Nick, what if you run 'gconftool --type bool --set /desktop/gnome/peripherals/touchpad/touchpad_enabled true', does it work then?
If yes, the issue is that your g-s-d settings have it disabled, and then when you log in and g-s-d starts, it sets "Device Enabled" to "0", but doesn't touch "Synaptics Off". The bug is in g-s-d and it's peculiar way to touch both settings, where 'xinput disable' only touches the other one.
Nick, what if you run 'gconftool --type bool --set /desktop/ gnome/periphera ls/touchpad/ touchpad_ enabled true', does it work then?
If yes, the issue is that your g-s-d settings have it disabled, and then when you log in and g-s-d starts, it sets "Device Enabled" to "0", but doesn't touch "Synaptics Off". The bug is in g-s-d and it's peculiar way to touch both settings, where 'xinput disable' only touches the other one.