On Sat 06 Jul 2024 at 08:39:57 (+0200), Steinar Bang wrote: > >>>>> Steinar Bang <sb@dod.no>: > > > Sometime (a day or so maybe) before <2024-06-26 Wed 19:59> the touchpad > > stopped working on my Acer Aspire 5 with a MATE desktop on debian 12.5. > > > At the time the laptop had gone 50 days since the last reboot so I > > figured something had gone wrong during the time and a reboot would fix > > it. > > > So in <2024-06-29 Sat 18:07> I did a reboot as a result of "apt > > full-upgrade" to debian 12.5 and the touchpad still wasn't working. > > > I have been thinking that the cause may be > > 1. A hardware failure? > > 2. I accidentially pressed a keyboard combination that disables the > > touchpad? > > 3. I have accidentially made some configuration change that disables > > the touchpad? > > The cause was number 2 and the key is F7 (without pressing the Fn key). > > Pressing F7 gave me the touchpad back. > > I decided to give this yet another try this morning and googled > combinations of "acer aspire 5 fn key disable touchpad" > > I was told that Fn+F6 and Fn+F7 is supposed to toggle the touchpad on > many Acer laptops. But pressing Fn+F6 or Fn+F7 had no more effect than > anything else I had tried. > > But one thing I discovered was that many people have had the > disappearing touchpad problem on Acer laptopns, also on Windows, and > have tried everything around upgrading drivers and even upgrading from > Windows 10 to Windows 11. So this is not a debian or GNU/linux specific > issue. > > I am always reluctant to reboot but I decided I had to bite the bullet > and boot into BIOS and see what I could find there. > > But I always, before doing anything, I do a quick google to see what I > can find, search string "acer aspire touchpad bios", and there I found > this thread: > https://www.reddit.com/r/AcerOfficial/comments/ug3xks/touchpad_not_working_at_all_for_my_aspire_5_tried/ > > Specifically this posting: > https://www.reddit.com/r/AcerOfficial/comments/ug3xks/comment/l1iia93/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button > > So I tried F6 without Fn and the screen went black. One more press on F6 > and I had the desktop back. > > Then I tried F7 without Fn... aaaand touchpad was back. > > I fully supports the rants in the posting linked to above. > > Couldn't said it better myself. The advice I follow whever I acquire a "new" computer¹ (all mine are cast-offs) is to download any manuals (quickstart, user, service etc) I can find from sites like www.manualslib.com, check them out, and archive them. (I also keep any reviews I find.) These particular buttons have been around for years. The attached is from the service manual for my Acer TravelMate 3201XCi, manufactured and documented in 2004, but wrested from my partner in 2014 after being our only working CorelDraw installation for a couple of years. To answer the question in the rant, "why the f* does this button exist": for the same reason that some people set a touchpad timeout each time a key is struck, to prevent the cursor careering around the screen when typing, thanks to the ball of the thumb rubbing the touchpad. ¹ or any other technology items or components. Cheers, David.
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