Enable pointstick with keyboard input

Hi,

I currently own a E7450 however I believe this applies for other latitude models with the ALPS touchpad / pointer as well.

I own the version with the GeForce 840M and sometimes I want to play casual games on my laptop while on the go. For games like Portal 2, I like to use the pointstick for aiming as it is easier to use and more accurate than using a touchpad (but not as good as a mouse), however I have encountered a issue. When I press keys on the keyboard (in this case WASD), the pointstick doesn't work (ie. I can't move and aim at the same time). This appears to be a feature that prevents accidental input, however I would like to turn it off and I cannot find the option for it.

In the driver the is a option to turn off "TouchGuard" for the touchpad, however I can't seem to find the corresponding option for the pointstick.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

it is actually a bug that never seem to get a fix, I believe you need to kill one of the alps driver process.

it was mentioned long time ago in one of the precision thread. if I happen to find it, I will put it here~~

Edit: find two version

I remember the apoint one definitely works, but the other one is new from dell forum that I never tried

1.
1) start task manager
2) kill Apoint.exe (please note your pointer may stop moving at this point)
3) press and release windows key to bring up system menu.
4) get to the search box and type apoint.exe
5) use arrow keys to select from list if necesary
6) happy mousing and typing.

2.
1) Install latest ALPS touchpad driver (e.g. "Input_Driver_323GH_WN_8.1206.101.109_A06").

2) Open "Dell touchpad" utility.

3) Configure touchpad and trackpoint settings.

4) Open Services.msc, disable "Alps HID Monitor" service.

5) Remove file "C:\Program Files\DellTPad\ApMsgFwd.exe"

6) Reboot your system.

both are in the dell forum thread.
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19412652

 

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately neither option fully works.

Option 1 works but disables trackpad gestures and middle button scrolling with the pointstick.

Option 2 half works - yes I can use the pointstick when pressing buttons, however it "sticks" for about 1/2 a second when I first start moving the stick. (ie. While pressing keys, there's a 1/2 second delay before the pointstick starts working).

Unfortunately it looks like I'm going to have to carry around a mouse

 

I really like the MS arc mouse (I have the older version with a scroll wheel rather than the touch strip). The receiver is not tony, but stores in between the two folded parts of the mouse which make it quite small to pack with you.


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