I had a similar problem with my acer aspire one. Downloading and installing the latest manline kernel 4.1.1 did not help in detection. Then I found that newer kernel if Single is added as a boot parameter. Once it is detected the stock ubuntu kernel 3.16 also detected the touchpad on direct reboot. However on shutting down the laptop, the touchpad is not detected again. Hope this helps.
I had a similar problem with my acer aspire one. Downloading and installing the latest manline kernel 4.1.1 did not help in detection. Then I found that newer kernel if Single is added as a boot parameter. Once it is detected the stock ubuntu kernel 3.16 also detected the touchpad on direct reboot. However on shutting down the laptop, the touchpad is not detected again. Hope this helps.