Spectre x360 Rotation Disables Touchpad and Keyboard

[IDFUNVFHBNGVFRI]

Hello, I have the same problem as this person explain in 2016 in this post : https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Envy-x360-Rotation-Disables-Touchpad-...

Was this issue fixed ? If so, can someone help me fix it on my computer as well ?

Thank you.

For reference, here is how @nhgk describes the problem in the post linked above :

"I noticed that there's a sensor somewhere that detects the orientation of the laptop and somehow attempts to put it in tablet mode. I went ahead and disabled the auto-switch function, so my laptop actually stays in desktop mode when rotated. However, independent of whether the laptop is in tablet mode, it still disables both the touchpad and keyboard functions when rotated, since you would only use the touchscreen when the laptop is in tablet mode. I sometimes use the laptop lying sideways (rotated 90 degrees) and that does not necessarily mean I want to use it as a tablet, and I would not want my input devices to be automatically switched off against my will.

I looked up a solution that involves disabling Synaptics SMBus Driver, which presumably disables the software connecting touchpad functionality to laptop orientation. This allows touchpad to work when rotated. However, I can't find the way to accomplish the same for the keyboard. I noticed that the keyboard and the sensors are connected via HID drivers but I don't understand what they are.

TL;DR: rotating laptop disables touchpad and keyboard even when it's not in tablet mode. Disabling Synaptics SMBus Driver solves the touchpad portion. Don't know what to do for the keyboard portion.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance."

"

1. The laptop is NOT in tablet mode. I made sure the automatic switching function is turned off and that it NEVER enters tablet mode. I don't even plan on using it as a tablet, ever.

2. It's NOT Windows 10 that's disabling the touchpad and the keyboard. It's some hardware driver that listens to a "laptop rotated" event and triggers Synaptic and HID to shut off. Evidently turning off Synaptic's hardware-specific SMBus driver for the touchpad does the trick for the touchpad.

3. There must be some low-level way to either (a) shut off the rotation sensor OR (b) disconnect the keyboard from the rotation sensor. I'm asking whether there's a specific driver that I might be able to turn off, since I could do that for the touchpad.

4. This could definitely be a bug, so please make sure the developers are aware of it. The disabling of the touchpad and the keyboard must be intended to save battery and make the laptop more like a tablet, but it happens independently of whether the laptop is actually in tablet mode or not. This indicates there's some loophole in the software-hardware integration codes."

[Nirvana_95]

Hello @IDFUNVFHBNGVFRI 

Welcome to the HP Support Community. This situation will need some additional support from our internal teams in HP. We shall escalate this case.

Please look for a private message from me requesting additional information. Keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thanks!

[Nirvana_95]

Hi @IDFUNVFHBNGVFRI

I hope you are doing good.

We reached out but never heard back. Do you still need assistance? Let me know if there is anything else you need assistance with.

Have a great day! 

Thanks! 

[Nirvana_95]

Hello @IDFUNVFHBNGVFRI 

We haven’t heard from you in a while, this post is with reference to the thread you had created with your  

friendly neighborhood (HP Support Community). 

Please get back to us so that we can assist you further with it. 

Have a great day ahead! 

[inventor12141]

Was there ever a solution to this problem? I'm having a similar item, where my keyboard is disabled even when the screen is upright