Ubuntu
xf86-input-mtrack package

No way for user to know that mtrack module is needed on upgrade to latest xorg with Apple trackpad

Bug #921941 reported by Clint Byrum
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
xf86-input-mtrack (Ubuntu)
Won't Fix
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

After the latest dist-upgrade, my apple trackpad on my macbook air 4,1 stopped working.

I had to read through /var/log/Xorg.0.log to find out that the mtrack module was missing on the latest dist-upgrade to get the new Xorg.

Upon installing xorg-xserver-input-mtrack , my trackpad started working again.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: xserver-xorg-input-mtrack 0.2.0-2build2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-10.18-generic 3.2.1
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-10-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 1.91-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed Jan 25 22:54:18 2012
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xf86-input-mtrack
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to precise on 2012-01-17 (8 days ago)

Revision history for this message
Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Robert Hooker (sarvatt) wrote :

Were you specifying using the mtrack driver in xorg.conf? This is expected behavior if so is why I ask, and there is no useful information attached to the bug here..

Revision history for this message
Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote :

Hi Clint,

The mtrack driver is not well maintained (and not maintained at freedesktop.org like the other drivers) so it is not something we want to include in -input-all. For this hardware we recommend using the -synaptics driver, which is better maintained.

That said, despite the maintenance problems mtrack does have a few features that -synaptics lacks currently, so we're ok leaving it in the repositories for users to optionally install at their discretion. However, since -mtrack is maintained separately from the rest of the X stack, when we update the X stack it will need to be updated as well, and may fail to build until then, so if it's mentioned in your xorg.conf your system may fail to boot properly; this is probably the root cause of the issue you encountered. Robert mentioned the driver is building now so perhaps the problem has resolved itself.

Ultimately, whatever features -mtrack provides need to be incorporated into either the -evdev or -synaptics driver.

Changed in xf86-input-mtrack (Ubuntu):
status: New → Won't Fix
Revision history for this message
Clint Byrum (clint-fewbar) wrote : Re: [Bug 921941] Re: No way for user to know that mtrack module is needed on upgrade to latest xorg with Apple trackpad

Excerpts from Robert Hooker's message of Fri Feb 03 01:04:39 UTC 2012:
> Were you specifying using the mtrack driver in xorg.conf? This is
> expected behavior if so is why I ask, and there is no useful information
> attached to the bug here..
>

I am, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was the wonky post-release
helper script I ran to get 11.10 working on this machine.

I'll try going back to the minimial xorg.conf and see if things "just
work" without mtrack. Once installed though, everything has worked
quite well.

I'd agree with the Won't Fix status either way.

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