linuxmint / linuxmint/cinnamon

Touch-pad not switching back ON after switching OFF with [Fn]+[F3] key

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#11,972 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Dominant language
JavaScript
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Description

Linux Mint 21.1 64bit
Cinnamon 5.6.5
Dell Inspiron M5040 laptop.

After logging on into my user account, I used the function [Fn] key plus [F3] to successfully switch OFF the touch-pad on my Dell Inspiron M5040 laptob. However when I pressed the two keys a second time, the touch-pad would not turn back ON as expected. I tried shutting down and rebooting but the problem continued. When I logged on with my root account the touch-pad worked. However, when I switch back to my user account the touch-pad remain OFF. After hours of tinkering I had to finally plug in a USB mouse to regain control, then select [Preferences] >[Mouse and Touchpad] to enable the touch-pad again. If I did not have a USB mouse nearby I wouldn't be able to continue. Linux Mint is great. Please fix ASAP and keep me posted. Thanks!

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the Fn+F3 touch-pad toggle failure on the reported Dell Inspiron M5040 running Linux Mint 21.1 with Cinnamon 5.6.5, comparing behavior between the user and root accounts. Trace the touch-pad shortcut and user settings involved; done means the second key press reliably re-enables the touch-pad without requiring a USB mouse or manual preference change.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, linux
Domain
desktop, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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