synclient -m var doesn't work and how to fix the problem

synclient -m 100 will report the error message "can't access shared memory SHMConfig disabled?" under Ubuntu 10.10.

The solution is simple, type in the console:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and add the line below (if xorg.conf doesn't exist, just create it with lines below):

Section "InputClass"

Identifier "enable synaptics SHMConfig"

MatchIsTouchpad "on"

MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"

Option "SHMConfig" "on"

EndSection

Save the file and reboot!

Now, the command synclient -m 100 should print something like that:

time x y z f w l r u d m multi gl gm gr gdx gdy

62.283 3304 3177 77 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

62.383 3240 3173 81 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

62.483 3206 3162 81 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

62.583 1 5855 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

62.684 1 5855 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

Weird results when 2 fingers touch the pad:

time x y z f w l r u d m multi gl gm gr gdx gdy

15.867 868 -1846 97 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.876 4885 2595 77 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.887 1380 -1846 91 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.899 4879 2608 77 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.911 2148 -1846 85 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.924 4877 2603 77 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.935 3940 -2102 92 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

15.947 4877 2603 77 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 00000000 0 0 0 0 0

Two fingers generate negative y coordinates! Perhaps, that explains the jumpy pointer?

I tried Fedora 14 64bits on my Pavilion dm4 1160us

I tried the live cd Fedora 14 - xfce. It boots without problem but shortly the screen turns dark (exactly the same problem as Ubuntu 10.10), but it's not possible to turn on the backlight by pressing 'f3'. I suppose the reason is that the login name is required before launching xfce (Is it the same problem with gnome and kde?).

I tried again but I interrupted the initial countdown and I chose the 'basic video' rather the default boot. So now, I saw the three horizontal bars progressing until the dialog box pops up, requiring the login name. Finally xfce started correctly.

I tried the touchpad and I observed the same problems as Ubuntu 10.10: 2 fingers on the pad generate erratic jumps of the pointer, and the right click doesn't work. So Fedora 14 and Ubuntu 10.10 suffer of the same problems concerning the touchpad of the Pavilion dm4.

I tried the wifi too. Like Ubuntu 10.10, the Wifi works perfectly.

And like Ubuntu, the fingerprint reader is not recognized.

My first impression is Fedora 14 and Ubuntu 10.10 are pretty equivalent regarding how the Pavilion dm4-1160 features are supported.

Pavilion dm4-1160 touchpad erratic bis

I changed the parameter BottomEdge with the value 3500. The right click is now emulated by a short tap on the botton and right edge of the pad ( a small area of 1/2 inch on the bottom-right corner ). The script is below:

