Touchpad stops working shortly after login

[Vincent]

(Filed after reading [1].)

When I'm at the login screen, my touchpad still works fine, and after logging in, it still works. However, after anything from a few seconds to a few minutes (and in a few rare cases even after an hour or so), it suddenly stops working, and I'm not sure what could be causing it.

I never had this problem on Ubuntu 10.10 (Netbook edition), but since I installed 11.04 (preserving my /home directory) this problem occurs. I'm using a ZaReason Terra HD [2]. A normal mouse works just fine.

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingTouchpadDetection/#In%20case%20your%20Touchpad%20stops%20working%20after%20a%20while
[2] http://zareason.com/shop/Terra-HD.html

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: linux-image-2.6.38-8-generic 2.6.38-8.42
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic i686
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23.
AplayDevices:
 **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC662 rev1 Analog [ALC662 rev1 Analog]
   Subdevices: 0/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: vincent 1373 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D0p: vincent 1373 F...m pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC1: vincent 1373 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0x40a00000 irq 47'
   Mixer name : 'Realtek ALC662 rev1'
   Components : 'HDA:10ec0662,10ec0662,00100101'
   Controls : 16
   Simple ctrls : 9
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'Camera'/'Vimicro Corp. Venus USB2.0 Camera at usb-0000:00:1d.7-7, high speed'
   Mixer name : 'USB Mixer'
   Components : 'USB0ac8:3420'
   Controls : 2
   Simple ctrls : 1
Card1.Amixer.values:
 Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
   Capabilities: cvolume cvolume-joined cswitch cswitch-joined penum
   Capture channels: Mono
   Limits: Capture 0 - 48
   Mono: Capture 38 [79%] [11.00dB] [on]
CheckboxSubmission: ffa272594b3050261c2489e0138ba7e0
CheckboxSystem: d9106e4050cf94506a6b179a197a27e7
Date: Sun May 22 11:12:09 2011
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=0efc12ee-8b0a-4ace-8f2d-c0395ce2ff1f
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
MachineType: Zareason Corporation PT20
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=e50a6ed5-bf8a-4a72-a836-1f0ea60d8cac ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-2.6.38-8-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.38-8-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.52
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
WifiSyslog: May 22 11:02:22 terrance kernel: [ 2854.116185] synaptic[12776]: segfault at 8 ip 080aed53 sp bfdb9780 error 4 in synaptic[8048000+b5000]
dmi.bios.date: 03/10/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies LTD
dmi.bios.version: PT20_B1.1.216_E1.1.351_P0
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Applicable
dmi.board.name: PT20
dmi.board.vendor: Zareason Corporation
dmi.board.version: MP
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 1
dmi.chassis.vendor: Zareason Corporation
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologiesLTD:bvrPT20_B1.1.216_E1.1.351_P0:bd03/10/2010:svnZareasonCorporation:pnPT20:pvrMP:rvnZareasonCorporation:rnPT20:rvrMP:cvnZareasonCorporation:ct1:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: PT20
dmi.product.version: MP
dmi.sys.vendor: Zareason Corporation

[Vincent (vinnl)]

I just removed all my ~/.dotfiles, and put them back one by one (sort of), and managed to trim it down to a problem with an autostarted application. Unchecking and rechecking those one by one (sort of), narrowing it down to a problem with mpd-sound-menu. Brad, if you experience the same problem but due to another cause, could you report a new bug?

[Vincent (vinnl)]

Hmm, yesterday I was certain it only happened with mpd-sound-menu disabled, however, even though it is disabled today it happens every time again...

The developer of m-s-m did provide me with a command that re-enables the touchpad after it stops working, this might give a hint as to why it stopped working: synclient TouchpadOff=0

[Vladev (emil-vladev)]

I can confirm exactly the same issue.
Issuing
synclient TouchpadOff=0
makes it work again.
No idea how to make it work permanently.

[Daniel Farrell (dfarrell07)]

I seem to be affected by a similar but, but in 11.10. Seemingly randomly, my touchpad on a Lenovo W520 stops working. The red nub keeps working, however. Restarting sometimes fixes it, but sometimes it doesn't. I can use fn+f7 to turn off my red nub, but it has no effect on my touchpad. I haven't tried any fixes mentioned above, or in this (http://bit.ly/qx2da3) thread, because it is working right now. The only fix I've tried is:

gconftool-2 --set --type boolean /desktop/gnome/peripherals/touchpad/touchpad_enabled true

That was not effective, nothing changed. I have disabled the function that disables the touchpad while typing, to see if that helps. Next time it breaks, I will start trying fixes, and report back.

[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 . Please test the release candidate kernel versus the daily build. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. 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. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[Vincent (vinnl)]

I've now upgraded to 11.10 and am indeed still experiencing this issue. The fix above still works, so having assigned that a keyboard shortcut it's a minor issue, but a fix would be a nice. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to be trying an unstable kernel, but perhaps knowing that the issue didn't disappear can be helpful.

[TomasHnyk (sup)]

I think this is a duplicate, if not, unduplicate.