Elan Touchpad not working

Bougy

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Hello, my touchpad does not work nor listed by 'xinput' or 'lspci' but appears listed in 'sys/bus/acpi/devices'. I tried everything I could like compiling a newest version of the kernel, adding boot options, Im positing in a hope to have a solution because I'm out of ideas.
 


I'll take a wild guess at this. It may help to tell us what distro you are using.

When you boot your computer, try hitting CTRL+ALT+T to see if that opens a terminal.

If it does open a terminal, enter the following:
Code:
sudo modprobe -r i2c_hid_acpi i2c_hid && sudo modprobe i2c_hid_acpi i2c_hid

See if your touchpad works now? It doesn't always work, but it's helped me on a couple of different laptops.
 
I'll take a wild guess at this. It may help to tell us what distro you are using.

When you boot your computer, try hitting CTRL+ALT+T to see if that opens a terminal.

If it does open a terminal, enter the following:
Code:
sudo modprobe -r i2c_hid_acpi i2c_hid && sudo modprobe i2c_hid_acpi i2c_hid

See if your touchpad works now? It doesn't always work, but it's helped me on a couple of different laptops.
tried, it does not seem to do anything
 
Well, the next step is to give us details about your system. The best way is to copy/paste the output of inxi -Fxxxz. Please paste the output as "code" by selecting the 3 vertical dots (More options) in the middle of the editor, then choose the </> icon, and paste into the screen that opens. You may have to install inxi.

Is this a brand new "latest-greatest" laptop?
 
Without knowing the distro, I did find this:

 
Well, the next step is to give us details about your system. The best way is to copy/paste the output of inxi -Fxxxz. Please paste the output as "code" by selecting the 3 vertical dots (More options) in the middle of the editor, then choose the </> icon, and paste into the screen that opens. You may have to install inxi.

Is this a brand new "latest-greatest" laptop?
sorry for late answer ! (latest probably, greatest not), But here's the output :
Code:
System:
  Kernel: 6.4.12 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.4.0
    Desktop: Cinnamon 5.8.4 tk: GTK 3.24.33 wm: muffin dm: LightDM 1.30.0
    Distro: Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 82N9 v: Lenovo 14w Gen 2
    serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 v: Lenovo 14w Gen 2 serial: <filter>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0L22692WIN serial: <filter>
    UEFI: LENOVO v: H0CN21WW date: 06/01/2022
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 38.9 Wh (74.5%) condition: 52.2/57.0 Wh (91.5%)
    volts: 11.5 min: N/A model: SMP SR Real Battery type: Li-poly
    serial: <filter> status: Discharging cycles: 86
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: AMD 3015e with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    smt: enabled arch: Zen rev: 1 cache: L1: 192 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1200 min/max: 400/1200 boost: enabled volts: 1.2 V
    ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 1200 2: 1200 3: 1200 4: 1200 bogomips: 9581
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Picasso/Raven 2 [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Mobile Series]
    vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 04:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:15d8 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: IMC Networks Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-6:4 chip-ID: 13d3:56ff class-ID: 0e02
  Display: server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu,ati
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2")
    s-diag: 582mm (22.9")
  Monitor-1: eDP res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 158 size: 309x174mm (12.2x6.9")
    diag: 355mm (14")
  OpenGL: renderer: RAVEN2 (raven2 LLVM 15.0.7 DRM 3.52 6.4.12)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 04:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:15de class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor
    vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_pci_acp3x v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 04:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 04:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3
    class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.4.12 running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Lenovo driver: rtw_8822ce v: N/A pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: 2000 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:c822 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-5:3 chip-ID: 0bda:c123 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter>
    bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.1 sub-v: 6d7d hci-v: 5.1 rev: 19b7
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 86 GiB (36.1%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Toshiba model: KBG40ZNT256G MEMORY
    size: 238.47 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 0107AELA temp: 42.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 105.18 GiB used: 85.96 GiB (81.7%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 256 MiB used: 37.4 MiB (14.6%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 512 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 20.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 52.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 297 Uptime: 25m wakeups: 2 Memory: 7.11 GiB
  used: 1.94 GiB (27.3%) Init: systemd v: 249 runlevel: 5 Compilers:
  gcc: 11.4.0 alt: 10/11/12 Packages: apt: 2924 Shell: Sudo (sudo) v: 1.9.9
  default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.13
 
Last edited:
Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 82N9
Now how did I Guess that.
Have you tried the distribution I suggested ? It has a better chance than most, of working as it contains more up-to-date drivers.
 
I agree with Brian @Brickwizard... give MX-23 AHS version a try. I'd also suggest trying Linux Mint "Edge" Edition which was just released about a week ago. It is the same as you're using now, but with more bleeding edge kernel and drivers. You've already added a newer kernel, but the MX and Mint teams may have kernel tweaks that you've missed. Give them a try!

If either work for you, investigate how the live version is controlling your touchpad, what drivers, etc... or note what differences you find between the working version and the broken version.
 
Without knowing the distro, I did find this:

already tested does not work also this problem does not seem to be distro specific because I'm on linux mint but I already tested on manjaro, ubuntu and it also does not work
 
I agree with Brian @Brickwizard... give MX-23 AHS version a try. I'd also suggest trying Linux Mint "Edge" Edition which was just released about a week ago. It is the same as you're using now, but with more bleeding edge kernel and drivers. You've already added a newer kernel, but the MX and Mint teams may have kernel tweaks that you've missed. Give them a try!