#! /bin/sh
#Configure synaptics divers, must be run at each session
PROG=synclient
echo edges
$PROG LeftEdge=1750
$PROG RightEdge=5200
$PROG TopEdge=1620
$PROG BottomEdge=3500
echo Finger Press
$PROG FingerLow=24
$PROG FingerHigh=29
$PROG FingerPress=255
echo taps time
$PROG MaxTapTime=180
$PROG MaxTapMove=220
$PROG MaxDoubleTapTime=180
$PROG SingleTapTimeout=180
$PROG ClickTime=100
$PROG FastTaps=1
echo emulate
$PROG EmulateMidButtonTime=75
$PROG EmulateTwoFingerMinZ=280
$PROG EmulateTwoFingerMinW=7
echo scrolling
$PROG VertScrollDelta=100
$PROG HorizScrollDelta=0
$PROG VertEdgeScroll=1
$PROG HorizEdgeScroll=0
$PROG CornerCoasting=0
$PROG VertTwoFingerScroll=0
$PROG HorizTwoFingerScroll=0
echo Pointer speed
$PROG MinSpeed=0.1
$PROG MaxSpeed=1
$PROG AccelFactor=1
$PROG TrackstickSpeed=0
$PROG EdgeMotionMinZ=29
$PROG EdgeMotionMaxZ=159
$PROG EdgeMotionMinSpeed=1
$PROG EdgeMotionMaxSpeed=401
$PROG EdgeMotionUseAlways=0
echo scrolling flags
$PROG UpDownScrolling=1
$PROG LeftRightScrolling=1
$PROG UpDownScrollRepeat=1
$PROG LeftRightScrollRepeat=1
$PROG ScrollButtonRepeat=100
echo Touchpad Mouse one/off
$PROG TouchpadOff=0
$PROG GuestMouseOff=0
echo dragging
$PROG LockedDrags=0
$PROG LockedDragTimeout=5000
echo corners
$PROG RTCornerButton=0
$PROG RBCornerButton=2
$PROG LTCornerButton=0
$PROG LBCornerButton=1
echo tap
$PROG TapButton1=1
$PROG TapButton2=2
$PROG TapButton3=0
echo click
$PROG ClickFinger1=1
$PROG ClickFinger2=0
$PROG ClickFinger3=0
echo Circular
$PROG CircularScrolling=0
$PROG CircScrollDelta=0.1
$PROG CircScrollTrigger=0
$PROG CircularPad=0
echo Palm
$PROG PalmDetect=1
$PROG PalmMinWidth=10
$PROG PalmMinZ=199
$PROG CoastingSpeed=0
echo Grab
$PROG GrabEventDevice=1
$PROG TapAndDragGesture=1
echo Area
$PROG AreaLeftEdge=0
$PROG AreaRightEdge=0
$PROG AreaTopEdge=0
$PROG AreaBottomEdge=0
echo Jumpy
$PROG JumpyCursorThreshold=60


Pavilion dm4-1160 erratic touchpad solved with a script

I wrote a simple bash script to solve the erratic touchpad of my notebook HP dm4-1160us.

A left button click is emulated by a fast tap on the touchpad. The vertical scrolling is a narrow area on the right edge of the touchpad. Now, two fingers can touch the pad without any erratic jumps of the pointer. It's possible to grab and move a window too; just move the mouse pointer on the top area of the window, then double taps quickly and keep the finger on the pad while you grab the window. Unfortunately the right button still doesn't work. (Check my next post - October 19 - the right button is emulated too!)

The script is below.
- Copy and past the code in gedit, save it as touchpad.sh for instance.
- Make it executable.
- Start it automatically with gnome ( System->Preference->StartUp Applications->Add and provide the command ).
Of course, you can run this script from the console, just to check it.
If you find some improvement, let me know!

#! /bin/sh
PROG=synclient
echo edges
$PROG LeftEdge=1750
$PROG RightEdge=5178
$PROG TopEdge=1621
$PROG BottomEdge=5000
echo Finger Press
$PROG FingerLow=24
$PROG FingerHigh=29
$PROG FingerPress=255
echo taps time
$PROG MaxTapTime=180
$PROG MaxTapMove=220
$PROG MaxDoubleTapTime=180
$PROG SingleTapTimeout=180
$PROG ClickTime=100
$PROG FastTaps=1
echo emulate
$PROG EmulateMidButtonTime=75
$PROG EmulateTwoFingerMinZ=280
$PROG EmulateTwoFingerMinW=7
echo scrolling
$PROG VertScrollDelta=100
$PROG HorizScrollDelta=0
$PROG VertEdgeScroll=1
$PROG HorizEdgeScroll=1
$PROG CornerCoasting=0
$PROG VertTwoFingerScroll=0
$PROG HorizTwoFingerScroll=0
echo Pointer speed
$PROG MinSpeed=0.1
$PROG MaxSpeed=1
$PROG AccelFactor=1
$PROG TrackstickSpeed=0
$PROG EdgeMotionMinZ=29
$PROG EdgeMotionMaxZ=159
$PROG EdgeMotionMinSpeed=1
$PROG EdgeMotionMaxSpeed=401
$PROG EdgeMotionUseAlways=0
echo scrolling flags
$PROG UpDownScrolling=1
$PROG LeftRightScrolling=1
$PROG UpDownScrollRepeat=1
$PROG LeftRightScrollRepeat=1
$PROG ScrollButtonRepeat=100
echo Touchpad Mouse one/off
$PROG TouchpadOff=0
$PROG GuestMouseOff=0
echo dragging
$PROG LockedDrags=0
$PROG LockedDragTimeout=5000
echo corners
$PROG RTCornerButton=2
$PROG RBCornerButton=3
$PROG LTCornerButton=0
$PROG LBCornerButton=0
echo tap
$PROG TapButton1=1
$PROG TapButton2=2
$PROG TapButton3=3
echo click
$PROG ClickFinger1=1
$PROG ClickFinger2=3
$PROG ClickFinger3=2
echo Circular
$PROG CircularScrolling=0
$PROG CircScrollDelta=0.1
$PROG CircScrollTrigger=0
$PROG CircularPad=0
echo Palm
$PROG PalmDetect=0
$PROG PalmMinWidth=10
$PROG PalmMinZ=199
$PROG CoastingSpeed=0
echo Grab
$PROG GrabEventDevice=1
$PROG TapAndDragGesture=1
echo Area
$PROG AreaLeftEdge=0
$PROG AreaRightEdge=0
$PROG AreaTopEdge=0
$PROG AreaBottomEdge=0
echo Jumpy
$PROG JumpyCursorThreshold=60


