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    Synaptics Touchpad on xps17 & xps14

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by nrmsmith, Mar 20, 2012.

  1. nrmsmith

    nrmsmith Notebook Enthusiast

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    About a year ago I bought an xps17 (L702x) and it came with Synaptics v7.4 touchpad device.

    I just took delivery of a new xps14 (L412z) and this has a Synaptics v8.1 touchpad device with rather nice (newer) Synaptics software with video demonstrations and multi-touch gestures support.

    Thinking it would be nice to have this on the xps17, I installed the xps14 software on the xps17; and whilst it worked, the touchpad device was still described as a v7.4 touchpad device, the videos and the multi-touch gestures were missing.

    So I presume the software is locked to the hardware; but it seems to me that one touchpad ought to be much like any other - so I can't see why the xps17 can't have the same software features as the xps14.

    Are there any hacks to allow this? Or will I just have to accept that the xps will always be a v7.4 touchpad device whatever version of the software is installed?

    Thanks for reading this far....
     
    nrmsmith, Mar 20, 2012
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  2. rabbitz

    rabbitz Notebook Consultant

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    What do you mean multi touch gestures? For tapping, you can download a program called twofingerscroll

    For multi touch gestures try this
     
    rabbitz, Mar 20, 2012
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  3. madmattd

    madmattd Notebook Deity

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    What multi-touch gestures are you missing on the XPS 17? I have one nearly a year old, and with the driver (from nearly a year ago) I can zoom, scroll up/down or left/right, and probably more (those are the ones I use most).
     
    madmattd, Mar 21, 2012
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  4. nrmsmith

    nrmsmith Notebook Enthusiast

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    I don't see a download link? Anyway I suspect the SGS software suite they are talking about is what I have built-in to the s/w suite that came with my xps14 and which won't install on the older touchpad on my xps17.

    By multi-touch gestures I mean exactly the ones which are listed on that web page you have linked to, eg. three & four finger swipes. Most of the gestures listed in your link are not present in the touchpad 7.4 device on the xps17.
     
    nrmsmith, Mar 25, 2012
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  5. madmattd

    madmattd Notebook Deity

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    Not my link, but anyway I have those gestures you mention on mine, and it too shows up as a v7.4 device. When I go to the Synaptics driver (and again, my driver is a year old) and go to the "device settings" tab, I then click on settings and under the "Application gestures" option I can turn on the 3-finger gestures. Are these what you mean?:

    touchpad settings.jpg
     
    madmattd, Mar 27, 2012
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  6. hermitmaster

    hermitmaster Notebook Consultant

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    Download the latest drivers from the Synaptics website. My L702X does all of the common gestures (pinch zoom, chiral scrolling, etc.) and has all of the videos.
     
    hermitmaster, Mar 28, 2012
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