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Dell XPS 13 issues (battery, brightness, sleep, mouse)

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ivan0309

ivan0309

Joined
Sep 9, 2012
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61
Motherboard
OS X Mountain Lion
CPU
Intel Core i7-3537U
Graphics
HD4000
Mac
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Classic Mac
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Mobile Phone
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So I've installed Mountain Lion on my Dell XPS 13. It's in a perfectly usable state, but there are still a few issues I want to sort out.

The biggest issue is that the trackpad doesn't work after it being woken up from sleep. It just doesn't react at all. If I connect an USB mouse, it'll work fine, but the trackpad'll refuse to work until I restart the computer. Here's the weird thing; a rare once in a while it'll wake up and work perfectly fine, but it seems pretty random.
I had to reinstall OS X due to issues with partitions, and I think it worked perfectly at the time, so it's definitely possible.

The second biggest thing is that I can't control the brightness at all. I seem to be able to control it in BIOS, but I don't think it carries over the settings to OS X. I'll have to test that some more.
I can use Shade Control to put a dark 'mask' over the screen (akin to what Flux does), but that doesn't dim the backlight, which brings me to the next issue;

Battery life doesn't seem good at all. I think I'll get about 2 hours, where as I'd get 5-8 hours on Windows. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the backlight, but I'm not sure.

And the last thing is that the trackpad is recognised as a mouse. But I'm sure that's because it's a Cypress trackpad, which no one has ever bothered to write drivers for, so that can't be helped.

My specs are as following (the relevant ones, anyway):
It's a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition (L322x)
HD4000
i7-3537U
8 GB RAM
Cypress Trackpad

I used the following guide for installation: http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-...on-installation-dell-xps-13-l322x-2013-a.html

Thanks in advance
 
ivan0309 said:
So I've installed Mountain Lion on my Dell XPS 13. It's in a perfectly usable state, but there are still a few issues I want to sort out.

The biggest issue is that the trackpad doesn't work after it being woken up from sleep. It just doesn't react at all. If I connect an USB mouse, it'll work fine, but the trackpad'll refuse to work until I restart the computer. Here's the weird thing; a rare once in a while it'll wake up and work perfectly fine, but it seems pretty random.
I had to reinstall OS X due to issues with partitions, and I think it worked perfectly at the time, so it's definitely possible.

The second biggest thing is that I can't control the brightness at all. I seem to be able to control it in BIOS, but I don't think it carries over the settings to OS X. I'll have to test that some more.
I can use Shade Control to put a dark 'mask' over the screen (akin to what Flux does), but that doesn't dim the backlight, which brings me to the next issue;

Battery life doesn't seem good at all. I think I'll get about 2 hours, where as I'd get 5-8 hours on Windows. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the backlight, but I'm not sure.

And the last thing is that the trackpad is recognised as a mouse. But I'm sure that's because it's a Cypress trackpad, which no one has ever bothered to write drivers for, so that can't be helped.

My specs are as following (the relevant ones, anyway):
It's a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition (L322x)
HD4000
i7-3537U
8 GB RAM
Cypress Trackpad

I used the following guide for installation: http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-...on-installation-dell-xps-13-l322x-2013-a.html

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

You might try my trackpad/keyboard driver. Maybe it will wake up after sleep. There is still no support for Cypress (so you'll get mouse only), but...

Make sure to follow the install instructions carefully: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller
 
Thanks, that did fix the sleep issue, but I can no longer drag things. Usually I would press down the touchpad and move in order to drag something, but it doesn't do that any longer, which is an even bigger issue than the touchpad not working after sleep.
Got any idea on how to fix that?

Also, as stupid as I am, I forgot to back up the original ApplePS2Controller.kext. Would you mind uploading it, in case I'd want to revert?
 
ivan0309 said:
Thanks, that did fix the sleep issue, but I can no longer drag things. Usually I would press down the touchpad and move in order to drag something, but it doesn't do that any longer, which is an even bigger issue than the touchpad not working after sleep.
Got any idea on how to fix that?
Click to expand...

Do your buttons work?

Also, as stupid as I am, I forgot to back up the original ApplePS2Controller.kext. Would you mind uploading it, in case I'd want to revert?
Click to expand...

