TrackPoint
The TrackPoint is Lenovo's trademark for the pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard. It is supported by xf86-input-evdev and xf86-input-libinput.
Default Xorg behavior supports click and point. For the evdev driver middle-click and scrolling requires extra configuration.
GUI configuration
Install the gpointing-device-settingsAUR package.
Middle button scroll
When using xf86-input-libinput, middle-button scrolling is enabled by default.
When using xf86-input-evdev, middle-button scrolling is supported via xinput from the xorg-xinput package. For example:
~/.xinitrc
xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation" 1 xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button" 2 xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout" 200 xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes" 6 7 4 5
- Devices names can be listed with
xinput --listor hwinfo. - The
"Device Accel Constant Deceleration"line configures the sensitivity of the trackpoint.
Xorg configuration
Alternative to an ~/.xinitrc configuration, you can also create an Xorg#Configuration for the evdev(4)driver. For example, as /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-thinkpad.conf, replacing TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint with the device name from xinput:
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "Trackpoint Wheel Emulation"
Driver "evdev"
MatchProduct "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Option "EmulateWheel" "true"
Option "EmulateWheelButton" "2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
Option "XAxisMapping" "6 7"
Option "YAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Two-button trackpoints
On two-button trackpoints, using xf86-input-libinput, the scroll button can be set to right-click button without removing functionality.
Replacing device with the device name from xinput:
$ xinput set-prop "device" "libinput Button Scrolling Button" 3
Sysfs attributes
TrackPoints expose their attributes as files in /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/. For example, to manually enable the tap-to-click functionality:
# echo -n 1 > /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/press_to_select
/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio2/ or /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio3/ for the path, whereas systems with only a TrackPoint device will use the /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/ path.Configuration at boot
udev rule
This rule increases the trackpoint speed and enables tap to select (see above) on boot.
/etc/udev/rules.d/10-trackpoint.rules
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTR{name}=="TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint", ATTR{device/sensitivity}="240", ATTR{device/press_to_select}="1"
systemd.path unit
There have been reports on the forums that the attributes/files under /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio2/ appear too late in the boot process for the above (or similar) udev rule(s) to have an effect on them. Instead, a systemd.path unit can be used to configure attributes of the TrackPoint.
First create an executable script named e.g. /usr/local/bin/trackpoint_configuration.sh that sets the TrackPoint attributes as shown in the #Sysfs attributes section.
The following example disables the trackpoint in some laptops, leaving the trackpoint left and right buttons (the ones over the touchpad) keep working just fine (however, if one disables the TrackPoint directly from the UEFI/BIOS settings, right and left trackpoint buttons will necessarily be disabled).
/usr/local/bin/trackpoint_configuration.sh
#!/bin/bash echo -n 0 > /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio2/sensitivity echo -n 0 > /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio2/speed
Afterwards, create the following systemd units. Make sure that all attributes modified by the script are listed with PathExists.
/etc/systemd/system/trackpoint_parameters.path
[Unit] Description=Watch for, and modify, Trackpoint attributes [Path] PathExists=/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/press_to_select [Install] WantedBy=default.target
/etc/systemd/system/trackpoint_parameters.service
[Unit] Description=Set TrackPoint attributes [Service] ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/trackpoint_configuration.sh
Finally, enable and start the trackpoint_parameters.path systemd unit.
udev hwdb entry
Libinput applies its own parameters to sysfs based on entries in the udev hardware database. This is the behavior on systems running a Wayland compositor, as libinput is the only supported input interface in that environment. Changes made prior to the start of a Wayland compositor or X session will be overwritten.
To override libinput's default settings, add a local hwdb entry:
/etc/udev/hwdb.d/99-trackpoint.hwdb
evdev:name:TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint:dmi:bvn*:bvr*:bd*:svnLENOVO:pn*:pvrThinkPad??60?:* POINTINGSTICK_SENSITIVITY=250
You can find various vendor/model keys in the udev hardware database. Note that since this commit libinput ignores the POINTINGSTICK_CONST_ACCEL parameter and uses POINTINGSTICK_SENSITIVITY. The range is 0-255.
Update the hardware database index, then to test the changes prior to restarting your compositor or X session, first find your device input node /dev/input/eventX using:
# libinput list-devices
Run the following to generate some debug output:
# udevadm trigger /sys/class/input/eventX # udevadm test /sys/class/input/eventX
udevadm test command.Finally, restart your Wayland compositor or X session to apply the changes.
device-quirks
With the libinput switch to the new device-quirks .ini-style configuration files, you can adjust trackpoint parameters via local overrides in /etc/libinput/.
For example, to override the pointing speed, create the following file:
/etc/libinput/local-overrides.quirks
[Trackpoint Override] MatchUdevType=pointingstick AttrTrackpointMultiplier=0.75
For more information, see libinput: Installing temporary local device quirks
Troubleshooting
Trackpoint is not detected or is detected after X minutes
This appears to be a kernel bug.[1]
A workaround is passing proto=bare to the psmouse module as a kernel module parameter. However, this disables scrolling with the clickpad and the two-finger middle click.
psmouse proto=bare
For some ThinkPad models with Elantech touchpad the Trackpoint and the corresponding hardware buttons do not get recognized. The above mentioned command does work but disables the two finger scrolling on the touchpad. To keep two finger interactions possible, use the following kernel module parameter:
psmouse elantech_smbus=0
Trackpoint buttons do not always work
If you discover that disabling the touchpad in the BIOS disables the wrong buttons and/or that the trackpoint buttons are very unreliable a workaround is to pass proto=imps to the psmouse module as a kernel module parameter.
Two-finger scroll ceases to work after suspending
On some laptops, psmouse seems to fail on start up, or after suspend:
psmouse serio1: synaptics: Unable to initialize device
One workaround is to use add synaptics_intertouch=0 to psmouse as a kernel module parameter.
Trackpoint moves on its own
On some ThinkPads the TrackPoint cursor moves spontaneously after release and it does not stop. This happens because of a low value of the drift_time parameter (e.g. 5), you need to change it to 25 or 30 to fix the problem. This can be done with a udev rule:
/etc/udev/rules.d/10-trackpoint.rules
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTR{name}=="TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint", ATTR{device/drift_time}="25"
If this method does not fix your issue, change the psmouse protocol to bare (i.e. add psmouse.proto=bare to your kernel parameters). This way the trackpoint will be identified as a "PS/2 Generic Mouse" instead of using the dedicated kernel driver.
If you do not need the cursor, you can use a libinput quirks override to disable cursor events. Button events will continue to work.
/etc/libinput/local-overrides.quirks
[Trackpoint Buttons Only] MatchName=*TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint AttrEventCode=-REL_X;-REL_Y
Middle-click paste triggered while scrolling
Clicking the middle mouse button pastes from the PRIMARY selection by default, which is an inconvenience when using the middle mouse button to scroll with the TrackPoint. See Clipboard#Disabling middle-click paste to disable this behavior.