Touchpad unresponsive on resume from sleep on Debian 8

Question

I installed Debian a few weeks ago on my laptop.

When I close the lid and re open it, my touchpad does not respond. If I connect a usb mouse it works great but the touchpad does not. I tried to create /etc/pm/sleep.d/00_trackpad:

#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
suspend|hibernate)
modprobe -r psmouse ;;
resume|thaw)
modprobe psmouse ;;
synclient TouchpadOff=0 ;;
esac

or

#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
resume)
DISPLAY=:0.0 su USER -c '/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=0' ;;
esac

But neither works.

Computer : Asus 455L

OS :Debian GNU/Linux 8(Jessie) 64 bit. Gnome v 3014.1

Answer 1

Weird things can happen when you close and open your lid on a laptop that did not have Debian originally installed. I've seen a bunch of those.

It is not Debian's fault -- some of those laptops have a hardware switch for the screen that (sometimes) does not only informs the OS about the closing screen but also executes "commands" via firmware (not controlled by the OS), some of which "commands" could be turning off the mousepad, etc.

Two workarounds that I can think off:

1) "Do nothing" when lid is closed: I don't know what desktop you are using, but most desktops give you the option of controlling which action to take when you close your lid; choose "do nothing" if possible (don't even blank the screen), reboot the computer and try again. If it works, then this could be the workaround itself, or you can start building up from this point (ex: try "blank the screen" next) until it stops working.

2) Disable the hardware switch: this one is the "dirty", last ditch approach. Disassemble your laptop, find the hardware switch that is triggered when closing the lid and "defeat" it. Sometimes only this option works.

Sorry if there's no better answer. I hope this helps.

Edit: some more things come to mind, which can be worth trying:

1) Make sure that you have an encompassing repository list /etc/apt/sources.list such as the one shown here, run apt-get update, install the package firmware-linux, reboot and see if the problem still exists.

2) Update your BIOS to the latest version, reboot and see if the problem persists.

3) Log in to your BIOS and change all settings of "energy saving" stuff to "off" (or enable maximum performance), reboot and check it again.

4) Find out your touchpad brand and model and search for issues related or drives available for Linux.

Answer 2

suggestion

modprobe -r i2c-hid; modprobe i2c-hid; in http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=128952

links

modprobe -r psmouse; modprobe psmouse as in the question also in:

• https://matoski.com/article/debian-touchpad-not-working/ ;
• https://wiki.debian.org/SynapticsTouchpad#Touchpad_does_not_work_after_resuming_from_hibernate.2Fsuspend

similar questions:

• https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/154997/mouse-network-turned-off-after-suspend (currently without answer)
• https://askubuntu.com/questions/924074/ubuntu-touchpad-usb-mouse-click-event-not-working
• https://askubuntu.com/questions/862244/ubuntu-16-04-on-macbook-air-2009-wifi-suspend-and-touch-pad

note

a file in /etc/pm/sleep.d/ seems still (in 2021) to be a right place for sleep/suspend/... events, or in /lib/systemd/system-sleep/ as shown in https://askubuntu.com/questions/671910/touchpad-not-working-after-suspending-laptop

Answer 3

here is what worked for me:

Step 1: List Loaded Touch-Related Kernel Modules

To list loaded kernel modules related to "touch," run:

sudo lsmod | grep touch

Description: This command checks for loaded kernel modules with "touch" in their names, helping identify touch-related modules.

---

here's my output:enter image description here

So in my case, here i have the hid_multitouch module which i unload using rmmod and reload using modprobe.

Step 2: Unload hid_multitouch Module

To unload the hid_multitouch module, execute:

sudo rmmod hid_multitouch

Description: This command removes the hid_multitouch kernel module, temporarily disabling its functionality. Useful for troubleshooting touch-related issues.

---

Step 3: Manually Load hid_multitouch Module

To manually load the hid_multitouch module, use:

sudo modprobe hid_multitouch

Description: This command loads the hid_multitouch kernel module, enabling touch input support. Useful when the module isn't loaded automatically during system startup.