafpad
I like LXTerminal
I like FireFox.
I love GParted.
SpaceFM is very interesting.

There is a lot to like with Porteus.

I may try 1.2 again to see if it has the touchpad problems. I don't remember.

Again, thanks for all the help. When 2.1 comes out I will certainly try it.

[brokenman]

It doesn't help that Porteus associates .sh files with Leafpad rather than /bin/sh and not knowing how to change that. If I had more experience I suspect it would be a nit but for me it was another stone wall. Having desktop files invoking FireFox when they were configured to invoke .sh files was also a problem.

This is entirely the fault of Razor desktop and not Porteus (or yourself). I am sure if you tried another variant such as lxde or the xfce edition by Ahau you would not have experienced these annoying quirks. I recommend you try the xfce edition as there are TONS of tutorials on the net for this. Razorqt is a 'new kid on the block' so i am expecting some teething problems. A few of which you discovered for me (I'll add your name to the credit when fixing it).

In light of your latest comment about your touchpad i do believe this is a hardware problem and no amount of tinkering with software will fix it. You could setup a keyboard combination shortcut to simply disable the touchpad, and then re-enable after you finish typing.

For the record most linux distros (including Porteus) very rarely need to be rebooted for any reason other than a lockup. If you need to know how to glean information from the system as to whether something is running, don't hesitate to ask here. There is usually an easy way.

[Ed_P]

This is entirely the fault of Razor desktop and not Porteus (or yourself).

Are there Razor config files that could be tweaked to resolve the situation(s)? Tweaked by the end user, like me? Windows supports assigning apps to files and allowing the user to change them.

(I'll add your name to the credit when fixing it).

"credit" or "blame".

In light of your latest comment about your touchpad i do believe this is a hardware problem and no amount of tinkering with software will fix it.

I misspoke or you misunderstood. I have a great deal of control over the touchpad in Windows and have changed several settings to minimize the problem. While the problem occurs occasionally in Windows, it's no where near the problem in Porteus. Synclient addresses many of the settings but findng the proper value to assign a setting is a challenge. An app/script/tool that would test the value limits on things like BottomEdge automatically would be extremely helpful.

BottomEdge=600? Ok. BottomEdge=300? Ok. BottomEdge=150? No. BottomEdge=225? Ok. BottomEdge=190? etc. Then check for the high value. BottomEdge=1200? Ok. BottomEdge=2400? etc. When done report the 3 values; current setting, lowest setting, highest setting. Then the user has a clue what to try. And support doing the same for other settings.

You could setup a keyboard combination shortcut to simply disable the touchpad, and then re-enable after you finish typing.

You could but I don't have that skill. But the idea certainly sounds promising.

For the record most linux distros (including Porteus) very rarely need to be rebooted for any reason other than a lockup.

Windows users think the same way. I agree to an extent but think a reboot periodically, once a week or longer on the netbooks, clears out the RAM and junk temporary files and gives a fresh start. And of late picks up updates to Java and Flash. On desktops I support nightly shutdowns, and thus morning reboots. Always have. Saves electricity, heat, bearings on fans, processors and hdds, dust accumulation, reduces risks of brown outs, power surges, etc, etc.

[Ed_P]

@brokenman

If you get a chance check out the touchpad app the SystemRescueCd system uses. Rather nice. Could be a nice addition to Razor.

For the record most linux distros (including Porteus) very rarely need to be rebooted for any reason other than a lockup.

I think you will find Live CDs and USB ISO systems get booted more frequently, almost by design.

[brokenman]

I think you will find Live CDs and USB ISO systems get booted more frequently, almost by design.

I have to agree. My experience with servers shows that reboots are rarely needed in comparison to windows. When talking about home computers i would say the majority of people shutdown every night, me included. When booting takes less than one minute i don't mind booting each morning.

Will take a look at the mouse app you mentioned.

[Ed_P]

I agree servers should never/rarely be booted but home pcs should be regularly but that's not the case for many. My desktop gets shutdown regularly but the netbooks not so often. Mine does as I test Linux ISOs on my USB drive but my wife's.... lol

[Ed_P]

For what it's worth i am writing a touchpad/mouse configurator for the next version.

Did your touchpad/mouse configurator get added to the 2.1 Razor 64-bit version?

[brokenman]

No. It didn't make the cut. I wasn't happy with some of the bugs.

[Ed_P]

Would you like help testing it?

[Ed_P]

Please see below for a more elegant solution to your problem.

#### MORE ELEGANT SOLUTION
For now i have the perfect solutions for you. To test it please open up a console and enter:

Code: Select all

syndaemon -i 1 -d

This should started the syndaemon which waits for keys to be pressed and disables the touchpad. 1 second after you stop typing the touchpad is activated again. If this works then it should be as simple as making the autostart file. This time let's do it manually to make certain the file is created.

Code: Select all

[ ! -d /root/.config/autostart ] && mkdir -p /root/.config/autostart  # If no autostart folder exists then create it
cat > /root/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop << EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Exec=syndaemon -i 1 -d
Name=syndaemon
Type=Application
Version=1.0
EOF

That's all. The first line creates the autostart folder if it doesn't already exist.
The second creates the syndaemon.desktop file and adds everything between the EOF (End of file) tag.

For what it's worth i am writing a touchpad/mouse configurator for the next version.

-2.1 Update -

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ [ ! -d /guest/.config/autostart ]
guest@porteus:~$ mkdir -p /guest/.config/autostart
guest@porteus:~$ cat > /guest/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop << EOF
> [Desktop Entry]
> Exec=syndaemon -i 1 -d
> Name=syndaemon
> Type=Application
> Version=1.0
> EOF
bash: /guest/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop: Permission denied
guest@porteus:~$ 

[fanthom]

maybe you have /guest/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop already and it's owned by someone else (root)?
please check.

[Ed_P]

maybe you have /guest/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop already and it's owned by someone else (root)?
please check.

I don't think so, but I don't know.

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ ls /guest/
/bin/ls: cannot access /guest/: No such file or directory
guest@porteus:~$ cat /guest/
cat: /guest/: No such file or directory
guest@porteus:~$ su
Password: 
root@porteus:/home/guest# ls /guest/
/bin/ls: cannot access /guest/: No such file or directory
root@porteus:/home/guest# cat /guest/
cat: /guest/: No such file or directory
root@porteus:/home/guest# 

But this looks promising.

Code: Select all

root@porteus:/home/guest# [ ! -d /guest/.config/autostart ]
root@porteus:/home/guest# mkdir -p /guest/.config/autostart
root@porteus:/home/guest# cat > /guest/.config/autostart/syndaemon.desktop << EOF
> [Desktop Entry]
> Exec=syndaemon -i 1 -d
> Name=syndaemon
> Type=Application
> Version=1.0
> EOF
root@porteus:/home/guest# ls /guest/
root@porteus:/home/guest# cat /guest/
cat: /guest/: Is a directory
root@porteus:/home/guest# 
root@porteus:/home/guest# cat /guest/.config/
cat: /guest/.config/: Is a directory
root@porteus:/home/guest# ls /guest/.config/
autostart/
root@porteus:/home/guest# 

Now, will it be saved to the save.dat file.


- update -

Nope. Rebooted and the file and folder are gone.

[fanthom]

please learn how to navigate in terminal and about linux root directory structure otherwise you'll be stick in basic tasks like this one. permissions is another 'must know'.
tip: guest config files should be placed in /home/guest not /guest.