"Lenovo Clinic - Disabling External Touchpad" thread
Aug 7, 23, 3:48 pm
#1
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"Lenovo Clinic - Disabling External Touchpad" thread
I have a recent Lenovo Thinkpad and and older (which I use exclusively when at home) IBM external keyboard. I hate Touchpads (or in Lenovo parlance, "Trackpads") and have disabled it on the laptop's keyboard. But I cannot figure out how to disable the one on the external keyboard so that only the Trackpoint (little red button) works. I've tried everything obvious both in Windows setup and in Control Panel/Mouse. These do disable the laptop's trackpad but not the external one. Any Lenovo gurus know?
Aug 7, 23, 4:00 pm
#2
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If Windows, go into the device manager and disable the "Human Interface Devices" that correspond to your external keyboard.
One way to identify it is to connect the external KB only after you have Device Manager open. The keyboard part is under a different category - this will just be the touchpad/mouse functions.
One way to identify it is to connect the external KB only after you have Device Manager open. The keyboard part is under a different category - this will just be the touchpad/mouse functions.
Aug 7, 23, 4:04 pm
#3
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I still want the "mouse" function via the external keyboard's "Trackpoint" (red pointy stick thing, for non Lenovo folks)
Aug 10, 23, 5:33 pm
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Paging Moderator2.
Aug 10, 23, 6:35 pm
#6
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Thanks for the undeserved Lenovo expert status. Honestly, I don't know if this is doable. The IBM keyboard is probably quite old, and fairly dumb. The BIOS likely is telling the connected keyboard to fully function, and there was no software design to segregate the two human interfaces on that external device. I am presuming the current connection to the external IBM device is USB A?
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- Suggest you go into the BIOS configuration and see if you have any keyboard controls designated for an external keyboard. My suspicion is no though.
- You may have to consider buying this Lenovo keyboard: ThinkPad Wired USB Keyboard with TrackPoint | Lenovo US. Note this is a compact design, with only a 12" width, and it appears to have a male micro-USB connection for input to the laptop.
Aug 11, 23, 7:10 am
#7
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Thanks for the undeserved Lenovo expert status. Honestly, I don't know if this is doable. The IBM keyboard is probably quite old, and fairly dumb. The BIOS likely is telling the connected keyboard to fully function, and there was no software design to segregate the two human interfaces on that external device. I am presuming the current connection to the external IBM device is USB A?
_
- Suggest you go into the BIOS configuration and see if you have any keyboard controls designated for an external keyboard. My suspicion is no though.
- You may have to consider buying this Lenovo keyboard: ThinkPad Wired USB Keyboard with TrackPoint | Lenovo US. Note this is a compact design, with only a 12" width, and it appears to have a male micro-USB connection for input to the laptop.
I tried the wireless version of that keyboard and it's just too small and I am spoiled by the "real keys" of my current external keyboard.
Thanks for the assist. Suspect I'm just going to have to live with.
Aug 24, 23, 4:18 pm
#8
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Have you tried downloading the Lenovo software for that particular keyboard? Because it has a touchpad and is an external device, there should be Lenovo-specific software to manage the trackpad. I'm going to assume that there's also a way to disable or at least neuter it so it won't interfere with your work.
Aug 24, 23, 4:28 pm
#9
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There's no specific software for that keyboard I've been able to find.
Aug 25, 23, 4:05 pm
#12
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Give this a try. I know it says Windows 8, but it will run on Windows 10 as well:
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/migr-66898
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/migr-66898
Aug 25, 23, 7:05 pm
#13
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Really appreciate your sleuthing!
This looks promising, but when I try to install I get the attached error message.
And there is no Synaptics device listed in Add/Remove Programs.
This looks promising, but when I try to install I get the attached error message.
And there is no Synaptics device listed in Add/Remove Programs.
Aug 25, 23, 8:33 pm
#15
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It would be nice to see what the device tree looks like. For example, If the external trackpad shows up as a separate usb device in the device tree, it should be possible to disable it there. I can imagine that the external keyboard/trackpad might be implemented as a usb hub with a usb keyboard and a usb trackpad below the hub. That design can be done using commodity hardware or commodity building blocks and would work with off the shelf software drivers.
-David
-David
