M15x & M17x Touchpad cursor movement & polling rate problems

I've found a few drivers that aren't as bad as Dell's, but *all* Dell, Toshiba, IBM, Synaptics, Alps, Elantech, You Mom drivers reduce the polling rate at least a bit. It's already too low with just the native Windows drivers, which all of these OEM drivers really just hook into anyway (i8042prt.sys and mouclass.sys still load).

 

Yea I PMed him before about it.

 

Oh noes... it seems this is becoming like the throttling... in the throttling thread.. JohnBAtDell blamed the problem on nvidia's powermizer when others could prove that wasn't the issue... Over and over ridiculous excuses were made till he just disappeared.

Well dejavu.... Well now here is what ChrisDell is saying about this touchpad issue.

However in the same thread people point out that under linux this issue is gone.... Also in the same thread, Chris tells us someone is working on this and there is a "Hot issue" open.

If that is the case why would he PM me and tell me the problem is caused by the texture on the touchpad it self. WOW, nuff said.

His quote from 3 days ago:

So as of today he all of a sudden has discovered its the texture??? I dont think so! Face it.. it seems these people are hired to professionally make excuses for their products defects if they are simply not cost effective to fix.

 

Texture is NOT the problem. It works fine in Linux. I have no idea how they can think that's the problem.

 

@Dell folks,

If you get us a source code of the driver, we can (at least I can) change the polling rate during my lunch break.

See how it's pretty clear in Linux:

Linux/drivers/input/mouse/synaptics_i2c.c - Linux Cross Reference - Free Electrons

Just find "Polling rate" in that file...

 

I would give Chris a chance to answer before saying he's just going to disappear. He's been responsive and helpful up to this point. You can't blame the messenger for problems not being solved.

 

Yeah I agree tho, don't shoot the messenger.

 

+1 on that.
he's been very helpful and as slowly as it was, most of the major issues that were reported on this forum were resolved by Dell.

 

I disabled synaptics to get the higher refresh rate, however now I keep accidentally touching the touchpad with my left thumb/palm area and it messes up my typing. I then realized I can't do anything about it since I don't have synaptics installed anymore! (I mean change the sensitivity around the T-pad area so I don't accidentally trigger the mouse to jump to somewhere across the screen).

Such a silly thing.

 

I am ready to send a complaint, just let me know the proper place to send it to.

 

Yep. That's why simply using the Windows native drivers is not a real solution.

 

For what this machine costs, fixing this should be a priority. It's a low cost part, and mouse drivers aren't exactly rocket science.

 

Face it.. it seems these people are hired to professionally make excuses for their products defects if they are simply not cost effective to fix.
* No, that is not why I was hired.

I was only relating what was told to me in our last meeting. Henceforth, I won't.

 

Chris, please ignore those types of comments. I'm sure many, as I, appreciate your effort to update us average joes.

 

Has anyone tried installing the latest generic version 1.0.5?

 

yep, my new m17x r2 has it. I am typing this on my M6400, which has a smooth as butter pad.

 

Thanks for updating the thread Chris.


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As a reminder to all, posts which are inflammatory, argumentative or of a fire starting nature will be removed. All of this is detailed in the forum rules.

Thanks.

 

FYI - Please do not post your contact info (name, email) & Service Tag publically. This info is sensitive and should not be shared with anyone other than Dell via official channels.

Thanks.

 

Just beat me to it.. why anyone thinks this is a good idea is beyond me.

 

I just gave a try to that HP driver and it works way better.
Still there's a room for improvement.

 

Can CC still disable the touchpad when an external mouse is connected ?

 

Nope... I'm reverting back till Dell offers a better solution.

 

Thanks for checking it out ahi!

 

I tried HP drivers as well. Unfortunately, they work equally bad as the Synaptics ones that came originally installed (read: useless).

 

Still waiting!

Dell/Alienware again show the amazing value of their customer service.

....and how willing Dell and its reps are to lie/mislead. Every time I call they say they will check on the status and call or email me back. I have never received a single call or email, not even to tell me they have nothing to report.

 

I insist they are not aware the problem is affecting to every single unit they already sold....

