E14 : Trackpad Discussion Only

My wife definitely complained about the trackpad on mine, when I had Reil's working pretty well. Since then I did the Synaptics updates that Microsoft tossed my way.. and it's been complete crap since then! (That's why I'm here at the moment..see if there's something I can do, or if I should just roll back the driver.)

 

Well until update the Synaptics driver.. I had mine working pretty well.. Two-finger scroll at least. I never could get 3 finger tap to work, and 2 finger tap for me was really inconsistent. It didn't work more often than not. This is using Reils in cahoots with the Synaptics.

 

Whats it doing? make sure the palm check starting zone covers everything but the buttons essentially.

 

Ah! I had changed my palm check settings one night so it was barely anything, and didn't change it back. I bet that's the reason I had so many problem doing a click + drag the scroll bar on webpages.. and when highlighting things... it would constantly stop mid scroll /or highlight. There's been a few times lately where I couldn't get it to scroll a webpage without using 2-finger scroll.

Seems to be working much better now.. thanks for the tip!

 

Hi,

I am having the same problem as zoglog's first issue.

i love the envy trackpad program but i am used to resting my thumb on the buttons. it also effects me when i use the buttons and pad in combination such as for highlighting text.

the suggestion given was reducing the starting zone. i have tried that and it doesnt work.

is there a solution?

 

There's no solution AFAIK when using reil's. Probably the same for the others as well.

 

Hi there,

I just received a brand new HP ENVY 14 Beats yesterday and am interested in optimizing my trackpad. I noticed Reil has developed an app to assist with this... I downloaded it yesterday and am unsure what are the optimal settings to mimic 2 finger scrolling on a MBP.

Thank you kindly.

 

You can't rest your finger/thumb on the buttons and have two finger scrolling with reil's app at the moment. You've just got to adapt and rest your finger/thumb somewhere else. Also, tapping is great and definitely worth trying out. I, like many others, used to just rest a finger/thumb on the buttons, but now I'm used to tapping and I think it's better. It would be great to be able to do both, but I never would have tried out tapping so much. Every cloud, etc. etc.

There's some info at the bottom of the original post ( page 1) about settings I tried to start with, or a couple of pages back ( page 59) for settings I've settled on. I'd recommend just playing around with it for a bit to get it how you like it. It depends what you're doing too. You can always change the settings again at any time.

 

Thanks JoeWasEre... I will give this a shot when I get home

I just found the two-finger scroll project on Google Code... Is this better than Reil's product?
http://code.google.com/p/two-finger-scroll/

 

Simple answer: No

 

This may have already been asked before, but is there any possibility of getting some gestures for going forward and backward on in a webpage? Like a three finger swipe left/right. That would be amazing.

Edit* I figured it out, there are setting in the synaptics page for a three finger swipe for web-browsing, I just had to do a little registry edit so it would work in chrome. Here is the link talking about what you have to do to get it working in chrome.

http://nathanhinkle.com/synaptics-multitouch-gestures-chrome/

 

I think the forward/back swipe can be setup with reil's too

 

It indeed can. Set Left and Right to Mouse Button X1 and X2, respectively. works perfectly for me.

 

Can I just voice my appreciation for reils envypad software? It makes the 2 finger scroll work so nice that I actually use it. Thanks reil!

N

 

Whenever i try to download reil's trackpad a box pops up and says i need to down load v.4####### of something any idea what it is? all my bios are stock if thst helps.

 

Aha, your right! I have to admit, that wasn't the most apparent thing to figure out.

*Edit: Its seems that synaptics version is a little better. With Reli's version I was having some glitches where it would go back two pages. I guess to each their own.

 

It might be referring to the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributables which are required for Reil's app.

Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/

Search for "Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package"

Download and install Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x64) and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (x86).

I'm not sure if you need one or both of these packages, but I installed them both and Reil's app works fine.

 

Or just get the required dll.

The latest version keeps it to one action per swipe and activates it after the fingers are removed. A prior version allows for more than one action per swipe and performs them once the required distance is fulfilled.

 

I got reil's to work but i'm unsure what settings to change to get scrolling to work right. Maybe i just don't know how to scroll right on this thing?
could anyone post their settings?

Also, do i need to do anything with the synaptics to make this work better?

 

Hmm. I'll look into finding the latest version. Maybe you can help me with something else. Sometimes when I do the three finger swipe I get the stupid scroll cursor (seen below). Can anyone tell me how I can disable it?

 

disable 3 finger tap as the middle mouse button.

