Touchpad incorrectly detected as PS/2 mouse on Dell Inspiron 15R N5110

[Edvin Lindström]

This is likely a kernel problem, but I couldn't figure out which package to file it against if it is. I know others have had this bug, but I haven't seen it reported from this hardware.

I'm on a Dell Inspiron 15R (N5110) laptop. It says to specify the manufacturer of the touchpad, but I can't find it. It said "Synaptics touchpad" in a review, and from my googlings I've seen Alps mentioned.

In any case, it's not detected as a touchpad, but as a PS/2 mouse, and thus two finger scrolling and other multitouch features don't work. There's no touchpad tab in System > Administration > Mouse.

I've attached the output of these commands:

$ cat /proc/bus/input/devices
$ xinput --list
$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log

I'm using Ubuntu 11.10. Here's the output of uname -a:

Linux morsan 3.0.0-14-generic #23-Ubuntu SMP Mon Nov 21 20:28:43 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

[FCG (fernancg)]

Edvin,

I just got my Inspiron 15R N5110 a few weeks ago and I have the same issues as you described. I read that the new Inspiron came with a new Alps driver that the company doesn't want to release the code. However, I am surprised that no one is able to bypass this issue. I just decided to dump Windows and support Linux however, I had to do so many tweaks that I am having double thoughts about Ubuntu...

Hopefully someone is able to help.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . If possible, please test the latest v3.2-rcN kernel (Not a kernel in the daily directory). Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag(Only that one tag, please leave the other tags). This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text.

If this bug is fixed by the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream-KERNEL-VERSION'. For example, if kernel version 3.2-rc1 fixed and issue, the tag would be: 'kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.2-rc1'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'. If you believe this bug does not require upstream testing, please add the tag: 'kernel-upstream-testing-not-needed'.

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[Edvin Lindström (bongrouge)]

I'll be happy to. I'm not the most experienced with this, so let me just check that I got this right: when I install v3.2-rc4 (the latest Oneiric kernel), I'll just reboot, and before the login prompt I'll be asked to choose the new or the old kernel? Because at the moment, it all just goes on without asking me anything until the login screen. Would this be at all likely to break anything?

[Yuriy (yuri-gerasimov)]

In order to see switch of kerner versions hold SHIFT during boot.

I had 3.0 kerner and my touchpad was discovered (xinput list) like ImPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint. Now I have installed 3.2 kernel:
ygerasimov@inspiron:~$ uname -a
Linux inspiron 3.2.0-030200rc4-generic #201112012035 SMP Fri Dec 2 01:36:30 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

and now touchpad is discovered as PS/2 Generic Mouse:

ygerasimov@inspiron:~$ xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ PS/2 Generic Mouse id=13 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Laptop_Integrated_Webcam_HD id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=12 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Dell WMI hotkeys id=14 [slave keyboard (3)]

[Edvin Lindström (bongrouge)]

I tried 3.2rc4, but the problem persists. Also, it won't connect to the wireless network with 3.2rc4, but that's another issue.

[ndkhoi168 (ndkhoi168)]

Similar issue for me. Multi touch doesn't work anymore, event scrolling on touchpad as well.

[alkman82 (alkman82)]

Same problem here. I tryed "psmouse-alps-dkms_0.10_all.deb" which I found in other threads with no luck. My touchpad is working like a simple mouse. No multitouch, scroll or deactivation while typing.
I am running Linux Mint 12 Lisa 64bit with Linux 3.0.0-12-generic on a Dell inspiron 15R N5110.

xinput list
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ PS/2 Generic Mouse id=13 [slave pointer (2)]

[quarara (classic-art-showcase)]

Same here on Dell Inspiron n5110 15R.

[Richard Merren (richard-merren)]

I have a brand new 15R with a fresh install of Ubuntu 12.04 (currently on kernel version 3.2.0-24-generic with x86_64) and I am seeing the same thing--showing up as a PS/2 mouse. Buttons and the pointer work fine and are fully usable, but there are no touchpad configuration options and no multitouch scrolling or gestures..

[NoOneX (narendraacivil)]

I bought recently Dell 152 N5110 and installed Ubuntu 12.0.4 x64 and touch pad was not detected to me either.

Command : xinput list

Result :

⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ PS/2 Generic Mouse id=12 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Laptop_Integrated_Webcam_HD id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Dell WMI hotkeys

Note : some where i red if i installe alps debian package from canonical (http://people.canonical.com/~sforshee/alps-touchpad/psmouse-alps-0.10/) but when i did this installation it said there is a fake root in the kernel and i forced to change my mouse using rmmod and then it deleted the ps2/generic mouse also.

Help us in this touchpad issue ASAP, as it really useful in going through the documents. I understand your developers effort but plaese do make it works for us.

Thanks.

[Dave Turvene (dturvene)]

Just came across this bug report... I'm having the same problem and diagnosed, adding a comment to

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/737051

I've got the psmouse-alps-0.10 driver installed and put a couple printk's in so I know it's being hit. However, there are still spurious taps and mouse focus events being generated when I type. See my comment in 737051 for the steps I've tried.

[ionospheric (berthold1)]

echo "options psmouse proto=imps"|sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf; sudo modprobe -r psmouse; sudo modprobe psmouse doesn't work for either. (Dell Inspiron N5110)
And the link http://people.canonical.com/~sforshee/alps-touchpad/psmouse-alps-0.10/ is broken. Oh well.

[Ciprian Turcu (cipri-email)]

I am experiencing the same problem, the touchpad is seen as a ps2 mouse and there is no multi-touch. It's very frustrating to type on as each time I touch it even slightly it clicks the mouse and my focus is out the window.
This is strange as my dell n5110 is supposed to be awarded the status of "certified for ubuntu", so I'm guessing something as crucial as touchpad compatibility should not be a problem.

[renato (renato-cron)]

Same scenario here. Linux renato-Inspiron-5420 3.2.0-29-generic-pae #46-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 27 17:25:43 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Edvin Lindström, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.13-rc5

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]