toggling touchpad on HP X2 Chromebook

[ejgoldstick]

Hello,

At the end of 2018, I replaced my Acer c720 with a new HP X2.  the "debug keyboard shortcuts" option worked fine on the Acer, but I discovered that I could not toggle the touchpad on the HP device while I could still toggle the touchscreen.  When I first inquired on the Chromebook Community Forum, I was told that the "debug keyboard shortcuts" were being removed from stable versions of CrOS... so I reinstalled with a beta version but found the same problem existed: no way to toggle the touchpad.

I have already made multiple submissions to "the CrOS developers" via alt+shift+i but have never received any feedback.  I agree that this functionality would seem useful and have argued for its integration in CrOS since I first adopted the system in 2014, and it worked fine on my Acer once added to the "debug keyboard shortcuts".

I just submitted this again to the Pixelbook Community but have not received feedback...

... so I am wondering if HP might have a hardware-specific manner to toggle the touchpad so that I can deactivate it when typing rapidly.

Thanks in advance for any feedback at all.

[Echo_Lake]

@ejgoldstick
Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.

Let's try this method:
Type chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts in the address bar of the web browser and press Enter. Enable/Disable the option Debugging keyboard shortcuts, then restart your Chromebook. Press the Search + Shift + P keys at the same time to toggle the touchpad On or Off.

And, also I've found YouTube video showing  How To Disable the Touchpad on a Chromebook

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[ejgoldstick]

Hello,

I must have failed to make clear that "shift+search+p" no longer works to disable my X2 touchpad when the debug-keyboard-shortcuts flag is enabled... though "shift+search+t" can be used to toggle the touchscreen.  I had been using these "features" on my Acer c720 for a couple of years and have found them indispensible when using a Chromebook for typing long texts... and the HP X2 touchpad is even larger and more sensitive than the one on the Acer.

Are you suggesting that it works on the same hardware for you?  What version of CrOS are you using?  I'd be happy to give more information about the configuration of my device as perhaps there is something to be gleaned from a comparison.

Thank you.

[Echo_Lake]

@ejgoldstick
Have you tried performing above suggested troubleshooting steps?

This is the only options to disable touchpad on a Chromebook. Refer to this YouTube video showing  How To Disable the Touchpad on a Chromebook
If this fails then this computer doesn't have the ability to change those settings. 

Keep me posted for further assistance.

[ejgoldstick]

As I previously stated, I tried this suggested approach on my HP X2 and "shift+search+p" does NOT work for the touchpad while "shift+search+t" does work fine for the touchscreen.  It also still works for both functionalities on the Acer c720 and, apparently, on other Chromebooks.

I am very disappointed by your statement that "this computer doesn't have the ability to change those settings" when that is only half true.  I am presuming from your profile that you are an HP employee and, as such, will conclude that HP cannot help me resolve what should, in my experienced opinion, be a simple matter that is of obvious value and that is implemented in all other operating systems with which I am familiar.  I will continue to pursue a solution with the Chromebook and ChromeOS communities and developers until I either find a solution or am convinced that there is a reasonable explanation for the behavior of the HP X2, though it would probably lead me to abandon the device for another.

[Echo_Lake]

@ejgoldstick
Work on it as per your convenience and keep me posted on the results.  

Have a nice day!

[ejgoldstick]

Hello,

I am pleased to report that this problem was resolved in version 75 of ChromeOS.  My system just updated to the stable version and I am able to toggle the touchpad with Shift+Search+P as desired.

Fyi, I found a contact among the ChromiumOS developers who confirmed that this was problem because the detachable keyboard w/touchpad on this device was being treated as an external device and the "hotkey" that can be used by enabling chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts was only intended for use with internal devices.  My contact requested the change to the source in the next version and I only has to wait for the update.

One important point:  I found the touchpad was initially deactivated when I tried to use my device after the update.  All it took was Shift+Search+P for the touchpad to be activated; however, I am not sure that it will be activated for people who do NOT have the chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts enabled, so I will now send this note and will report back after deactivating the flag and restarting my device... Please standby...

[ejgoldstick]

As I suspected, the touchpad is NOT activated by default and, as such, it CANNOT BE ACTIVATED by someone using version 75 on this device who has not enabled chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts...

I have communicated this to the person supporting ChromiumOS who introduced the change in the source.  I also suggested that it should not be necessary, in my opinion, to set a special flag in order to toggle the state of the touchpad or the screen, but I am doubtful a more permanent change will occur any time soon.

Please communicate the "fix" for other users of this device:  all that is necessary is that chrome://flags/#ash-debug-shortcuts must be enabled and then both the touchpad and the touchscreen can be toggled with Shift+Search+P and Shift+Search+T, respectively.

Thank you.

[Echo_Lake]

@ejgoldstick
I am glad to know that you managed to resolve the issue. Please reach out again for any further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Have a nice day ahead.

[ejgoldstick · Accepted solution]

I am guessing that you did not read the post that precedes your own post that claims credit for having resolved the problem...

... and if you read it carefully, you will see that the problem is resolved for me and other people who have #ash-debug-shortcuts enabled but definitely NOT for anyone who does not have that debug state enabled; in fact, they will be reporting a problem because their touchpad will no longer work once they upgrade to version 75 and they will have no way to activate it without enabling that flag and then doing Shift+Search+P.

I have also communicated this fact to the ChromiumOS developer who helped resolve the problem in the first place.  I am assuming that HP has its own relationship with the developers of ChromiumOS and it device-specific versions as ChromeOS that are associated with Chromebooks like the HP X2 that I am using to write this response.

So I cannot click "Accept as Solution" but will leave it to you and HP going forward to see that the problem is resolved for the HP X2 Chromebook owners who will be impacted.