wishlist: show a warning if the touchpad hardware has been disabled (with F9)

[Ivan Zakharyaschev]

It might be a frequently occuring situation: that one doesn't understand why the touchpad is dead -- https://answers.launchpad.net/ac100/+question/214637 .

Could it be possible to check whether the touchpad has been disabled with F9 with software and show a warning to the user?

[Axel Beckert (xtaran)]

I think that's a very good idea. I initially thought my hardware broke.

[paul stenning (paul-stenning)]

On 23/11/12 14:52, Axel Beckert wrote:
> I think that's a very good idea. I initially thought my hardware broke.
>
Question is when will one issue this warning - perhaps on each reboot
after touchpad disabled?

[Ivan Zakharyaschev (imz)]

> Question is when will one issue this warning - perhaps on each reboot after touchpad disabled?

An idea fell to my head:

if this information is available to the software, then:

1) the OS could keep an eye on the state of the touchpad, and at the moment it gets disabled, notify the desktop user (with a notification, warning popping up).

2) put an indicator onto the desktop panel (an icon that would indicate the current state of the touchpad, similarly to the keyboard layout, and battery, and time). If one clicks the icon, there should be some help about it, so that the user can learn about this feature.