Touchpad works perfectly or not at all (ELAN)

[witampanstwa]

Hello,
I've successfully installed Windows 10, Linux Ubuntu and macOS Mojave on my laptop's 1TB HDD.

The problem:
I can normally use my touchpad in macOS. Then I shut down the machine, turn it on, boot Windows 10, and everything works perfect—just until I turn it off again, and boot to macOS—then the touchpad just stops responding not only in macOS, but in Windows and Linux as well.
It happens only if the time between turning the machine off and on is less than an hour.

Solution:
To get the touchpad working, one method is to turn off the machine, wait the whole night, and then it works again.
The second method is to unplug the laptop from power source, remove the battery, hold the power button so all of the electrical current is discharged, and it works again as well.

The only thing I can think of is causing such behaviour is RAM. Do you think I am right?
I want to point out that the function key turning off/on the touchpad (Fn + F7 in my case) is not the problem.

 

[witampanstwa]

Please, at least say what you think it MIGHT be.

 

[tmbt]

Hi,
i'm not an expert here so don't expect a real solution but i try to help you.
About RAM i don't think your 're right. Ram is not mantained when you switch off the computer so at every restart it's empty.

You said you've a function key to switch on/off the touchpad: does it work ?
I saw this happening before with wifi. Basically Windows switched off the wifi card and at the next boot the card was not detected in the Mac OS.
You could try to search for the Wifi problem in this forum and maybe you will be able to solve your touchpad problem

mattia

 

[witampanstwa]

Hi,
i'm not an expert here so don't expect a real solution but i try to help you.
About RAM i don't think your 're right. Ram is not mantained when you switch off the computer so at every restart it's empty.

You said you've a function key to switch on/off the touchpad: does it work ?
I saw this happening before with wifi. Basically Windows switched off the wifi card and at the next boot the card was not detected in the Mac OS.
You could try to search for the Wifi problem in this forum and maybe you will be able to solve your touchpad problem

mattia

Thanks for your help. The function key works just as expected - when I turn on or off wifi using that option on MacOS or Windows, it stays in the same state on all systems. The problem is with the touchpad though. It doesn't matter whether I turn the touchpad on or off using the function key in either MacOS or Windows - it is not working after switching from one operating system to the other, as well as the touchpad function key has no effect on the touchpad itself anymore; other function keys still work as they should though.

Regarding the RAM, it is not completely clean after you turn off the computer. It is not cleared whatsoever by the turned off OS (data stored in RAM gets gradually wiped as the electricity discharges by itself); what happens with the leftover rubbish data left on it, is dependent from the next booted OS - it then decides what to do with it (I have read somewhere that OS doesn't even care about clearing the RAM before booting). And I think, that MacOS was not designed to work in multiboot mode, at least not multiboot with other OSes than Apple ones; what's more, the problem occurs 75% times I switch the OSes; therefore, in my opinion, the problem is actually possible to be related to RAM.

 

[tmbt]

When you use VoodooI2c.kext, you need to remove these files in System/Library/Extensions that came with Apple to make it work:

cd /System/Library/Extensions sudo rm -rf AppleIntelLpssI2C.kext sudo rm -rf AppleIntelLpssI2CController.kext

While i agreed about the ApplePS2SmartTouch kext there is no need to remove the AppleIntelLpssI2C* kext from System/Library/Extensions because it will be enough to add 2 patches in clover KextsToPatch to disable them to load :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>New Item</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Comment</key>
        <string>Prevent Apple I2C kexts from attaching to I2C controllers, credit CoolStar</string>
        <key>Name</key>
        <string>com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssI2CController</string>
        <key>Find</key>
        <data>SU9LaXQ=</data>
        <key>Replace</key>
        <data>SU9LaXM=</data>
        <key>InfoPlistPatch</key>
        <true/>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>New Item</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Comment</key>
        <string>Prevent Apple I2C kexts from attaching to I2C controllers, credit CoolStar</string>
        <key>Name</key>
        <string>com.apple.driver.AppleIntelLpssI2C</string>
        <key>Find</key>
        <data>SU9LaXQ=</data>
        <key>Replace</key>
        <data>SU9LaXM=</data>
        <key>InfoPlistPatch</key>
        <true/>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

Using these two patch is better because an Apple MacOs update can replace the file you removed from the System folder and your trackpad will stop working after the update. Using clover patches will prevent this from happening.

