Touchpad not working on PowerBook G4 12"

[Omar Willey]

On Nov 21, 2020, at 4:00 AM, Brandon Bergren <bdragon at FreeBSD.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> On Thu, Nov 19, 2020, at 1:30 AM, Omar Willey wrote:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> I'm coming back to FreeBSD after a long, long absence and I've made it a
>> project to revive this PowerBook g4 aluminum 12" 640MB/867gHz with FreeBSD
>> 12.2
> 
> Do you have the specific model number handy?

Yes, this is a PowerBook 6,1 Model A1010/1931, or M8760LL/A if you prefer. PowerPC 7455 processor with the NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go video card. I already had to struggle with the rubbish Nvidia graphics, and created a /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/driver-nvidia.conf just to get X11 visible.

>> I've managed to get X working with a window manager and file manager for a
>> minimal desktop but I cannot get the touchpad to work in X at all.
>> 
>> I first tried loading the wsp(4) driver as a module in /boot/loader.conf,
>> then tried the older atp(4) separately, but the device isn't binding to
>> /dev/atp0.
> 
> These are for trackpads connected over internal USB, which were only on later PowerBook G4s and newer machines. Given the specs you listed I think it's likely that yours is one of the older ones that predate this type of touchpad

Ah, yes. It is certainly an ADB touchpad. Leading to the next question... 

>> dmesg says:
>> 
>> ams0: <ADB Mouse> at device 3 on adb0
>> ams0: ADB Mouse = 0xd (Extended Mode)
>> ams0: 2-button 400-dpi Touchpad
> 
> This is an ADB attachment, not a USB attachment. This implies that that your touchpad is at /dev/ams0.

I thought so, too. After removing moused_port=“/dev/atp0” and reverting to default, I see the touchpad is at /dev/ams0 but not doing anything. I’ve rebuilt the kernel to ensure the old adb driver is present. Xorg.0.log tells me:

[    48.939] (II) config/udev: Adding input device System mouse (/dev/input/event0)
[    48.940] (**) System mouse: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
[    48.940] (II) LoadModule: "libinput"
[    48.943] (II) Loading /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/input/libinput_drv.so
[    49.943] (II) Module libinput: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    49.943] 	compiled for 1.20.9, module version = 0.30.0
[    49.943] 	Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
[    49.943] 	ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 24.1
[    49.944] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'System mouse'
[    49.944] (**) System mouse: always reports core events
[    49.944] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event0"
[    49.946] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
[    50.105] (II) event0  - System mouse: is tagged by udev as: Mouse
[    50.109] (II) event0  - System mouse: device is a pointer
[    50.113] (II) event0  - System mouse: device removed
[    50.117] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/dev/input/event0"
[    50.118] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "System mouse" (type: MOUSE, id 6)
[    50.122] (**) Option "AccelerationScheme" "none"
[    50.122] (**) System mouse: (accel) selected scheme none/0
[    50.122] (**) System mouse: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
[    50.122] (**) System mouse: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4
[    50.136] (II) event0  - System mouse: is tagged by udev as: Mouse
[    50.139] (II) event0  - System mouse: device is a pointer

But still no mouse activity.

Then I added a simple mouse.conf to /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d using libinput as the driver, but that simply gave me a black screen. I tried it again with the advice from Ch 11 of the FreeBSD FAQ.

> Section "InputDevice"
>    Identifier	"Mouse0”
>    Driver           "adb"
>    Option          "Protocol" "SysMouse"
>    Option          "Device" "/dev/sysmouse”
> EndSection

But still nothing.

Where should I look for the next step? Something in sysctl.conf?

—Omar

>  Brandon Bergren
>  bdragon at FreeBSD.org
>