xubuntu has cursor issues

Question

the newly installed xubuntu on my laptop on has synaptics touchpad installed. I face a strange problem that being my cursor automatically shifts to a random position while typing. Ne idea what could be the reason

Answer 1

You probably can fix this by disabling the touchpad while typing.

You have two options.

Graphical

This will include some additional gnome libs ;)

sudo apt-get install tpconfig

In tpconfig you will find options to enable/disable tap mouse clicks and to disable touchpad while typing.

Command line

In the XFCE options, add this command to autostart

syndaemon -t -k -i 2 -d

See man syndaemon for a full set of options.

Answer 2

This could be because part of your wrist/hand is over (but not touching) the touchpad. This happens on my laptop all the time. I usually disable it and use a mouse.

Check your laptop / netbook manual if there is a key combination to disable the touchpad.

Worked for me both in Windows XP and Xubuntu.