[Dell XPS 13] SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad not recognized after upgrade from 14.04 to 16.04

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[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.8

Tested against 4.8.0-040800-generic_4.8.0-040800.201610022031_amd64.deb and the touchpad is still unresponsive and is bot recognized (doesn't exist in proc/bus/input/devices)

FYI: Booted ubuntu 16.04 from a usb drive and the touchpad works. I am considering doing a fresh install to solve this problem.

I'm confirming this bug: I upgraded my XPS 13 9333 from 14.04 to 16.04 last week.
I had to go back to 14.04 by restoring the hard drive image because I was not able to have the touchpad working. I also tested the generic kernel without more success.

I am affected by the bug without having upgraded from trusty to xenial. I simply upgraded from kernel 3.13 to kernel 4.4 maintaining the Trusty release.

After the kernel upgrade the touchpad of my Dell XPS 13 ( version 9333 - 2014 ) is no more recognized as a valid input source for the xserver.

It is useful to point out that I also own a newer Dell XPS 13 ( version 9350 -2016 ); the machine came with a more recent trusty version ( Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS ). After upgrading from kernel 3.19 to kernel 4.4 the touchpad is still working without a glitch.

I guess that something has gone wrong when upgrading the kernel in the older machine.

I tried to install package xserver-xorg-input-synaptics with the following result:

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-synaptics

The following packages have unmet dependencies.
 xserver-xorg-input-synaptics : Depends: xorg-input-abi-20
                                Depends: xserver-xorg-core (>= 2:1.14.99.902)
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

It is likely that the actual origin of the bug lies in the above mentioned broken packages ...

I have found that I am not the only one experiencing trouble when trying to install
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics ...

See for example the following link:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/623040/synaptics-touchpad-missing-in-ubuntu-14-04-2-with-dell-5550

I have this issue despite a clean install. Sometimes, when a new version of the kernel is installed, the touchpad works. However, after a restart it stops working.

Updating BIOS managed to improve the situation to the point where I can consistently make the touchpad work, although it is inconvenient.

Laptop: Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition (9333)
OS: 16.04 LTS - updated from 14.04 LTS - updated from 12.04 LTS, which was the original OS and had touchpad working.

Here's how I "made" it work.

1. Updated BIOS from A02 to A08 (latest for my model) - as per Dell's instructions[0].
2. After reboot, `xinput` output finally had "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad", BUT it was still not responsive.
3. `sudo apt-get install evtest` (required for step #4).
4. Following the "Debugging Touchpad Detection"[1] I switch to VT (CTRL+ALT+F2)
5. Run `cat /proc/bus/input/devices` I find the touchpad name is `event5`.
6. Run `sudo evtest /dev/input/event5 > event` and do various gestures on the touchpad, then CTRL+C.
7. Switch back to X (CTLR+ALT+F7) - turns out the touchpad is now working.

After rebooting touchpad is non-responsive, but if I repeat steps 6 & 7 - it starts working again. I'm not sure if this is reproducible on other models, but I hope this is helpful for further debugging.

[0]: http://www.dell.com/support/Article/us/en/04/SLN284433/en
[1]: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingTouchpadDetection#In_case_your_Touchpad_doesn.27t_work_at_all_.28No_response_from_the_Touchpad.29

With a little spare time I've been checking what happens in logs while I run `evtest` as per above instruction: `/var/log/dmesg` and `/var/log/Xorg.0.log` - as grepping showed they both reference "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad".

dmesg log was not updating after boot, but I noticed something in Xorg.0.log, which I attach below. Here's the breakdown of the final few lines, that happened while I was checking `less /proc/bus/input/devices` and `evtest`. So here it is:

First of ALT+CTRL+F2, as I switch to virtual terminal, I get this:

[ 47.820] (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch

I assume nothing unusual and proceed to run `less /proc/bus/input/devices` - observe the device `event5` in the list, that is the TouchPad (as per above comment).

I run `sudo evtest /dev/input/event5` and start swiping and clicking the touchpad - nothing yet happens. After a little bit - curiosity kills and ALT+CTRL+F7 - I go check the terminal app that's tailing log files. I notice this:

[ 86.672] (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
[ 86.672] (II) intel(0): switch to mode 1920x1080@60.0 on eDP1 using pipe 0, position (0, 0), rotation normal, reflection none
[ 86.744] (--) synaptics: SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad: touchpad found
[ 92.560] (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch

Switch back to virtual terminal where `evtest` is still running - I continue swiping and clicking touchpad. No events come through. One more come back to X:

[ 106.959] (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
[ 106.959] (II) intel(0): switch to mode 1920x1080@60.0 on eDP1 using pipe 0, position (0, 0), rotation normal, reflection none
[ 107.028] (--) synaptics: SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad: touchpad found
[ 113.552] (II) AIGLX: Suspending AIGLX clients for VT switch

And back - still no events. I continue the procedure of clicking, touching and swiping. Eventually - the events start coming in. I CTRL+C `evtest`, log out from VT and come back to X:

[ 174.700] (II) AIGLX: Resuming AIGLX clients after VT switch
[ 174.700] (II) intel(0): switch to mode 1920x1080@60.0 on eDP1 using pipe 0, position (0, 0), rotation normal, reflection none
[ 174.760] (--) synaptics: SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad: touchpad found

The touchpad sure works and I can move the pointer.

Any advice/ideas where to look next - welcome & could look at it next time I have spare time.

I have now a fresh xenial system on my Dell XPS 13 DE 9333.

The touchpad has been working flawlessly until I upgraded from kernel 4.4.0-62-generic to 4.4.0-63-generic.

With the new kernel the touchpad is not detected at startup. With the last working kernel the output"xinput list" command was including the touchpad, albeit with a name ( DLL060A:00 06CB:2734 ) different than the self explaining name of "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad" which was standard with Ubuntu trusty ( 3.13.0-108-generic ).

With kernel 4.4.0-63-generic the touchpad is not detected at all.

My conclusion is that my original assumption that the flaw in the touchpad detection was somehow related to the upgrade from trusty to xenial IS INDEED WRONG. The bug is apparently also affecting the clean xenial installation.

The attached files contain the output of "xinput list" command, depending on the active kernel.

The touchpad is working great with 3.13 ( trusty ) and xenial ( kernel 4.4.0-62 and older )
andis not detected with kernel 4.4.0-63 )

This is valid on my Dell XPS13 DE 9333. I will try to install xenial on a Dell XPS 13 DE 9350.
On this newer computer the touchpad works well with Ubuntu trusty ( also with xenial kernels ).

I have not tried to update the BIOS, since the computer is now working quite well, albeit not with the latest kernel and my past experience with BIOS updates makes me very cautious ...

I have upgraded the kernel to 4.4.0-64-generic . The touchpad is still not recognized. This seems to be a "permanent regression" from the last working kernel version 4.4.0-62-generic.

It was not able to find which type of touchpad hardware is installed on XPS13 DE - 9333. Dell support says that the device is no more covered by the warranty. Does someone know whether the device is a genuine Synaptics touchpad or is a "compatible" OEM produc ?

Thanks.

Alessandro Volpi

After a an apt-get update the touchpad has totally quit working, also with the previously known working kernel 4.4.0-62-generic.

It is not an hardware issue, since the touchpad works perfectly with trusty and kernel 3.13 ...