Why not just reinstall with Multibeast? I don't have any idea what version you might have been using prior.
 
XPS 13 does not have any physical buttons unlike your HP, but twofinger-click works and so does singlefinger-click. Note, it's only if I press it all the way down, so just tapping it doesn't work.

Oh, and yeah, that was really stupid of me. I didn't consider reinstalling it MultiBeast, although I did it before. I just restored it just fine.
 
ivan0309 said:
XPS 13 does not have any physical buttons unlike your HP, but twofinger-click works and so does singlefinger-click. Note, it's only if I press it all the way down, so just tapping it doesn't work.
Click to expand...

OK I understand that your trackpad doesn't have physical buttons, but it should still send button down when you physically press the trackpad down (eg. hard press). What exactly do you mean by "it's only if I press it all the way down?" When you press on the trackpad hard, does it register a button down or not? It is unclear from what you wrote.

For just tapping to work, that has to be implemented in the firmware for your trackpad (part of its mouse emulation).
 
Sorry for being unclear.
If I press it all the way down (hard press), it'll register as a normal click.
 
ivan0309 said:
Sorry for being unclear.
If I press it all the way down (hard press), it'll register as a normal click.
Click to expand...

So you should be able to drag by pressing hard (so it registers the button down) and dragging while pressing. Some trackpads implement tapping in their mouse emulation firmware some don't. You could try and see what you have there:

- tap for click (touch and quick release)
- double-tap hold (touch-release-touch... hold)

The end-goal should be to find or create a driver that uses the "absolute mode" of your trackpad to get away from mouse emulation and provide a more "trackpad" like experience. But I'm not sure of the availability of Cypress trackpad drivers, since I've never owned one.
 
RehabMan said:
So you should be able to drag by pressing hard (so it registers the button down) and dragging while pressing.
Click to expand...
I tried that. I tried dragging while pressing hard, I tried I dragging while pressing hard with another finger (that's what I usually do) but it doesn't work. It just releases after less than half a second, even if I keep pressing it.
Dragging works fine on the drivers from MultiBeast.

RehabMan said:
Some trackpads implement tapping in their mouse emulation firmware some don't. You could try and see what you have there:

- tap for click (touch and quick release)
- double-tap hold (touch-release-touch... hold)
Click to expand...
How I would I go on about that? At least if I just try to tap-click or double-tap hold, nothing special happens.

RehabMan said:
The end-goal should be to find a driver
Click to expand...
I VERY much doubt that's possible, as from Googling, I've only seen one other person with a Cypress trackpad. No one would bother to make drivers for such a niche 'market'. Cypress trackpads are generally not good and barely used in any laptops.

RehabMan said:
or create a driver that uses the "absolute mode" of your trackpad to get away from mouse emulation and provide a more "trackpad" like experience. But I'm not sure of the availability of Cypress trackpad drivers, since I've never owned one.
Click to expand...
Creating a driver for OS X is probably possible, but yeah, I don't think anyone would bother.

If someone created a driver that fixed the sleep issue and at least provided some sort of functional scrolling, I'd be eternally grateful. Hell, I'd probably donate a lesser amount of money.
 
ivan0309 said:
I tried that. I tried dragging while pressing hard, I tried I dragging while pressing hard with another finger (that's what I usually do) but it doesn't work. It just releases after less than half a second, even if I keep pressing it.
Dragging works fine on the drivers from MultiBeast.


How I would I go on about that? At least if I just try to tap-click or double-tap hold, nothing special happens.


I VERY much doubt that's possible, as from Googling, I've only seen one other person with a Cypress trackpad. No one would bother to make drivers for such a niche 'market'. Cypress trackpads are generally not good and barely used in any laptops.


Creating a driver for OS X is probably possible, but yeah, I don't think anyone would bother.

If someone created a driver that fixed the sleep issue and at least provided some sort of functional scrolling, I'd be eternally grateful. Hell, I'd probably donate a lesser amount of money.
Click to expand...

I think you're probably stuck with your situation (drivers from Multibeast). Unfortunately, the source code for those drivers is "lost," so I can't tell what they do differently than my own drivers.
 
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