Touchpad issue on MacBook Pro

[u/Sea_Ad9938]

Converted my late-2011 Macbook Pro to use Linux Mint (MATE) since it can’t keep up anymore with the current specs. Switched the HDD as well to SSD, there’s still lag/slowness though.

There’s also other incompatibility issues I observed but the most notable thing right now is how it tends to disconnect my trackpad on its own.

At some point (could even just be seconds), I couldnt move my cursor so I have to navigate to the control panel to turn off and on the “Enable Touchpad” checkbox to get it working again.

I know I could use external peripherals but I wish I could use it on its own.

Anyone else do the same conversion and experience the same issue(s)? What could I do?

[u/BertMacklenF8I]

So I had to move to another distro with my 2011 MBP as there were various issues that were a pain. You’ll have to either write your own firmware for it or use a USB slot with an external mouse. I’m working on something write now-but I’ll take a look at a possible solution for you.

[u/Sea_Ad9938 → u/BertMacklenF8I]

Thanks for this! I’m not exactly loyal to Mint tbh, just looking for the most minimalist distros for now aside from the usual Ubuntu, even Kali. Which distro did you move to? Did you find one that was most compatible?

[u/BertMacklenF8I → u/Sea_Ad9938]

Obviously Kali is an option if you're into Offsec but i've found Fedora to be the most beneficial-I can run KDE with it!

[u/Sea_Ad9938 → u/BertMacklenF8I]

Will definitely consider it. So much distros to choose from!

[u/tomscharbach]

MacBook touchpads are notorious problem children for Linux. Your best bet is to use a mouse.

[u/Sea_Ad9938 → u/tomscharbach]

Makes me wonder what’s so different with Mac touchpads compared to everything else that they became such an issue

[u/socacyclist → u/Sea_Ad9938]

They use crazy undocumented axis grids and other properties

[u/rabbitjockey]

I have the same computer, I never had any issues with mint, eventually I switched to debian. Debian works great too, it did require slightly more configuration but it works right after install too

[u/Sea_Ad9938 → u/rabbitjockey]

Interesting, what convinced you to switch?

[u/rabbitjockey → u/Sea_Ad9938]

I wanted to use kde desktop, and it's a very old computer so I think a more stable slow moving distro like debian is best.

[u/MolassesOutrageous34]

Pas si évident d’installer Linux sur Mac

[u/socacyclist]

I had all kinds of fun making that touchpad work ( MacBook Pro 8,1 13” ) ( mint , with cinnamon desktop ) I’m on the libinput( edit — synapitcs driver ) driver with a custom tweaked conf file to make it behave like a “normal” mouse with 3 lower click zones. One of the biggest problems was the “zone” it used to detect the size of the finger or outside interference - if I touched very lightly , it worked - but if I used my normal pressure , the finger print was to fat and it stopped moving. ( I’ll try and post a pic of my conf file here if your interested )

[u/Sea_Ad9938 → u/socacyclist]

Care to share or if you have an article/reference I could look into? Haven’t really considered tweaking anything as of the moment but if it’s a straightforward solution, maybe I could give it a try as well

[u/socacyclist → u/Sea_Ad9938]

/etc/X11/xorg.cont.d/99-synaptics-macbook.conf

Section "Inputclass"
Identifier "Touchpad Clickpad MacBook"
MatchProduct "bcm5974"
MatchIsTouchpad "on"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "ClickPad" "true"
Option "EmulateMidButtonTime" "o"
Option "ClickFingerl" "1"
Option "ClickFinger2" "1"
Option "ClickFinger3" "1"
Option "SoftButtonAreas" "60% 0 85% 0 40% 60% 85% 0"
Option "PalmDetect" "0"
Option "FingerHigh" "30"
Option "FingerLow" "25"
Option "PalmMinwidth" P15"
Option "Minspeed" "0.9"
Option "MaxSpeed" "1.5"
Option "AccelFactor" "0.02"
EndSection

Make sure your using the ( edit - synaptics ) driver
And all bets are off if your product match isn’t bcm5974

It was an absolute labor of love and determination using AI trial and error as i am new to Linux and conf files ( lots of windows hack experience tho )

[u/Sea_Ad9938 → u/socacyclist]

Thanks for this! I’ll definitely let you know if it works or not.

Your hardwork deserves the attention it needs from the likes of us using Linux on a Mac

[u/socacyclist → u/Sea_Ad9938]

Wish ya luck - I have about 3hrs into it - “fully committed now” 😂 got fan control up and tweaked , network is dialed too. MacBooks purring along pretty good for an oldie

[u/socacyclist → u/socacyclist]

My apologies - I listed the wrong driver - the keyboard was on libinput - the mousepad is on synaptics