Dell Inspiron 17R N7110: Alps Touchpad help?

[RehabMan]

I tried again and this time I'm able to get both the mouse and keyboard working (both rehab and bped versions work). However, the pointer speed is really slow (unusable) and the vanilla trackpad prefpane still gives me "No trackpad found". When I try using the synaptics trackpad, it gives a popup saying "ApplePS2SynapticsTouchPad not found" and when I try to change any settings in it, the pane crashes. Both versions give me the same problems.

I'd like to see what drivers are loading. Post ioreg: www.tonymacx86.com/audio/58368-guide-how-make-copy-ioreg.html.

Note: I don't recommend using any kind of VodooPS2 prefpane. The code is simply too buggy to be of any use. Which is why I don't provide it in my builds. When I have some time, I'll fix it, but no time now... And most settings you can change with the built-in SysPrefs -> Trackpad.

And, of course, it doesn't make sense to use any synaptics components unless you have the Synaptics trackpad (which you don't).

To be honest, what I'm really looking for is a way to turn down the sensitivity of the touchpad so that it doesn't randomly jump when I'm typing and also have it auto-disable when an external mouse is used (USB or bluetooth). If the voodoo driver just gives me basic mouse functionality without being identified as a trackpad on the system then I'm not really solving my original problem.

You can do some of this even when using VoodooPS2Mouse.kext. (remove VoodooPS2Trackpad.kext to force it to be used). You can set ActsLikeTrackpad in the Info.plist. For USB mouse to disable the trackpad, you must set the option for it in SysPrefs-> Accessibility-> Mouse & Trackpad.

 

[Rytz]

I'd like to see what drivers are loading. Post ioreg: www.tonymacx86.com/audio/58368-guide-how-make-copy-ioreg.html.

You can do some of this even when using VoodooPS2Mouse.kext. (remove VoodooPS2Trackpad.kext to force it to be used). You can set ActsLikeTrackpad in the Info.plist. For USB mouse to disable the trackpad, you must set the option for it in SysPrefs-> Accessibility-> Mouse & Trackpad.

Thanks Rehab - I will post the log file and try your suggestions tonight.

 

[Rytz]

I reinstalled your driver and was able to get the vanilla trackpad to come up by changing the property "ActLikeTrackpad". Unfortunately, none of the speed settings in the trackpad panel or mouse panel have any effect.

I can also enable the option to disable the trackpad when a USB mouse is plugged in but it didn't actually work. The trackpad prefpane will give me the correct message but the trackpad is still enabled and works.

I can fix the mouse / trackpad speed issue by changing the property "DefaultResolution" in the Info.plist to something like 25, but the mouse pointer movement becomes very "blocky" and moves a couple hundred pixels at once.

I tried both versions of the driver (yours and bpedman) and I get the same results.

I've attached the IOReg file that you requested.

Any suggestions on how to get the "disable trackpad" to work correctly and how to get the speed / resolution issue fixed?

Thanks!

 

[RehabMan]

I reinstalled your driver and was able to get the vanilla trackpad to come up by changing the property "ActLikeTrackpad". Unfortunately, none of the speed settings in the trackpad panel or mouse panel have any effect.

The deltas that are being sent from the trackpad may be too small (low resolution). You can try playing with the ResolutionMode, ForceSetResolution, ForceDefaultResolution, and DefaultResolution.

Maybe try:
ForceSetResolution=true
ResolutionMode=3

ForceDefaultResolution=true
DefaultResolution=200

I can also enable the option to disable the trackpad when a USB mouse is plugged in but it didn't actually work. The trackpad prefpane will give me the correct message but the trackpad is still enabled and works.

Did you install VoodooPS2Daemon? For that feature to work, it must be installed and running.

I can fix the mouse / trackpad speed issue by changing the property "DefaultResolution" in the Info.plist to something like 25, but the mouse pointer movement becomes very "blocky" and moves a couple hundred pixels at once.

I tried both versions of the driver (yours and bpedman) and I get the same results.

I've attached the IOReg file that you requested.

