Powered by

# How to disable touchpad

Accidental touches due to palm contact with the touchpad can be quite frustrating. Fortunately, the Linux kernel allows you to disable the touchpad or any input device temporarily using sysfs by triggering the uevent. This guide will walk you through the process.

# Step 1: Access a Root Shell

In order to disable the touchpad, you'll need to access a root shell. Here's how to get root privileges.

  1. Open KernelSU:

    • KernelSU manager app is automatically installed in Bliss OS.

  2. Enable Superuser for Termux:

    • In the KernelSU interface, find Termux in the list of apps from superuser tab.
    • Enable superuser for Termux.

# Step 2: Launch Termux and Switch to Root User

  1. Open Termux:

    • Termux is a terminal app which is automatically installed in Bliss OS.

  2. Open a root shell:

    • In Termux, type su and press Enter to open a root shell.

# Step 3: Identify the device file of the touchpad and trigger the uevent

To disable the touchpad, we need to identify which event device corresponds to it. There are two ways to do this:

# Method 1: Using getevent -pl

  1. In the superuser shell, run the command:

    getevent -pl

  2. This command will list all input devices attached to the system along with their event IDs. Look for the touchpad device by identifying the descriptions, usually labeled as something like "touchpad".

  3. Once you've identified the correct event, note down the event ID (e.g., eventX, where X is the number associated with the touchpad).

  4. To disable the touchpad, execute the following command:

    echo remove > /sys/class/input/eventX/uevent

    Replace X with the appropriate number identified earlier.

# Method 2: Using getevent -ql

  1. Alternatively, you can use the following command: 
    getevent -ql
  2. Tap on the touchpad, and the command will display input events associated with that touchpad.
  3. Once you've determined the correct event number X (eventX), press ctrl+c to interrupt the running getevent program and use the same command to disable it: 
    echo remove > /sys/class/input/eventX/uevent

Congratulations, now you should have successfully disabled your laptop's touchpad. To re-enable the touchpad, reboot the system or trigger the uevent to re-add the device:

echo add > /sys/class/input/eventX/uevent