Mattia

 

[witampanstwa]

From your debug file, seems like your issue might be the wrong implementation to enable your trackpad. You might be better off removing the kexts you currently use to make your trackpad work and use Rehabman's latest VoodooPS2Controller.kext + VoodooI2C.kext + VoodooI2C's Elan Satellite Kexts instead. I found that the combination of VoodooPS2Controller.kext + VoodooI2C.kext and VoodooI2C's Elan Satellite Kexts is more stable for my hackintosh. I have a dual boot (MacOS Mojave and Windows 10) and I also have an ELAN trackpad, but I never had an issue similar to yours. See here:

1. 

   GitHub - RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller: Contains updated Voodoo PS/2 Controller, improved Keyboard & Synaptics TouchPad

   Contains updated Voodoo PS/2 Controller, improved Keyboard & Synaptics TouchPad - RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller

   github.com
2. 

   GitHub - VoodooI2C/VoodooI2C: Intel I2C controller and slave device drivers for macOS

   Intel I2C controller and slave device drivers for macOS - VoodooI2C/VoodooI2C

   github.com
3. Documentation

When you use VoodooI2c.kext, you need to remove these files in System/Library/Extensions that came with Apple to make it work:

cd /System/Library/Extensions sudo rm -rf AppleIntelLpssI2C.kext sudo rm -rf AppleIntelLpssI2CController.kext

Good luck

I have just installed those three kexts you mentioned, and the problem got worse. Touchpad problem still persists, and what actually got worse is my power button now doesn't work at all in MacOS, unless I hold the power button for 5 seconds so all the electricity is gone from the laptop - then I can boot to either OS, and everything works normally again, including the power button.

I have to add, that after turning off Windows sometimes I actually cannot boot to MacOS, because of instant reboot to clover (and that is an infinite loop), which is visible in the attached video; this problem as well persists just until I hold the power button for 5 seconds - then I can boot to MacOS just fine.

 

[witampanstwa]

can you upload your new debug files with the changes that you made currently?

also what i think you should do is start over. get to a point where your hackintosh is stable with just the internal keyboard and trackpad not working in MacOS. Windows 10 should work if you are still using the OEM Windows your laptop came with out of the box because your Windows drivers should not have been affected by changes you made in MacOS (Windows can't even read MacOS files without a third party application to help it, if memory serves. i certainly can't access my macOS in Windows without a third party to help). I think that if you're having a problem in Windows, it's mostly a Windows problem and you need to check your laptop manufacturer's website for Windows drivers of your specific laptop model. The Windows I am using with my dual boot is the original Windows 10 it came with out of the box and I have not made any significant changes with it, so everything is working perfectly.

Once you get your Window's problem sorted out, then start by installing the latest voodoops2controller.kext in MacOS to get the internal keyboard fully working in MacOS (the trackpad might or might not work, it depends on your hack) and then test if your hack is stable again with the voodoops2contoller.kext with a couple of restarts and test if Windows is working too after you made the change (It should). Once you feel your hack is stable with VoodooPs2Controller, start reading on VoodooI2C.kext. In my case I was confused about how to use it at first, so it's better that you read it a couple of times yourself.

You need to install the main VoodooI2C.kext and then a couple of its Satellite kexts to make the trackpad work depending on your hackintosh. You need to check the VoodooI2C guide that i shared to get the detailed instructions on what you need to do because it's said that you need to check something in your hack that will determine if you just need to install the Satellite kexts directly or you might need to make more changes in your DSDT i believe, before VoodooI2C can work properly. In my case, after I checked my hack, I did not needed to make any DSDT changes and I just needed to install the Satellite kexts directly.

When I got an autorestart while booting into MacOS before, it was either i installed an old kext that i need to update or an incompatible patch in my clover config.plist that I need to remove for MacOS to boot properly. The last auto restart I had was because my voodoops2controller.kext is old and i needed to update it to the latest version. after i updated it, i never had an autorestart anymore. Good Luck

Many thanks. I will certainly try doing it all, if only I have some time.
Regarding your last paragraph though, I think that your autorestart is different than mine, the one presented on the video. When I had installed some incompatible kexts before, the autorestart was really different - it started loading the system with the progress bar under apple logo visible, and restarted with it being halfway through (with no verbose boot option of course). The autorestart which occurs now is behaving differently - with no verbose mode, the apple logo is shown for not even a second, and with no progress bar (it is shown on the video, but in verbose mode). This instant autoreboot infinite loop begins to happen SOMETIMES after trying to boot MacOS after shutting down Windows, and stops only after freeing all the electrical current from the laptop. Therefore, I think it is NOT an incompatible kext problem.

