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Asked: 2024-09-26T02:17:52+05:30 In:

I’m having trouble with my touchpad on a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Ubuntu 18.04. It seems to be completely non-functional. Does anyone have suggestions or solutions to get it working again?

I’m really frustrated right now because my touchpad on my Toshiba Satellite laptop running Ubuntu 18.04 has just stopped working out of the blue. I was in the middle of working on something, and suddenly, it just became completely non-functional. It’s like the cursor vanished into thin air! I’ve tried to fiddle with it a bit, but nothing seems to help.

First, I made sure there’s nothing physically wrong with the touchpad. I mean, I’ve checked for any debris or anything that might be obstructing it, but it all looks clean. I also tried rebooting my laptop, hoping that maybe a quick restart would fix the issue, but nope! Still nothing.

Then, I thought maybe it could be a driver issue since I know sometimes hardware just needs the right software to function properly. So I poked around a bit in the system settings and checked if my touchpad was even recognized. It’s super weird because when I go into the settings, it seems like the touchpad isn’t showing up at all. I’m not sure if I should try to reinstall or update the drivers or something. Have any of you dealt with this before?

I’ve read a few forum posts about this issue, and some people mention that there might be specific commands you can run in the terminal to troubleshoot the touchpad, but honestly, I’m a bit intimidated by the command line. I’m not the most tech-savvy person, and I definitely don’t want to mess anything up.

What’s even more annoying is that I have an external mouse, but it’s just not the same! I was so used to the convenience of the touchpad, and using a mouse feels so clunky in comparison.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Do you have any tips or suggestions on how I can get my touchpad working again? I’d really appreciate any help or guidance you can offer. Thanks in advance!

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    2 Answers



    1. Troubleshooting Touchpad Issues on Ubuntu 18.04

      Touchpad Not Working on Toshiba Satellite Laptop?

      Sounds like a super frustrating situation! Here are a few things you can try that might help get your touchpad back in action:

      Check Touchpad Settings

      Since you’ve already checked if it’s clean, the next step is to see if it’s toggled off. Sometimes, there’s a keyboard shortcut that disables it. Look for a key with a touchpad icon (like Fn + F9 or similar) and press it to see if your touchpad starts working again.

      Update Your System

      It could be a driver issue, so updating your system might help. You can do this by opening a terminal and typing:

      sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

      Don’t worry, this command just updates all the packages and might help with the drivers too!

      Check Touchpad in Terminal

      If you’re feeling brave, you can check if your touchpad is recognized by running:

      xinput list

      This will show a list of devices. If your touchpad isn’t there, then it might be a deeper issue. If it is there, something might be wrong with the settings.

      Reinstall Synaptics Driver

      Some people have had luck reinstalling the touchpad driver. In the terminal, you can try this command:

      sudo apt install --reinstall xserver-xorg-input-synaptics

      After that, reboot your laptop again to see if it works.

      Last Resort: Check BIOS Settings

      If all else fails, restart your laptop and enter the BIOS setup (usually by pressing F2 or DEL during boot). Look for touchpad settings there to make sure it’s enabled.

      Use External Mouse for Now

      I get that using a mouse can feel clunky! But until you can fix your touchpad, it might help to get some work done. But hopefully, one of the above tips will get you back to normal ASAP!

      Good luck, and don’t hesitate to ask if you need more help!


    2. When dealing with a non-functional touchpad on your Toshiba Satellite running Ubuntu 18.04, the first step is to verify that the touchpad is being recognized by the system. You can do this by opening a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and executing the command xinput list. This command will display a list of input devices detected by your system. If the touchpad is not listed, it’s likely that the device is not being recognized due to a hardware issue or an unrecognized driver. If it appears on the list, note the ID number corresponding to the touchpad, and then you can try to see if it is enabled by running xinput enable [ID], replacing [ID] with the actual number.

      If the touchpad still isn’t functioning properly after verifying its presence, the next step is to look into driver issues. You can check for any additional drivers available by going to Software & Updates and clicking on the Additional Drivers tab. If any proprietary drivers are suggested, install them and restart your laptop. Should the problem persist, updating or reinstalling Synaptics touchpad drivers may be necessary; you can do this by running sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-input-synaptics in the terminal. Don’t hesitate to check community forums or ask for help if you get stuck; Ubuntu’s community is quite resourceful and can assist you if you provide specific error messages or issues you encounter along the way.

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