TrackPoint - ArchWiki

# TrackPoint

The TrackPoint is Lenovo's trademark for the pointing-stick in the middle of the keyboard. It is supported by xf86-input-evdev and xf86-input-libinput.

Default Xorg behavior supports click and point. For the `evdev` driver middle-click and scrolling requires extra configuration.

## GUI configuration

Install the gpointing-device-settings package.

## Middle button scroll

When using xf86-input-libinput, middle-button scrolling is enabled by default.

Tip: On two button trackpoints, the scroll button can be set to right click button without removing functionality.

When using xf86-input-evdev, middle-button scrolling is supported via xinput from the xorg-xinput package. For example:

    ~/.xinitrc

    xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation" 1
    xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Button" 2
    xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Timeout" 200
    xinput set-prop "TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint" "Evdev Wheel Emulation Axes" 6 7 4 5

Note:

- Devices names can be listed with `xinput --list` or hwinfo.
- The `"Device Accel Constant Deceleration"` line configures the sensitivity of the trackpoint.

### Xorg configuration

Alternative to an `~/.xinitrc` configuration, you can also create an Xorg#Configuration for the `evdev` driver. For example, as `/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-thinkpad.conf`, replacing `TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint` with the device name from xinput:

    Section "InputClass"
        Identifier	"Trackpoint Wheel Emulation"
        MatchProduct	"TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint"
        MatchDevicePath	"/dev/input/event*"
        Option		"EmulateWheel"		"true"
        Option		"EmulateWheelButton"	"2"
        Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"false"
        Option		"XAxisMapping"		"6 7"
        Option		"YAxisMapping"		"4 5"
    EndSection

## Tap to select

The TrackPoint supports tap-to-click functionality just as most touchpads do. To enable it manually:

    # echo -n 1 > /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/press_to_select

Note: The location of the `press_to_select` file may be different depending on the device you are using. Systems with both a TrackPoint and a touchpad device will use the `/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio2/` path, whereas systems with only a TrackPoint device will use the `/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/` path.

## udev configuration rule

This rule increases the trackpoint speed and enables tap to select (see above) on boot. Feel free to alter the values and add other modifications to files in /sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/serio2/. The rule also works for trackpoint-only devices.

    /etc/udev/rules.d/10-trackpoint.rules

    ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTR{name}=="TPPS/2 IBM TrackPoint", ATTR{device/sensitivity}="240", ATTR{device/press_to_select}="1"

## Troubleshooting

### Trackpoint is not detected or is detected after X minutes

This appears to be a kernel bug. See: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=33292

A workaround is passing `proto=bare` to the `psmouse` module. However, this disables scrolling with the clickpad and the two-finger middle click:

    # modprobe psmouse proto=bare

## See also

- How to configure the TrackPoint - ThinkWiki
- Trackpoint speed
- What is the best way to configure a Thinkpad's TrackPoint?

Categories:

- Input devices
- Lenovo