Librem 15v4 track pad Issue?

Hardware
1

I know this is not a customer support section, but I want to see if this is user error first.

I just received my Librem 15v4 and seem to be having an issue with the track pad.

Out of the box:

  • tap to click works
  • tap with two fingers for alt-click works
  • two finger scrolling works
  • physical click on both the left and right bottom of trackpad does not work

After using it for a while, the tap-to-click function seems to stop working. A reboot brings it back into operation.

I did complete system updates already.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get full-upgrade

Any help is appreciated, even if it is to say contact customer support.

Thanks all!

2

Do you hear a click sound?

3

I do.

It only presses on the bottom left and bottom right, it doesn’t seem to be clicky all over.

The click on the left is louder, almost crunchy, when compared to the sound you get with the right click.

In both case, it does not detect a physical click.

4

Please check if https://tracker.pureos.net/w/troubleshooting/secondary_touchpad_button_problem/ can help.

5

I would also check that every screw at the bottom of the laptop is tight. Other users have reported clicking issues that were caused by loose screws.

6

That doesn’t seem to do the trick. I toggled it, and it hasn’t done anything. Two-finger tap still invokes secondary click.

As for the casing screws, I checked them and they all seem to be properly tightened. I did see the threads mentioning screws being lose internally might cause issues. I open

That doesn’t seem to do the trick. I toggled it, and it hasn’t done anything. Two-finger tap still invokes secondary click.

As for the casing screws, I checked them and they all seem to be properly tightened. I did see the threads mentioning screws being lose internally might cause issues. I opened the machine and tightened the screws as per https://forums.puri.sm/t/librem-13v4-touchpad-issues/485ed the machine and tightened the screws as per Librem 13v4 Touchpad Issues - without any luck.

I just want to confirm: there should indeed be physical click responsiveness, and not only tap-to-click?

*edit:
before I wrote my reply just now, I powered on the Librem and logged in. It idled while I wrote my reply to you (maybe 5 minutes). I then went to use the Librem, and the tap-to-click function would not work. It still detected normal tracking, and two-finger-taps for secondary click worked. Single tap to click and physical clicks did not work.

I rebooted. At the login screen, tap-to-click and physical click did not work. I logged in using the keyboard alone, and now tap-to-click single clicks work again.

I cannot find a reason that the single tap-to-click begins to fail, or that the physical click doesn’t work.

*edit 2:
I moved from the desk to working with the machine on my lap, and with my palm resting on the front area of the machine, to the left of the track pad, the track pad becomes extremely responsive to physical clicks and it detects them! So maybe the issue does have something to do with the physical mounting of the track pad or the overall assembly of the machine.

*edit 3:
I did an experiment this morning – I removed all of the casing screws on the from the bottom of the machine, but left the bottom panel in place. I then flipped the machine over and tested the physical click – it worked!

I then added screws back, starting with the four corners – still worked

I then replaced the center screw and all of the back row – still worked

I then replaced the two side screws – issues began – removed the side screws

I then replaced the remaining front screws – issues began

I can confirm that pressing firmly on edge of the top case, about half way between the left edge of the machine and the track pad, enabled the click function to work as expected.

Considering this is isolated to hardware, I will reach out to the support email.

7

Okay, open the back cover completely and loose these screws a little bit. Perhaps they are a bit overtightened.

l15touchp
l15touchp1676Ă—720 126 KB

3 Likes
8

That did it! I loosened the four screws holding the track pad click bar in place to the point where the bar has the smallest amount of wiggle/play to it. I tightened all of the casing screws consistently, as I would have expected to. The touch pad now works exactly as expected.

Thanks for your assistance with this! Very much appreciated.

4 Likes
9

I was just troubleshooting this issue myself, and I have something to add. Instead of loosening the four screws pictured, I recommend taking the bar off entirely and looking at the part that pushes on the small switch that triggers the click.

There is a dome or bulge that pushes on the switch, and the manufacturer has used little sticky shims to tune when the click is triggered. If your laptop registers a click too easily, perhaps with flexing of the chassis, just take off one or more of the shims. If you need to, you could file a little bit off of the bulge to make it shorter. If it is too hard to click, add tape or similar to make the bulge taller. This will allow you to have this bar screwed down tightly (increasing the stiffness of the whole assembly and preventing further loosening), as well as solving your (non-software) click problems.