Kubuntu: Howto configure synaptic touchpad

Requirements

For TouchFreeze and Qsynaptic.

1. install required qt-packages:
   $ sudo apt-get install qt3-designer qt3-dev-tools libqt3-mt-dev qt4-designer qt4-dev-tools
2. install latest synaptics driver:
   $ sudo apt-get install libsynaptics0
3. edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf :
   add the following line to the touchpad section:
   Option “SHMConfig” “on”
   This allows configuration of the touchpad at runtime.

TouchFreeze: enable / disable touchpad from system tray

1. install required qt-packages:
   $ sudo apt-get install qt4-designer qt4-dev-tools
2. get latest touchfreeze-tarball from here:
   http://qsynaptics.sourceforge.net/dl.html
3. compile touchfreeze:
   /opt/touchfreeze-0.2.2$ /usr/share/qt4/bin/qmake
   /opt/touchfreeze-0.2.2$ make
4. copy the TouchFreeze binary in your ~/.kde/Autostart folder:
   /opt/touchfreeze-0.2.2$ ln -s touchfreeze ~/.kde/Autostart/
5. restart X server:
   Ctrl + Alt + Backspace
6. TouchFreeze utility is now present in the system tray and you can enable/disable the touchpad.

QSynaptics: configure synaptic touchpadQsynaptic is a standalone application.

1. install required qt-packages:
   $ sudo apt-get install qt3-designer qt3-dev-tools libqt3-mt-dev
2. get latest qsynaptic-tarball from here:
   http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/qsynaptics/qsynaptics-0.21.tar.bz2?download
3. compile qsynaptic:
   /opt/qsynaptics$ /usr/share/qt3/bin/qmake
   /opt/qsynaptics$ make
4. run qsynaptics:
   /opt/qsynaptics/bin$ ./qsynaptics
5. configure your touchpad

xorg.conf: configure synaptic touchpad

If qsynaptic doesn’t work. Try configuring “etc/X11.xorg.conf” manually:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier    "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver        "synaptics"
Option        "SendCoreEvents"    "true"
Option        "Device"        "/dev/psaux"
Option        "Protocol"        "auto-dev"
Option        "HorizEdgeScroll"    "0"
Option    "SHMConfig" "on"
Option    "MinSpeed"  "1"
Option    "MaxSpeed"  "10"
Option    "AccelFactor" "0.2"
EndSection

For detailed option description read: http://linux.die.net/man/5/synaptics