Defining ALPS touchpad parameters in HAL sometimes freezes boot

[Vincent Bossier]

Binary package hint: xfree86-driver-synaptics

I wanted to modify the acceleration parameters of my ALPS touchpad on a DELL D630 laptop. As gsynaptics was not working due a SHMConfig parameter not set to 'TRUE', I tried to define a corresponding "InputDevice" entry in xorg.conf with no success. After googling around, it seemed that the best way was to create/modify the associated HAL configuration file.

When adding option lines under "AlpsPS/2 ALPS" in /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/11-x11-synaptics.fdi, computer sometimes freezes during boot with a completely scrambled display. A simple '<merge key="input.x11_options.SHMConfig" type="string">true</merge>' causes the effect. I also tried to directly set the desired parameters as shown in the 11-x11-synaptics.fdi attachment. The definition of these ALPS parameters in a /etc/hal/fdi/policy/11-synaptics-options.fdi file leads to the same problem.

/var/log/Xorg.0.log extract after a successful boot:
(II) config/hal: Adding input device AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint
(II) LoadModule: "synaptics"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input//synaptics_drv.so
(II) Module synaptics: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
 compiled for 1.5.1, module version = 0.15.2
 Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
 ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 2.1
(II) Synaptics touchpad driver version 0.15.2
(II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: x-axis range 0 - 1023
(II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: y-axis range 0 - 767
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event9"
(**) Option "LeftEdge" "120"
(**) Option "RightEdge" "830"
(**) Option "TopEdge" "120"
(**) Option "BottomEdge" "650"
(**) Option "FingerLow" "14"
(**) Option "FingerHigh" "15"
(**) Option "FingerPress" "256"
(**) Option "MaxTapTime" "0"
(**) Option "MaxTapMove" "110"
(**) Option "MaxDoubleTapTime" "180"
(**) Option "ClickTime" "100"
(**) Option "FastTaps" "0"
(**) Option "EmulateMidButtonTime" "75"
(**) Option "EmulateTwoFingerMinZ" "257"
(**) Option "VertScrollDelta" "20"
(**) Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
(**) Option "VertEdgeScroll" "1"
(**) Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
(**) Option "CornerCoasting" "0"
(**) Option "VertTwoFingerScroll" "0"
(**) Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll" "0"
(**) Option "EdgeMotionMinZ" "30"
(**) Option "EdgeMotionMaxZ" "160"
(**) Option "EdgeMotionMinSpeed" "1"
(**) Option "EdgeMotionMaxSpeed" "102"
(**) Option "EdgeMotionUseAlways" "0"
(**) Option "UpDownScrolling" "1"
(**) Option "LeftRightScrolling" "1"
(**) Option "UpDownScrollRepeat" "1"
(**) Option "LeftRightScrollRepeat" "1"
(**) Option "ScrollButtonRepeat" "100"
(**) Option "TouchpadOff" "0"
(**) Option "GuestMouseOff" "0"
(**) Option "LockedDrags" "0"
(**) Option "LockedDragTimeout" "5000"
(**) Option "RTCornerButton" "2"
(**) Option "RBCornerButton" "3"
(**) Option "LTCornerButton" "0"
(**) Option "LBCornerButton" "0"
(**) Option "TapButton1" "1"
(**) Option "TapButton2" "2"
(**) Option "TapButton3" "3"
(**) Option "ClickFinger1" "1"
(**) Option "ClickFinger2" "1"
(**) Option "ClickFinger3" "1"
(**) Option "CircularScrolling" "0"
(**) Option "CircScrollTrigger" "0"
(**) Option "CircularPad" "0"
(**) Option "PalmDetect" "1"
(**) Option "PalmMinWidth" "10"
(**) Option "PalmMinZ" "200"
(**) Option "SingleTapTimeout" "180"
(**) Option "PressureMotionMinZ" "30"
(**) Option "PressureMotionMaxZ" "160"
(**) Option "GrabEventDevice" "1"
(--) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint touchpad found
(**) Option "MinSpeed" "0.3"
(**) Option "MaxSpeed" "1"
(**) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: always reports core events
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint" (type: TOUCHPAD)
(II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: x-axis range 0 - 1023
(II) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint: y-axis range 0 - 767
(--) AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint touchpad found
(II) config/hal: Adding input device PS/2 Mouse

---

Description: Ubuntu intrepid (development branch)
Release: 8.10

xserver-xorg-input-synaptics:
  Installed: 0.15.2-0ubuntu3
  Candidate: 0.15.2-0ubuntu3
  Version table:
 *** 0.15.2-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://be.archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.10
Package: xserver-xorg-input-synaptics 0.15.2-0ubuntu3
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/home/username/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xfree86-driver-synaptics
Uname: Linux 2.6.27-4-generic i686

[Vincent Bossier (vincent-bossier)]

After further test, it seems that the touchpad parameters modification is not the culprit. After restoring /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/11-x11-synaptics.fdi to its default value and removing any /etc/hal/fdi/policy/11-synaptics-options.fdi, my laptop still randomly crash during boot time. I will enter a new bug.

You can simply reject this one.