The Perfect Almost Touchpad Settings On Linux 2

Mtrack is a touchpad driver written for the Xorg display server. If you are using something else, you are out of luck. If you don’t know if you’re using it, the odds are in your favor. To be 100% sure, run a:

ps -e | grep X

If you see “Xorg” in the list, you’re good to go.

To install, we’re going to use a forked repository of the mainline mtrack. It has some very vital features to emulate the macbook feel. Use the following commands:

cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/p2rkw/xf86-input-mtrack.git
cd xf86-input-mtrack
./configure --with-xorg-module-dir=/usr/lib/xorg/modules
sudo make
sudo make install

I did not require any additional dependencies but you might. If you do, try running the following:

sudo apt build-dep xserver-xorg-input-mtrack

Write the following file using your favorite text editor: /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-mtrack.conf

And the contents:

Section "InputClass"
        MatchIsTouchpad "on"
        Identifier      "Touchpads"
        Driver          "mtrack"
        Option          "Sensitivity" "0.60"
        Option          "FingerHigh" "5"
        Option          "FingerLow" "1"
        Option          "IgnoreThumb" "true"
        Option          "ThumbRatio" "70"
        Option          "ThumbSize" "25"
        Option          "IgnorePalm" "true"
        Option          "TapButton1" "0"
        Option          "TapButton2" "0"
        Option          "TapButton3" "0"
        Option          "TapButton4" "0"
        Option          "ClickFinger1" "3"
        Option          "ClickFinger2" "3"
        Option          "ClickFinger3" "3"
        Option          "ButtonMoveEmulate" "false"
        Option          "ButtonIntegrated" "true"
        Option          "ClickTime" "25"
        Option          "BottomEdge" "30"
        Option          "SwipeLeftButton" "8"
        Option          "SwipeRightButton" "9"
        Option          "SwipeUpButton" "0"
        Option          "SwipeDownButton" "0"
        Option          "SwipeDistance" "700"
        Option          "ScrollCoastDuration" "500"
        Option          "ScrollCoastEnableSpeed" ".3"
        Option          "ScrollUpButton" "5"
        Option          "ScrollDownButton" "4"
        Option          "ScrollLeftButton" "7"
        Option          "ScrollRightButton" "6"
        Option          "ScrollDistance" "350"
EndSection

The command to do this varies based on your system but rebooting is a sure fire way to get it done.

You can read the details of the available settings at the driver’s Github page.

The ones you will probably want to adjust are:

Sensitivity – to adjust the pointer speed and ScrollDistance – to adjust the scroll speed with 2 finger scrolling

Everything else comes as close as possible to the macbook’s touchpad feel.