Touchpad + keyboard issues with Laptop Fujitsu Lifebook E5511 (same issue like Dell and HP, ....) ELAN „DesignWare“ tablet mode „i2c-hid-acpi“

Problem with all of them: Drivers get mental thinking its a TABLET ! The Laptop is no tablet ....

• keyboard not working
• touchpad not working

Applies to Ubuntu, Xubuntu, ... 18.x, 19.x, 20.x, 21.x, 22.04

THANKs to the may great, smart, encouraged, skilled people who invented all the details I collect and stuff together in the following as a solution proven to work in my machines - might their well being last forever.

1 Answer

Problem & solution here:

1. keyboard wrong kernel module "elants_i2c" gets loaded.
   There is no ELAN touchpad present.
   This device has a „DesignWare“ Touchpad (which is not working, of course).
   Stopping the wrong module helps to get the keyboard functional.
   ONE way (not the only) is to disable the wrong module in grub: Change the existing parameter line in grub, update-grub, reboot
   GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="initcall_blacklist=elants_i2c"
   

2. touchpad
   The „DesignWare“ Touchpad does NOT need module „i2c-hid" like many others.
   „DesignWare“ Touchpad needs module „i2c-hid-acpi“.
   How to do that?
   Hit-and-run solution:
   Invoke
   modprobe i2c-hid-acpi
   and see if it works
   

ONE possible (persistent) solution of many is to create a systemd service.
Other suggestions welcome!

a) create
/usr/local/bin/touchpad-kmodule.sh
with +x for root
content:
#!/bin/bash
modprobe i2c-hid-acpi

b) create
/etc/systemd/system/touchpadELAN.service
access rights 644 for root
content:

[Unit]
Description=load missing kernel module for touchpad

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/touchpad-kmodule.sh
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=yes

[Install]
# WantedBy=multi-user.target
WantedBy=default.target

c) enable the serviced service
sudo systemctl status touchpadELAN.service
sudo systemctl enable touchpadELAN.service
sudo systemctl start touchpadELAN.service

Experience with some similar machines / similar problems, other solutions; try this solution with your laptop to see if it helps
X) f$#@ing "tablet" disable (where applicable / in many similar Laptops):
Blacklist the wrong module this way
Create a file
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-intel_vbtn.conf

with content

# bug in module breaks keyboard, so do not load it (askubuntu.com 127820)
blacklist intel_vbtn

every one complaining about wrong formatting: do a better job first and then KISS MY FEET!