Solving the erratic pointer of the touchpad Pavilion dm4-1160

I experimented another solution that makes the Touchpad of the HP Pavilion dm4-1160 less erratic. It uses the program synclient (in command line) to modify on the fly the parameters of the synaptics driver.

In the console, type this command:
synclient MinSpeed=0.1 MaxSpeed=1 AccelFactor=1 JumpyCursorThreshold=60

You can type sysclient -l to check the parameters in use.

The parameter to calm down the pointer is JumpyCursorThreshold=x; lower is the value x and more lazy the touchpad will be! I found the good value is around 50 and 100. You can enter the new value with synclient and immediatly check the result.

This solution is not perfect, for instance, it's not possible to click with one finger and to move the second finder to resize a window. The other problem is synclient doesn't save the parameters. So, you will have to redo it at the next boot. I will explain how to modify the configuration file.

Ubuntu 10.10 on HP Pavilion dm4-1160 - erratic pointer solved

Finally, I solved the erratic pointer with these parameters added at the end of the line of parameters passed to the kernel: i8042.nomux=1 et i8042.reset=1

From the Ubuntu 10.10 livecd, when the cd starts booting, press F1 to display the menu and F6 Other Options, press esc to remove the options box, and at the end of the line, add the options above:

Boot Options: file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash-- i8042.nomux=1 i8042.reset=1

synclient MinSpeed=0.1
synclient MaxSpeed=1
synclient AccelFactor=1
synclient JumpyCursorThreshold=60
r

I discovered the solution below doesn't work, but I found an alternative solution with synclient (it will be described in my next post)

If Ubuntu is already installed, edit the menu /boot/grub/menu.lst and add the options i8042.nomux=1 i8042.reset=1 at the end of the line kernel /boot/vmlinuz ... quiet splash !!!Doesn't correct the problem

Ubuntu 10.10 problems on HP Pavilion dm4-1160

I just received today my little 14'' notebook HP pavilion dm4-1160. $700 after rebate for an Intel i5 - M450 at 2.4GHz, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB at 7200 rpm; it's a good deal regarding the performances. The only regret is the chip Intel HD Graphic and the screen resolution 1366x768 pixels.

Of course, Windows 7 Home edition 64bits is preinstalled and it's not possible to refuse it (just to get an extra discount). To finish with M$, the DVD of the OS is not provided. The Microsoft totalitarianism...

Anyway, I decided to try the new Ubuntu 10.10 in Live CD; I changed the boot sequence to boot first on the DVD rom, I placed my CD with Ubuntu 10.10 and turned on the computer. The CD started to boot, the first line indicating the kernel version appeared briefly (isolinux 4.01....) and nothing else! The screen returned to black while the DVD drive worked.