P.S. Uploaded new debug zip.
P.P.S. Guess all that reinstallation process would hurt my new SSD a bit, isn't it? The MacOS alone took me 250 GB of my SSD's Total Bytes Written.

 

[witampanstwa]

From your debug file, seems like your issue might be the wrong implementation to enable your trackpad. You might be better off removing the kexts you currently use to make your trackpad work and use Rehabman's latest VoodooPS2Controller.kext + VoodooI2C.kext + VoodooI2C's Elan Satellite Kexts instead. I found that the combination of VoodooPS2Controller.kext + VoodooI2C.kext and VoodooI2C's Elan Satellite Kexts is more stable for my hackintosh. I have a dual boot (MacOS Mojave and Windows 10) and I also have an ELAN trackpad, but I never had an issue similar to yours. See here:

1. 

   GitHub - RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller: Contains updated Voodoo PS/2 Controller, improved Keyboard & Synaptics TouchPad

   Contains updated Voodoo PS/2 Controller, improved Keyboard & Synaptics TouchPad - RehabMan/OS-X-Voodoo-PS2-Controller

   github.com
2. 

   GitHub - VoodooI2C/VoodooI2C: Intel I2C controller and slave device drivers for macOS

   Intel I2C controller and slave device drivers for macOS - VoodooI2C/VoodooI2C

   github.com
3. Documentation

When you use VoodooI2c.kext, you need to remove these files in System/Library/Extensions that came with Apple to make it work:

cd /System/Library/Extensions sudo rm -rf AppleIntelLpssI2C.kext sudo rm -rf AppleIntelLpssI2CController.kext

Good luck

I have just noticed that the VoodooI2C's Elan Satellite kext you told me to install is not loaded, is this normal?

 

[witampanstwa]

did you read and followed the instructions to install in the documentation of VoodooI2C here?: https://voodooi2c.github.io/ because you seem to be missing another satellite kext that you should have installed too: VoodooI2CHID.kext
..if you don't have a hardware problem, you can get your problem fixed with trial and error. good luck

Hey,
first of all, replacing the ApplePS2SmartTouchpad.kext with the Voodoo kexts combo had fixed the problem with the touchpad being not responsive across MacOS and Windows.
At first I did install VoodooPS2Controller.kext + VoodooI2C.kext + VoodooI2CELAN.kext as you had suggested earlier, but my ELAN0501 was sending random clicks after stopping interacting with it, as well as it was stopping accepting the input every 1 second, making me unable to perform any gesture (e.g. selecting text or swiping between desktops) for longer than 1 second.
What I did end up with was installing VoodooPS2Controller.kext + VoodooI2C.kext + VoodooI2CHID.kext, since in that configuration it doesn't stop me from performing the gestures as opposed to the ELAN satellite kext. What is wrong though is that my touchpad (ELAN0501) stops accepting MOVEMENT input ONLY just about every 1.5 second—for that reason it is not possible to point at things accurately (

), and the four finger multitouch doesn't work (while it did with the ELAN satellite kext).

Thanks for solving the 'not working touchpad' problem anyway!

 

[witampanstwa]

no problem

• 4-5 finger gestures are currently not supported by VoodooI2C.kext.
• in your video where the mouse jumps, that happens to most people (including me) too and is a known bug of the current version of VoodooI2C.kext that have not been fixed yet.

But i find VoodooI2C.kext more stable than ApplePS2SmartTouchpad.kext. I used ApplePS2SmartTouchpad.kext too before in High Sierra, but when i try to click using the physical left and right clicks or does a zoom gesture with 2 fingers at any time even by accident, my hackintosh would go to a kernel panic and autorestart.

i'm not familiar with your other issues because i never had those. maybe it's from the version of ELAN trackpad you have. sorry. i'll attach the kexts i am using for your reference.

Your kext configuration seems to be just like mine!
Except those two I2C kexts you have installed—VoodooI2CHID and VoodooI2CELAN. As per the I2C documentation, only one satellite kext should be installed. And that is the reason why your 4-5 finger multitouch does not work; it did work for me with the VoodooI2CELAN.kext, while it did not with the VoodooI2CHID.kext; hence you should remove the VoodooI2CHID.kext and rebuild the kextcache afterwards to get that 4-5 finger multitouch working.