Palm rejection stopped working after updating to kernel 4.9

Eduardo Mercovich · 2017-07-03 19:34:47

Hello everyone.

I have a Debian 8.8 with BunsenLabs, running beautifully in a Dell Latitude e5570 until a few days ago when I updated the kernel to linux-image-4.9.0-0.bpo.3-amd64. At that moment, the touchpad palm rejection stopped working.

While not serious, any sudden palm touch in the touchpad makes the cursor jump unpredictably and this is quite annoying.

Some info to help troubleshoot...
----
xinput gives:

⎡ Virtual core pointer                    	id=2	[master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer              	id=4	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Graphire Pen stylus               	id=11	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad        	id=13	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint Stick           	id=14	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Graphire Pen eraser               	id=17	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Wacom Graphire Pen cursor               	id=18	[slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                   	id=3	[master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard             	id=5	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                            	id=6	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                               	id=7	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                            	id=8	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button                            	id=9	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Integrated_Webcam_HD                    	id=10	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard            	id=12	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Dell WMI hotkeys                        	id=15	[slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ DELL Wireless hotkeys                   	id=16	[slave  keyboard (3)]

xinput list-props "AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad" | grep Capabilities says:

	Synaptics Capabilities (325):	1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0

xinput --list 13 --long throws:

AlpsPS/2 ALPS DualPoint TouchPad        	id=13	[slave  pointer  (2)]
	Reporting 8 classes:
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIButtonClass
		Buttons supported: 12
		Button labels: "Button Left" "Button Middle" "Button Right" "Button Wheel Up" "Button Wheel Down" "Button Horiz Wheel Left" "Button Horiz Wheel Right" None None None None None
		Button state:
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIValuatorClass
		Detail for Valuator 0:
		  Label: Rel X
		  Range: 0.000000 - 2432.000000
		  Resolution: 34000 units/m
		  Mode: relative
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIValuatorClass
		Detail for Valuator 1:
		  Label: Rel Y
		  Range: 0.000000 - 1280.000000
		  Resolution: 34000 units/m
		  Mode: relative
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIValuatorClass
		Detail for Valuator 2:
		  Label: Rel Horiz Scroll
		  Range: 0.000000 - -1.000000
		  Resolution: 0 units/m
		  Mode: relative
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIValuatorClass
		Detail for Valuator 3:
		  Label: Rel Vert Scroll
		  Range: 0.000000 - -1.000000
		  Resolution: 0 units/m
		  Mode: relative
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIScrollClass
		Scroll info for Valuator 2
		  type: 2 (horizontal)
		  increment: 54.000000
		  flags: 0x0
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XIScrollClass
		Scroll info for Valuator 3
		  type: 1 (vertical)
		  increment: 54.000000
		  flags: 0x0
		Class originated from: 13. Type: XITouchClass
		Touch mode: dependent
		Max number of touches: 4

Of course, this can turn off the touchpad

xinput --set-prop 13 "Device Enabled" 0

(and with 1 turn it on).

But

synclient -i

or

synclient PalmDetect=1

are doing nothing to prevent the palm from being recognized as a touch and I have no more clues as how can I pinpoint the source of the problem.

Although I reviewed the Synaptic history and saw only the upgrade as suspicious, the kernel update happened at the same time, but may not be the culprit.

Any ideas or things to try?

As always, thanks a lot for your kind help.

Best...

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-07-03 19:52:47

Eduardo Mercovich wrote:

how can I pinpoint the source of the problem

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianKernel/GitBisect

Eduardo Mercovich wrote:

Any ideas or things to try?

The stable kernel.

EDIT: or wait a bit for the next update of the backported kernel, that may fix it.

EDIT2: does `dmesg` show any errors?

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-07-03 20:02:22)

Eduardo Mercovich · 2017-07-03 20:14:57

Hi HoaS.

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

https://wiki.debian.org/DebianKernel/GitBisect

Super interesting, but a bit over my head.

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

The stable kernel.

Which is linux-image-3.16.0-4-amd64 (3.16.43-2) to 3.16.43-2+deb8u1 if I searched ok?

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

EDIT: or wait a bit for the next update of the backported kernel, that may fix it.

That sounds like fitting to my present *project delivering days*, using the stable while waiting for the new fix.

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

EDIT2: does `dmesg` show any errors?

A few (assuming those are the red ones), but none feels like related to the palm rejection issue, more like boot related...

[ 9.495692] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: firmware: failed to load iwlwifi-8000C-23.ucode (-2)
[ 9.495693] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-8000C-23.ucode failed with error -2
[ 10.043177] [drm:radeon_pci_probe [radeon]] *ERROR* radeon kernel modesetting for R600 or later requires firmware-amd-graphics.
[ 13.374350] dell_laptop: Setting old previous keyboard state failed
[ 13.473874] Bluetooth: hci0: Failed to send Intel_Write_DDC (-22)

On another side, does it helps to report this to some maintainer in upstream Debian? Who may that person be?

Thanks.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-07-03 20:22:40

Eduardo Mercovich wrote:

does it helps to report this to some maintainer in upstream Debian?

Well, the recommended approach for a pure Debian system would be to use:

sudo apt install reportbug
reportbug

...and follow the instructions.

More here: https://www.debian.org/Bugs/Reporting

However, the report may not be considered representative of pure Debian if sent from BunsenLabs (our bunsen-os-release package broadcasts this to `reportbug`) so I think it would be best if you could replicate this problem in a Debian stretch system and use `reportbug` from there instead — you could load up a "live" ISO image to do this.

EDIT: depending on the kernel used in the live image, of course.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-07-03 20:27:45)

Eduardo Mercovich · 2017-07-03 21:00:38

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Eduardo Mercovich wrote:
does it helps to report this to some maintainer in upstream Debian?
[...] the report may not be considered representative of pure Debian if sent from BunsenLabs (our bunsen-os-release package broadcasts this to `reportbug`) so I think it would be best if you could replicate this problem in a Debian stretch system and use `reportbug` from there instead — you could load up a "live" ISO image to do this.

Ok, got it.

Balancing the ideal (that only takes an infinite amount of time) and the real (that requires nothing but it's not the desired situation) may probably fly around delivering these manuals and reports in the next 4/5 days as it is, and then doing this live dance to report.

As always, thank you a lot.

Each time you teaches me something, and that's very valuable.

Best...

#1 2017-07-03 19:34:47

Palm rejection stopped working after updating to kernel 4.9

#2 2017-07-03 19:52:47

Re: Palm rejection stopped working after updating to kernel 4.9

#3 2017-07-03 20:14:57

Re: Palm rejection stopped working after updating to kernel 4.9

#4 2017-07-03 20:22:40

Re: Palm rejection stopped working after updating to kernel 4.9

#5 2017-07-03 21:00:38

Re: Palm rejection stopped working after updating to kernel 4.9

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