 

At least they are trying to help.
Any other company doesn't get close to Dell's customer service and warranty policies. I am from Israel, bought the laptop in US and just serviced it in Brazil(!!!). Show me one more company that gives you such an international warranty with in house service.
Or show me another company that has agents hanging in the forums trying to help users.
Not saying they are perfect but at least they try.
I wouldn't complain as much, they're slow but they eventually they will fix it. Just have some patience.

 

<==== still waiting for a fix.

 

Firstly, their international warranty may be great, but that doesn't have any bearing on their responsiveness to reported customer issues.

I've called more than a half dozen times over the last couple of months on this issue alone. I am always told either they are escalating the issue or they will look into the status and call/email me back.

The fact that I am 100% consistently being blown off does not reassure me as to the quality of their customer service or warranties. If I even got a single call back saying they're looking into it with nothing to report yet, or it's not a simple thing to resolve, or engineering is just too busy to look into it currently, or ANYTHING...

I'm more than happy to wait patiently, but I don't appreciate being blown off or lied to. Especially on an issue so serious it affects me every time I use my M17x, and affects each new M15x/M17x Alienware sells. I'm not asking for much, just an honest answer as to where this issue stands.

 

I'd have to agree with you on that.
Their first line of support is terrible.

 

Well I agree... partly this is due to the fact that people really dont care that the touchpad is crap. I made a thread here back in December and everyone told me, either there was not a problem, or I should quit complaining since I have such a nice comp. LOL

Well You are right they are not aware.. I have called about this issue... even after a mobo replace.. a touchpad replace... etc etc.. .still they tell me its my computer. The only thing I can say is MASS calls about the issue would help but might still might not get the attention it needs as there still wont be enough to make it known.

I hope it gets fixed soon... This mixed with throttling .. makes me feel like I bought a Porche only to find out it has electrical problems, and engine leaks.

Not cool

 

Anyone able to link to me to the HP driver that's mentioned in this thread? I'd like to give it a shot.

Thanks.

 

Here you go.

 

I had a problem with that driver but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I may have to install it again to see what was bothering me.

 

Reinstalled the 15.0.9.0 from above. Immediately saw the problem. Polling rate went down from ~38 to ~32.

Uninstalled it.

 

Yeah, I reverted back from it as well. Back to Linux?

 

Bah, same laggy crap. Thanks for linking it. Why the hell is this so hard for Dell/Alienware to fix? Do they outsource everything to halfwits so nothing ever gets done?

And telling us to use an external mouse for gaming. How the F is that a solution to the problem at hand? If I gave that sort of customer service at my job I'd be fired in an instant.

 

wait, so with HP driver the polling rate is still low, does this mean that the problem is not with the driver ?

 

Well, not making excuses as I agree the touchpad issue needs to be resolved but there is no way that I can even attempt to play an FPS game without an external mouse. Can anyone say 'OWNED'?

 

It's a 100% software/OS related problem.

 

I disagree!
Played AA2.X for a year without a mouse (using a track point on greatly outdated ThinkPad), and trust me I fragged so many folks who had Razer's, that a pile of bodies could reach the Moon

 

How old is this thread now? Just want to know how lonng this is taking.

 

If you're limiting yourself just to the FPS market you're missing out on a LOT of games. Eufloria is a awesome RTS type game that can be played with just the touchpad and if it was nice less tactile like the M15X's all the better.

 

It will take forever more, since according to some Dell reps the case was closed and would take a huge amount of pushing (BBB) to get things going again, IMHO.

 

what is BBB?

 

Bee-bee...(bee?) gun?

 

BBB is generally the Better Business Bureau.

 

that sounds like a cool gun an extra Bee

 

Well if Bill or other dell reps here on the forums would push the issue, it should get resolved. They assisted with other issues to get them visible. It just seems that people dont take this issue seriously as they should be..

I was on my old E1705 and put windows 7 on it and then the synaps driver and the touchpad works beautiful there... Its the dell one for windows vista but had no issues like the M17x has..

 

There's no question this is a serious issue and one that is specific to the M15x/M17x. I've worked on/with and owned dozens of Dell laptops, all nearly exclusively using the trackpad, and have never run into this issue. And this is the most expensive "Dell" laptop I've used. I expect better from Dell, and in theory I should expect even more from Alienware than from Dell.