Need help getting touchpad config tab or Synaptic app working with Acer Aspire 3 A317-52 touchpad

jcknouse
jcknouse Member Posts: 3 New User
edited January 2022 in Aspire Laptops
I recently got an Acer Aspire 3 A317-52 and it evidently (according to the hardware IDs having SYNA prefix) has a Synaptics precision clickpad.

I have over and over tried every way I know to get the driver to load in so that I could control the touch areas of the clickpad.

I have loaded and unload (both as user and administrator) the drivers to no avail.
I have done the above in a multitude of variations of rebooting between each step, before and after the entire uninstall/install process, etc.

I really need to be able to get the touchpad utility to work, since the clicking happens anywhere as well as when I click in the bottom left/right it moves the cursor with the slightest finger movement even with the touchpad set to "Low Sensitivity".

I'm frazzled at this point, and I've read several forum posts looking for the magic fix, but nothing will either get a tab in the Mouse device screen or get the driver to work with the Synaptic app for Touchpads from the Microsoft Store.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,


Best Answer

  • AnhEZ28
    AnhEZ28 ACE, Member Posts: 4,277 Pathfinder
    Answer ✓
    @jcknouse it has changed to precision touchpad so there is no app or utility to control it. The Windows setting is the only way to control the touchpad sensitivity or gesture.
    Please remember to include @AnhEZ28 when you want to reply back to my comment so that I can check your response.
    Thank you and have a nice day!

Answers

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,064 Trailblazer
    jcknouse said:
    I recently got an Acer Aspire 3 A317-52 and it evidently (according to the hardware IDs having SYNA prefix) has a Synaptics precision clickpad.

    I have over and over tried every way I know to get the driver to load in so that I could control the touch areas of the clickpad.

    I have loaded and unload (both as user and administrator) the drivers to no avail.
    I have done the above in a multitude of variations of rebooting between each step, before and after the entire uninstall/install process, etc.

    I really need to be able to get the touchpad utility to work, since the clicking happens anywhere as well as when I click in the bottom left/right it moves the cursor with the slightest finger movement even with the touchpad set to "Low Sensitivity".

    I'm frazzled at this point, and I've read several forum posts looking for the magic fix, but nothing will either get a tab in the Mouse device screen or get the driver to work with the Synaptic app for Touchpads from the Microsoft Store.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,

    J C

    Uninstall the old driver completely and reinstall the appropriate and specific Aspire 3 A317-52 touchpad driver first, if that doesn’t work then your touchpad strip cable connections to the motherboard needs to be inspected and/or reconnected, if that doesn’t work then the tuchpad needs replacing, see below.


  • jcknouse
    jcknouse Member Posts: 3 New User
    StevenGen said:

    Uninstall the old driver completely and reinstall the appropriate and specific Aspire 3 A317-52 touchpad driver first, if that doesn’t work then your touchpad strip cable connections to the motherboard needs to be inspected and/or reconnected, if that doesn’t work then the tuchpad needs replacing, see below.


    Thanks for answering, StevenGen.

    The touchpad itself is not malfunctioning.  It is that it is a single-surface, and without the proper configuration utility its performance is not accurate.

    I have tried removing the old drivers, and reinstalling.  That did not help to link the driver properly to the Synaptics app.  As I said, Windows reports the touchpad hardware ID as SYNA7DB5.  So, I go into Device Manager and remove all hardware having that ID.    So, they are all removed:



    So all mouse and input devices of that hardware ID are Uninstalled.  So then, I re-run the installer for the Synaptics touchpad driver from Acer's site.  When I reboot, there are all sorts of Microsoft default devices installed but no Synaptics device including "HID-compliant touchpad", "Microsoft compliant input device", "HID-compliant mouse" even though there is no mouse attached.

    So, I go to the touchpad, and I Update Driver which usually will link the driver the device.  It says it's ready.  But when I go to the Touchpad configuration and click "Additional Settings" on the right...it has the same old stuff before I put on the "updated Acer driver".  But, no Synaptics "Clickpad" tab.

    Does anyone know if this is available?  I've even removed all HID devices and reloaded the chipset, IO and touchpad drivers from the Acer website in an attempt to get Windows 10 to load things right.  But it keeps coming back to stock Microsoft drivers.

    It's something that should look similar to this:

    Synpatics Touchpad Tab Settings Missing 8

    Thanks

    J.C.
  • AnhEZ28
    AnhEZ28 ACE, Member Posts: 4,277 Pathfinder
    Answer ✓
    @jcknouse it has changed to precision touchpad so there is no app or utility to control it. The Windows setting is the only way to control the touchpad sensitivity or gesture.
    Please remember to include @AnhEZ28 when you want to reply back to my comment so that I can check your response.
    Thank you and have a nice day!
  • jcknouse
    jcknouse Member Posts: 3 New User
    AnhEZ28 said:
    @jcknouse it has changed to precision touchpad so there is no app or utility to control it. The Windows setting is the only way to control the touchpad sensitivity or gesture.
    That is disheartening.  I have another laptop from a different manufacturer that has the menu with the Clickpad tab, and you are able to define "non-touch" areas of the surface so that you don't accidentally click or move the mouse while typing and make it where the bottom part of the touchpad is for left and right click only.

    I will have to look at my options now.  This clickpad is almost unusable since the cursor moves if your finger moves at all as you depress to click and then can click on other things.  And, it happens even with Windows-default "Mouse Sensitivity" set to "Low Sensitivity".

    Thank you again,  @AnhEZ28.  At least, now I won't continue making futile efforts to figure out something Acer doesn't provide.

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