I tried Ubuntu 10.10 64bits and 32bits, Ubuntu 10.04 32bits, all of them loaded without any success and then I dicovered the backlight was turned off automatically during the initialization. The solution is to press the key 'f3' when the screen turns black to switch on the backlight, and then Ubuntu 10.10 works almost perfectly. The wireless is painless. The only problem is the touchpad which is erratic when 2 fingers are on the pad. The solution is to keep just one finger. The touchpad freezes sometimes for a while and restarts. The best solution is to use an external mouse connected to the usb port.

Funny thing: I discovered that in accessibility mode, the touchpad works almost correctly!

I tried Fedora 11, the graphic card worked correctly and the backlight did not turn off. I had a big problem with the touchpad too, so I plugged a simple mouse on the usb port and then almost everything worked perfectly. In fact, the main problem is the wireless connection. Fedora 11 is pretty old; I will try Fedora 13 the next week and I will post my results. Check my post of Nov. 5, I tested Fedora 14 Livecd.

Release CiWiki 1.7.0.1 alias Didiwiki

It is now possible to serve images and compressed files that are stored on the server. In the wiki page, image and compressed files have to be between two square brackets, images are in the folder 'images' [images/ciwiki.png] and files are in the folder 'files' [files/texlexan.lzma]

http://freshmeat.net/projects/ciwiki

CiWiki 1.6 alias DidiWiki adds a basic Diff

The command: Changes -> Diff or Changes->Comp displays the differences between the current page and the previous page. It is not very fancy but it is okay to have a quick idea of the changes.

Changes -> Diff shows only the differences.
Changes->Comp shows the previous page and the differences are printed in bold characters.

CiWiki 1.5.0, toc, entry and new login page

I modified the login page; now the creation of a new account and the login are separated. I added the possibility to change the password and to log off too.
I included in the package a small bash script to automatize the mailing of the access code.

There are new tags:
{{toc}} creates a list of contents.
{{entry}} {{data}} {{save}} {{delete}} create a form with an entry, a button 'add' and the buttons 'save' and 'delete'.

The code is always on sourceforge (and I will be happy to read your comments, positive :-) or negative :-( http://sourceforge.net/projects/ciwiki/

CiWiki 1.3.1 alias DidiWiki new feature!

I added 4 new features to CiWiki / DidiWiki:

* Expand tags {{expand}} the text {{-expand}}

* Collapse tags {{collapse}} the text {{-collapse}}

(expand and collapse can be nested)

* Quote mark 'a quotation.

* External links in new tab {{wwwlink=new_tag}} or current tag {{wwwlink=current_tag}}

The code is available here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ciwiki/

The program is still very compact (use 80Ko of ram), fast (C) and includes its own tiny server.

Academic Wiki

Academic Wiki could be the name of a new educational wiki. I am working on the project of a wiki especially designed for the education. So, it will include some special features such as the list of contributions done by one student during a period of time. This feature is important to be able to evaluate and to grade the work of each student. Another important feature is the page rating; the difficulty of the topic, the style of the text, the accuracy of the information, the bibliography are evaluated by the instructors and the results are displayed graphical on the page. Finally, a resource wiki is the companion of the Academic Wiki. It provides templates, pictures, drawings, short texts and snippets. Some other important features are a good permissions manager, the possibility to include quiz, flash animation and video.
One particularity of Academic Wiki is the name of the authors and reviewers are always displayed.

You can discover the ideas that will govern this new wiki here:
http://learnexperiment.wikidot.com/start

Login and Page permission

After one week a new version of ciwiki alias didiwiki is available on sourceforge.
I added a simple login procedure (old fashioned) and a restriction to edit, delete and view some part of the pages when the user is not logged in . Inside a page everything after the tag {{ private }} is not displayed for non logged users.

New users are recorded in the file ~/newwikiusers.txt and they should be contacted by email with the help of a little script and sendmail (I will write this script in the next couple of days).