 

While I really like the envyTrackPad app (slightly better than TwoFingerScroll, IMO) it lacks one function I really miss from TFS - one+one finger as LMB. I think You know what I mean. Is it possible to get it back using envyTrackPad? If not, is the app's developer considering to add it?

 

And one more thing - Don't you guys have a problem of a single tap opening a drop-down menu and immediately closing it (so, not being able to choose anything on a drop-down menu)? I discovered lowering the "Single tap interval threshold" value under ~50 remedies this, but after that, two finger and three finger taps don't work at all.

Just the opposite when it's above ~50 - right and middle click register perfectly, but some menus and drop-down lists are a no-go when you want to tap them.

Had anything similar?

 

disable single finger taps on reil's app OR on the synaptic driver (i disabled it on reil's to keep the option of disabling the touchpad by double tapping the upper left corner)

it's registering 2 taps everytime you tap - one from reil's app and one from synaptic. disable one and ur fine.

 

Perfect! Thank you!

 

Thanks. That really helped. Any idea about that "one+one finger tap" function? I mean, Does envyTrackPad's author intend to add it in the future? Or is there any way to enable it right now?

 

turn on 2fingerscroll and reil's at the same time, enable 1+1 finger tap and disable everything else on 2finger scroll.

 

That's what I was thinking as well, I just was afraid if there are any conflicts. As it turned out, there aren't.

Just thinking - I don't want to be a moaner, but do You know a way for the cursor not to move when one+one finger gesture is used? I was wondering about that for some time. I mean, it performs a LMB click on the place where a cursor was before tapping with the second finger, but immediately after that, it jumps to the other area of the screen.

 

New drivers on the HP download page (2 days ago). Not sure of the differences.

 

It's here:
Synaptics TouchPad Driver HP ENVY 14t-1000 CTO Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Code:

Fix/Enhancement:		

Adds the Accidental Contact Mitigation (ACM) feature, which enhances TouchPad usage by reducing the incidence of unwanted TouchPad behaviors.

Not entirely sure if I want to try it as a first one. Somebody wants to test?

 

Windows rolled out the same update a while ago

 

Would anyone who feels they have mastered (or come close) this touchpad could you post your settings and what program or programs you are using for those of us that don't have a clue about the settings.
I know its a lot to ask but i just can't seem to get this thing the way it should be...
Thanks for any input what so ever!

 

1+1 is actually pretty useless if you read the implementation. if i remember this right, this is when you put one finger down, then another finger, then release right?

so when you do a two finger tap, do you think you are putting both fingers down simultaneously? if you said yes, you're likely to be wrong, you probably are putting one finger down for a very brief period of time then putting the second finger down. if you ever wondered by two finger tap didn't work reliably in two-finger-scroll its because you probably were triggering 1+1.

in envyTrackPad, both 1+1 and 2 finger tap are just two finger tap. the behavior is more sane and predictable this way. i have no interest in adding any additional tapping unless synaptics supports 4 finger tap. i wouldn't hold my breath for that given how often the SDK has been updated.

 

IIRC 1+1 finger tap is one finger on the clickpad and then "tapping" with the other finger while the first remains intact.

 

ok, so i remembered it wrong but i remembered the reason why i got rid of it correctly

it was either keep the 1+1 or have more reliable two finger tap. if i remember this right, the reason it messed stuff up is because depending on the timing of when you lifted your fingers, you could trigger 1+1 or 2 finger tap.

anyway it was a long time ago and i may not be remembering things perfectly but i did a fair bit of experimentation back then before i made my choices. i decided to have a more reliable two and three finger tap than keep 1+1 and 2+1. i have no plans to ever add those two back since the only way i could get consistent behavior was to set 1+1 and 2 finger tap to the same value which seemed redundant.

if someone want to re-add it, the tapping decisions in two-finger-scroll are here:
Unit1.cpp - two-finger-scroll - Project Hosting on Google Code

overall, i have no current plans to add anything to my software. unless i have some epiphany, someone asks for something that makes me interested, or a new SDK (ha!) is released, it won't change much. i know i'm not nearly as accommodating as Friendly0Fire, but i have my own ideas of purity of code, things i don't want to be in my program because i wouldn't want it running on my system (kb/mouse hooks), and features i don't feel add enough value. i will fix bugs when someone finds them.

after Friendly0Fire releases his source, i'm curious if someone with a less rigid personality than me will take his code and my code and mash it into something that has every feature people here seem to want.

