Touchpad does not work on Acer Aspire

Question

I have an Acer Aspire on which I installed Linux Mint 17.2. The touchpad does not work at all; xinput doesn't even list any touchpad unit at all. Probably a driver issue, is there some way to make it work?

Answer 1

The solution: add i8042.nopnp to the kernel command line. To do this:

sudoedit /etc/default/grub

and add:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="i8042.nopnp"

If there's already a line with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=…, add i8042.nopnp inside the quotes, separated from any other word within the quotes by a space, e.g.

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="some-other=option i8042.nopnp"

Then run

sudo update-grub

and reboot. Hope it works, it worked for me!

Answer 2

For acer laptops, After installing drivers if it's still not working.

then you have To re-enable your touchpad: On your laptop keyboard, press the Fn key and the F6 or F7 key (the function key with a touchpad icon on it) at the same time. Then check to see if you're able to use your touchpad.

So try clicking or swiping after pressing the keys mentioned, to see it's enabled.

Source: https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/acer-laptop-touchpad-not-working-solved/

Answer 3

Menu -> Administration -> Update Manager -> (Install Updates -- Ensure you Update the kernel) -> reboot -> Fn - F7

Inspired by : http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux-mint-touchpad-fix.html

Linux Mint Serena - Aspire V3-575-5OTD (Updated to kernel v4.4.0-62)

Answer 4

Try F7. I had this same problem installing Mint on Acer Aspire 5. I tried as suggested Fn + F7 but it did not work. My F7 key has a picture of a touchpad on it, so it is used to enable/disable touchpad. It worked when I did not use Fn key, just F7.

Answer 5

After going through lots of bug reports and solutions, managed to boot kubuntu 19.10, kernel 5.3 with a working touchpad (elan). My device is

• ACER Aspire 3 A315-41-R955
• bios 1.13 version
• AMD Ryzen 5 2500U cpu

Steps:

1. disable secure boot in bios settings
2. Add these two lines in /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="ivrs_ioapic[32]=00:14.0 nosplash irqpoll"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="psmouse.elantech_smbus=0"

3. sudo update-grub

Thats all.

Answer 6

I've tried it all...

• In my research there was talk of blacklisting I2C modules to force alternate modules to manage the synaptic touchpad. So my suspicions were confirmed when I found the i2c_i801 module blacklisted by default in LinuxMint - Serena. I un-blacklisted it, reboot and viola -- the return of the functional touchpad.
• I also changed the touchpad mode to BASIC in the BIOS. Not the most elegant solution but it does work reliably. the touch pad can be disabled and re-enabled as needed via Fn-F7

I say not the most elegant as the USB receiver or attached mouse has to be disconnected at boot time and plugged in after the system is up if required.

Brief how to below. Note: Words in between /* .. */ are comments.

• Open blacklist (in vi in this example)

  sudo vi  /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
  

• In VI.. search for the i2c blacklisting by typing:

  \i2c
  

• Then comment the line jumped to by preceeding with a hashtag

  I[press enter]#
  

• You should have:

  #blacklist i2c_i801
  

• Now save and exit by:

  [press 'Esc' key]:wq!