Definitely ApplePS2Mouse is attaching to your PS2M device (I don't know if you removed VoodoPS2Trackpad.kext or not). Which is what you want if you intend to use mouse emulation. You might also install the debug version of the driver to see what kind of input you're getting and any startup messages in system.log.

 

[Rytz]

Did you install VoodooPS2Daemon? For that feature to work, it must be installed and running..

I did. The LauncherDaemon and binary daemon files were installed as instructed on your site.

(I don't know if you removed VoodoPS2Trackpad.kext or not)

I did remove the trackpad kext inside the controller as you suggested.

The most important option for me when using the trackpad would be disabling a real usb or bluetooth mouse when the touchpad is in use. I will keep playing around with the plist properties and see if something works out.

Is there documentation somewhere (source code?) about the VoodooPS2Mouse.kext plist properties and what they do? This would help a lot.

Thanks for your time and help!

 

[RehabMan]

I did. The LauncherDaemon and binary daemon files were installed as instructed on your site.


I did remove the trackpad kext inside the controller as you suggested.

The most important option for me when using the trackpad would be disabling a real usb or bluetooth mouse when the touchpad is in use. I will keep playing around with the plist properties and see if something works out.

It will only disable when a USB mouse is connected. Not if a bluetooth mouse is connected. I don't have any BT mice, so I never coded anything for that scenario. In the ioreg you sent MouseCount is zero on the ApplePS2Mouse class, so there has been no USB mouse connected or the VoodooPS2Daemon has not been installed correctly. You should be able to see VoodooPS2Daemon in the Activity Monitor (listing all processes) if you installed it correctly. Since I see a USB mouse connected to EHC1 in the ioreg dump (one which I think VoodooPS2Daemon will detect), I suspect the daemon is not running.

You might check the log for VoodooPS2Daemon to see if there is anything there if you do find it running. I suspect it is just not installed correctly.

Is there documentation somewhere (source code?) about the VoodooPS2Mouse.kext plist properties and what they do? This would help a lot.

Source code is on github: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller

 

[Rytz]

It will only disable when a USB mouse is connected. Not if a bluetooth mouse is connected. I don't have any BT mice, so I never coded anything for that scenario. In the ioreg you sent MouseCount is zero on the ApplePS2Mouse class, so there has been no USB mouse connected or the VoodooPS2Daemon has not been installed correctly. You should be able to see VoodooPS2Daemon in the Activity Monitor (listing all processes) if you installed it correctly. Since I see a USB mouse connected to EHC1 in the ioreg dump (one which I think VoodooPS2Daemon will detect), I suspect the daemon is not running.

You were correct on this - the Daemon was not running at startup. I assumed with your startup file in /Library/LaunchDaemons that it would start on its own.

After running the VoodooPS2Daemon, the touchpad does disable with an actual USB mouse. Although, like you said, a bluetooth mouse is not disabled. I would actually be using a bluetooth mouse under normal circumstances.

I could take a look at the code - do you think the modification would be easy for making a bluetooth be disabled in the same way as a USB mouse?

I've attached my IOReg files with both USB and Bluetooth mouse is plugged in (separately) with VoodooPS2Daemon running.

Thanks!

 

[RehabMan]

You were correct on this - the Daemon was not running at startup. I assumed with your startup file in /Library/LaunchDaemons that it would start on its own.

After running the VoodooPS2Daemon, the touchpad does disable with an actual USB mouse. Although, like you said, a bluetooth mouse is not disabled. I would actually be using a bluetooth mouse under normal circumstances.

I could take a look at the code - do you think the modification would be easy for making a bluetooth be disabled in the same way as a USB mouse?

I've attached my IOReg files with both USB and Bluetooth mouse is plugged in (separately) with VoodooPS2Daemon running.

Thanks!

You would have to modify the code in the VoodooPS2Daemon to watch for bluetooth pointing devices as well as USB pointing devices (modifying the mouse count as they come and go).

The code is on github: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller

FYI: Both the plist and binary must be copied. And permissions set correctly...