This light weight wiki should be more secure for a semi-private use.

CiWiki alias DidiWiki 1.1 on SourceForge

I did not find any critical bugs in the new version of CiWiki DidiWiki 1.1 , so it is now available on SourceForge, enjoy... (and don't forget to report me any bugs!)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ciwiki/

The next add-on will be a login to restrict the access to the pages.

CiWiki alias DidiWiki 1.1

I added a new functionality to DidiWiki.
In this new version 1.1, the previous page is saved, so it is possible to go back to correct any changes.
The link 'Changes' show the pages like that:

WikiHome 2010-03-12 07:47
WikiHome.prev.1 2010-03-12 07:43
elearning 2010-03-12 07:23
elearning.prev.1 2010-03-11 23:11
WikiHelp 2010-03-11 14:49
WikiHelp.prev.1 2010-03-10 10:58
TexLexAn 2010-03-07 13:57
memo 2010-03-06 12:03

Wiki changes are also available as a RSS feed.

When a previous page xxxxxx.prev.1 is edited and saved, it is automatically renamed without the extension .prev.1 and the current page is renamed with the extension .prev.1

The link 'Index' does not show the previous pages:

• WikiHome
• elearning
• WikiHelp
• TexLexAn
• memo

I am currently checking for any bugs and I will probably upload the new version in sourceforge in the next 8-12 hrs.

CiWiki alias DidiWiki 1.0

I worked a large part of the night, I finally finished to debug the video embedding. I tested it under Ubuntu Jaunty, CidiWiki works perfectly. Let me know if you have any problem or if you want I implement a new feature.

The code is available on sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ciwiki/

Syntax:

youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/----address_of_the_video-----

To summarize the new feature added to DidiWiki are:
Text color,
Highlight color,
Picture width, height and border size
Video embedding: youtube, dailymotion, vimeo, veoh and flash

I am currently working on CiWiki alias DidiWiki to make it able to show embedded video, such as youtube, dailymotion, vimeo, veoh.

The first trials work pretty well. Currently, it works with youtube, dailymotion, vimeo and veoh.

The syntax is easy for youtube in particularly, just type in the beginning of a new line:
youtube=http//www.youtube.com/v/----the address_of_the_video----

For instance, this youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/UU4Ly2UMMpc will show the video of Lady Gaga Let's dance.

I have to test a little bit more before releasing the new version of CiWiki DidiWiki 1.0

DidiWiki 2 version 0.9

I upgraded DidiWiki once again with the possibility to change the picture size and the border. The new tag is {{width=100 height=50 border=2}} to resize the picture at 100x50 px and add a e border of 2 px.

I renamed it DidiWiki 2 because the new tags make it pretty different of kwiki.

The sources are available here: http://sansmicrosoft.canalblog.com/archives/2010/03/08/17159215.html

DidiWiki a tiny wiki

Did you try DidiWiki?

It's a very light personal Wiki.
Written in C, it requires very few resource and is easy to use.
The current version 0.8 (unofficial) includes several nice upgrades from Gilbert Ashley and many other contributors, and I added my own contribution with the possibility to highlight a portion of text, or to change its color or its background.
The tags are pretty esoteric but I just searched to do something as short as possible.

To highlight, just add + between the text: +Text to highlight+
To change the text color, add {R}Text{R}
To change the background, add (R)Text(R)
{R} and (R) are for red, B for blue, G for green, Y for yellow, C for cyan, P for pink and D for black.

It's not very sophisticated but that works!

The sources are on my other website (I cannot upload file here): http://sansmicrosoft.canalblog.com/archives/wiki_apps/index.html

You will have to decompress the file (tar.gz), to run configure, make and make install as root. You should be able to launch it from the console: didiwiki
Next open your browser and enter in the address bar: localhost:8000
Now, you can create you own personal wiki to store memo, personal user guide...

To start didiwiki with you new session, go to system, preference, startup apps and enter didiwiki in the startup program field.