If either work for you, investigate how the live version is controlling your touchpad, what drivers, etc... or note what differences you find between the working version and the broken version.
tested linux mint edge edition, still does not work
 
Bummer, this may not end well. Your BIOS date is 06/01/2022, so it may not have good touchpad drivers yet. But we can still try a little more... maybe something will click for you. But you may be stuck using an external mouse for awhile.

MX-23 AHS version has an even newer kernel available (6.5) than what you're using. I'm not sure how to include it in a live USB, but it might be worth trying. This was added to the AHS repo just a week ago, so I don't think it would have been in the ISO you tried yesterday.

A very basic question, but I gotta ask: Are you sure your touchpad is enabled? Open the Cinnamon start menu, start typing "mouse" and select "Mouse and Touchpad." Then click on the Touchpad tab. Then just below the tab, it should say, "Touchpad is.... Enabled." (Don't use "Disabled when a mouse is attached" while troubleshooting.) I've never seen this setting not be enabled though so I don't have much hope, but it's still basic troubleshooting to check it.

Going along with the above... check if you have a function key (F6?) that disables the mouse/touchpad. It can be pretty easy to activate F-key functions by mistake.

More basic troubleshooting: dig through all of your BIOS/UEFI settings for any options related to your touchpad. Also update your BIOS, if there is an update available.

Check dmesg for any reports related to your touchpad. If this command below doesn't show any results, look though the full dmesg output (without "| grep elan") for any clues that may help.
Code:
sudo dmesg -T | grep -i elan
(The -T option gives dmesg output in human date/time format. The grep -i option reports upper/lower case.)
 
Last edited:
Bummer, this may not end well.
I know some touchpads can be a pig to get working, But it's not usually this bad with a Lenovo.
 
My "trick" in post #2 has worked on a couple of Lenovo laptops I have, but they are older. I was hopeful it might work for the OP too as the trick is related to kernel acpi modules.


appears listed in 'sys/bus/acpi/devices'
Please elaborate on what you see here. My own folder doesn't give me any clues that can help.


Also see if these report anything for you:
Code:
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i touchpad
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i elan
 
Last edited:
Bummer, this may not end well. Your BIOS date is 06/01/2022, so it may not have good touchpad drivers yet. But we can still try a little more... maybe something will click for you. But you may be stuck using an external mouse for awhile.

MX-23 AHS version has an even newer kernel available (6.5) than what you're using. I'm not sure how to include it in a live USB, but it might be worth trying. This was added to the AHS repo just a week ago, so I don't think it would have been in the ISO you tried yesterday.

A very basic question, but I gotta ask: Are you sure your touchpad is enabled? Open the Cinnamon start menu, start typing "mouse" and select "Mouse and Touchpad." Then click on the Touchpad tab. Then just below the tab, it should say, "Touchpad is.... Enabled." (Don't use "Disabled when a mouse is attached" while troubleshooting.) I've never seen this setting not be enabled though so I don't have much hope, but it's still basic troubleshooting to check it.

Going along with the above... check if you have a function key (F6?) that disables the mouse/touchpad. It can be pretty easy to activate F-key functions by mistake.

More basic troubleshooting: dig through all of your BIOS/UEFI settings for any options related to your touchpad. Also update your BIOS, if there is an update available.

Check dmesg for any reports related to your touchpad. If this command below doesn't show any results, look though the full dmesg output (without "| grep elan") for any clues that may help.
Code:
sudo dmesg -T | grep -i elan
(The -T option gives dmesg output in human date/time format. The grep -i option reports upper/lower case.)
I'm pretty sure that when I downloaded mx linux I downloaded mx-23 AHS version. for the touchpad enabling yes I'm sure that it is enable both in cinnamon settings and with function key (it's F6 you guessed it right) (another thing that is weird is that when i tested mx linux this function key did not do anything, not even a splash telling you that it is disabled but in linux mint it tell you). Yes, i dig through all my UEFI Settings (its one of the first thing i did) but there was nothing and
Code:
sudo dmesg -T | grep -i elan
tell me nothing also for the bios its the lastest version that is available
 
My "trick" in post #2 has worked on a couple of Lenovo laptops I have, but they are older. I was hopeful it might work for the OP too as the trick is related to kernel acpi modules.



Please elaborate on what you see here. My own folder doesn't give me any clues that can help.


Also see if these report anything for you:
Code:
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i touchpad
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i elan
I tested both of the command and give me nothing but when i do
Code:
ls /sys/bus/acpi/devices | grep -i elan
i have 2 results :
Code:
ELAN0643:00
ELAN238E:00
 
Code:
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i touchpad
cat /proc/bus/input/devices | grep -i elan
I tested both of the command and give me nothing but when i do
This is a bad sign. With no response from those commands, there are 2 articles I've found (here and here) that indicate either a bug in the kernel, or that the touchpad is simply not recognized (too new? broken?). And of course this would explain why xinput doesn't see the device.


Code:
ELAN0643:00
ELAN238E:00
I'd guess these are directories, like everything I have in /sys/bus/acpi/devices/. If you look inside and poke around you may find something helpful. But overall it's not looking good, and I'm about out of ideas at the moment.


I'm pretty sure that when I downloaded mx linux I downloaded mx-23 AHS version.
The AHS ISO has the 6.4.0 kernel. The link I gave above is announcing the newer 6.5 kernel is available in the MX repos... it would not be included in the ISO you tested yesterday. I don't know if it's possible to upgrade the kernel in the live USB, but I have doubts about that. You may can "remaster" the USB, or it may require a full bare-metal install and then an upgrade to the newer kernel. And it still may not help either. It's up to you whether to try it to go further with this, but sooner or later you will probably need a newer kernel to fix your problem, unless someone else comes up with a solution that I'm missing.
 

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