 

Has the track pad been improved? Its just that I find it perfect as it is. No problems here at all. Oh - multi touch could be better but I've turned all that stuff off.

 

Yea it has through a new driver. 15.1.6.64.

Its better with the enhanced palm detection stuff added.

 

I've installed several options that was mentioned before in this topic, which, I have to admit, made the experience better, but hey.. whenever, I stop by an Apple store and just play with MBP touchpad - you can feel right away the difference and how ty the HP one is....

 

The original Envy 15 maybe...

 

Here you go - my setting with current driver from HP. If I have missed any settings below, it means they are turned off. These settings seem to work perfectly for me.

ClickPad Driver Version V7.4

My settings:

Scrolling:
Scroll item under pointer - Yes
Scroll selected item - No
Enable reverse scrolling direction No
Scrolling speed - Max

One Finger Scrolling
Enable vertical scrolling - Yes
Enable horizontal scrolling - No
ChiralMotion scrolling - Yes

Two Finger Scrolling - everything off.

Pinch Zoom - off

Rotating - off

Pointing

Touch sensitivity - Min
Momentum - off
Edge motion - off
Pointing enhancements - all off

Buttons - all default

Tapping - enable
Tap again and hold to drag - on
Locking drags - off

Touchpad Disable Zone - enable

Application gestures - all off

Palm Check - 5 (i.e. fifth line of 8)

Advanced filters
Restrict pointing to zone - yes
Restrict tapping to zone - yes
Filter activation time - 3 seconds
Strating zone - bottom area only to cover line shown on track pad.

 

Thanks Mike, Reil's app was working fine for me up until few days ago when my Synaptic drivers were updated! I have settled for one-finger scroling... Thanks for posting your settings!

 

Just got my Envy 14 on Thursday. Sadly, I obviously do not have one with the Radiance display.

I have the most updated version of Synaptics and the driver, and my touchpad seems fine without anything else downloaded. I downloaded Reil's app, but I had no option to change the settings in the app (or maybe I didn't look in the right location). Also, every time I clicked it resulted in a double click, which caused me to not use his app. The scrolling was much better, so I would like to use it, however, with no settings and the double click I cannot. Any help or advice?

 

Turn off tapping in Reils app or Synaptics drivers

In the bttom right tray you'll see a glove icon. Double click that for options

 

Thanks a lot man. It's working well.

 

I think everyone would agree with you that the MBP touchpads are very good. With a few tweaks I think the HP touchpad is pretty great too though.

The touchpad is quite frustrating to start off with, but using some simple little apps it can be made to run really nicely. I see you had other gripes too (battery life, sound card problems), so you're entitled to be critical.

 

It's too bad that it's not possible to use the physical click of the trackpad on the entire area (you have to click on the lower part of the trackpad otherwise the click won't be taken into account ).

It would be great to have the possibility to physically click wherever on the trackpad, like Macs. Do you know if it's possible ?

Thanks

 

not until synaptics releases their next gen of touch/clickpads.

...so no, not possible

 

Can't wait for CES 2011! Hope we see a real revolution in terms of trackpads. A new Envy line with Radiance display wouldn't be a bad idea as well

Damn, when will January 6th come?

 

I am a complete noob; I have had a refurbished envy 14 for 2 wks and it is my first laptop, first win7 machine. It has version 15.0.13.3 of synaptics driver.

I just read this thread this morning, with the intention of installing reil's program for better operation. Currently, I use an M305 wireless usb mouse. However, I wanted to test the trackpad to see what the native synaptic functions were like. I have never used gestures or taps or any of these newer features.

I did notice that stuff would jump when I touched the trackpad by accident; however, I was able to do two finger scroll. I changed some setting in the control panel to see how the other features would work, and then set it back to default settings.

Now, I am getting an error message saying that it is unable to connect to the synaptics pointing device driver. In addition, I can no longer use two finger scroll and the control panel wont let me change any scroll settings. I am presently going to reboot the computer, but wanted some suggestions.

Most importantly, should I update the synaptics drivers to the latest version? It appears that they conflict with reils program; not sure about friendlyofires program.

thanks for any help you can provide.


Update: restarting the computer brought back the functionality of the two finger scroll, but I am still considering one of the above-mentioned trackpad upgrades.

 

has anyone noticed that for 2 finger scrolling you have to have a significant distance between the two fingers. Its been a while since I've used a mbp, but I'm pretty sure on my cell phone, I can have almost 0 distance between my fingers and it will register as 2 while using the reil observation tool, it only sees 1 finger unless I separate them.