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I'm using a Lenovo x230 laptop which features a touchpad and a trackpoint. I love the trackpoint and dislike the touchpad -- I continuously hit it with my thumb.

I would like to disable the touchpad, but leave everything else working. I've tried using xinput by putting the following in my .xinitrc:

$ xinput --disable 'SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad'

This works, however, after a few minutes, the touchpad becomes enabled again. I'm not sure why this is happening. Is this the best way to persistently disable the touchpad?

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  • You should be able to use the answer provided there: askubuntu.com/questions/65951/how-to-disable-touchpad#67724 Best,
    – Victor
    Apr 12, 2013 at 18:38
  • That is where I got this command from. However, the same thing happens: the touchpad gets re-enabled after a few minutes.
    – oneself
    Apr 12, 2013 at 18:52
  • Are you on 12.04 or 12.10?
    – oaskamay
    Apr 12, 2013 at 19:52
  • This is good to know, however I feel there needs to be a "disable-touchpad" setting under "mouse" to Automatically disable touchpad when a mouse is plugged in. Is this possible?
    – user149874
    Apr 16, 2013 at 21:33

1 Answer 1

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The following methods will ensure your changes persist as long as you use gnome:

  1. Install and run dconf-editor (if you're on 12.10, dconf-editor might be pre-installed):

    $ sudo apt-get install dconf-tools

    $ dconf-editor

  2. Go to the following settings directory:

    org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals

  3. Under touchpad, uncheck the touchpad-enabled checkbox.

If you prefer not to meddle with dconf-editor's GUI, run the following command instead:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.peripherals.touchpad touchpad-enabled false
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5
  • Yes this will also work on 12.10
    – Rinzwind
    Apr 12, 2013 at 20:05
  • Perfect! I did not know that. I also edited my answer in case readers do not want to install dconf-editor.
    – oaskamay
    Apr 12, 2013 at 20:06
  • It’s pre-installed on 12.10 and later.
    – AliNajafies
    Apr 12, 2013 at 20:12
  • sigh editing again
    – oaskamay
    Apr 12, 2013 at 20:13
  • Works great using dconf. However, my system doesn't seem to have a "gsettings" command.
    – oneself
    Apr 14, 2013 at 2:47

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