I am running Ubuntu 15.10 (32-bit edition but I know it is also a problem on 64-bit edition) on an Acer Aspire 5738 laptop which has a physical button next to the touchpad that can toggle the device.
When I hit the button a desktop notification appears, informing me that the device has been disabled (an icon of a touchpad with an x in the bottom-right-hand-corner) and I am no longer able to use the touchpad for anything, as expected.
When I press the button again to re-enable the touchpad, a desktop notification appears, informing me that the device has been enabled (an icon of a touchpad with no x in the bottom-right-hand-corner) but the touchpad remains disabled, i.e I can use it for absolutely nothing. (clicking, scrolling, pointing, ...)
Re-logging or restarting the laptop enables the touchpad, but I can also use modprobe to remove and insert psmouse module, which will also cause it to enable.
When I use the button physically next to the touchpad to enable/disable the touchpad, it does not affect the toggle switch in the "Mouse and Touchpad" settings, but if I use that setting (the toggle switch) I can correctly enable and disable the touchpad.
xinput lists the device under "Virtual core pointer" as an "AlpsPS/2 ALPS GlidePoint".
BIOS is updated as of today.
If I can be of help in patching the bug, I would love to, but I just have no idea where to look. I altered the psmouse kernel module to print information to the logs about various activity (resetting, deactivating) but none of it was very informative (again, I don't know where to look).
---
ApportVersion: 2.19.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: benjamin 1617 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=7b71d0e9-05b0-4b07-9cd1-e4a998e8be54
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-11-23 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Release amd64 (20151021)
MachineType: Acer Aspire 5738
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 nouveaufb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.2.0-18-generic root=UUID=c2650be5-50b4-4182-a8e7-c428326ae23e ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.2.0-18.22-generic 4.2.3
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-4.2.0-18-generic N/A
linux-backports-modules-4.2.0-18-generic N/A
linux-firmware 1.149.2
Tags: wily
UdevLog: Error: [Errno 2] Ingen sådan fil eller filkatalog: '/var/log/udev'
Uname: Linux 4.2.0-18-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 09/24/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
dmi.bios.version: V1.34
dmi.board.name: JV50_MV
dmi.board.vendor: Acer
dmi.board.version: Rev
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Acer
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologiesLTD:bvrV1.34:bd09/24/2010:svnAcer:pnAspire5738:pvr0100:rvnAcer:rnJV50_MV:rvrRev:cvnAcer:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: Aspire 5738
dmi.product.version: 0100
dmi.sys.vendor: Acer
Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https:/
To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https:/
[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]