Synaptics Touchpad Driver Installation Notes Version 4.1.28 Contents -------- 1. Installing the Synaptics TouchPad Driver. 2. Personal Computer and Windows 98 Configuration Issues. 3. Other potential conflicts with the TouchPad Driver. 1. Installing the Synaptics TouchPad Driver ------------------------------------------- First, make sure that your Synaptics TouchPad is connected to your system (a driver will be installed for each currently connected TouchPad). If you have received your driver distribution in the form of a self-extracting archive, then you must first extract the installation files from the archive. Execute the self-extracting archive file by double-clicking on it from Explorer, running it from the Start/Run dialog, or running it from a DOS box command prompt. Next, run the Setup.exe program, which automatically installs the driver on your computer. You can run this program either from a DOS box by going to the directory that contains the driver files and typing "setup", or using Start/Run and running setup (e.g. if the driver files are on a floppy disk in the A: drive, you would type "A:\setup"), or by exploring the directory containing the driver files and double clicking on the Setup.exe program. If the driver has been installed correctly, after you have restarted Windows you should see the TouchPad Icon in your task bar next to the clock. Also, a dialog box entitled "Information about your TouchPad" will pop up. You can prevent this dialog box from coming up in the future by checking the "Stop showing me this message" checkbox. For help on using the advanced features of your Synaptics TouchPad, choose "Tell me more..." from the "Information about your TouchPad" dialog box, or double-click on the TouchPad Icon in your task bar, and click on the "Help" button. If either of the above indicators of successful installation does not appear, or if you have other trouble with the installation, the rest of this document contains important additional information about the following issues: - BIOS settings - Windows 98 mouse port settings - Windows 98 serial port settings - Mouse control software that was not provided as part of the original Windows 98 system - Difficulties that some users have experienced with TouchPads installed in keyboards. 2. Personal Computer and Windows 98 Configuration Issues -------------------------------------------------------- The new, Windows 98 preferred method for viewing your system's hardware configuration is in the Device Manager. The Device Manager can be accessed from the Control Panel-->System page. The Control Panel offers a set of options for configuring your Windows 98 computer. To access it, click on the Start button, then click on Settings, and then click on Control Panel. Once the Control panel is up, double click on the System icon in the Control Panel, and then click on the Device Manager TAB in the resulting window. This page contains individual device configurations for each hardware device associated with your computer. Individual items may be viewed by clicking the "+" symbols beside the device type names. For example, to view the TouchPad or Mouse configurations, click on the "+" symbol beside the word Mouse. This will show a list (probably just 1 item for typical machines), of available device configurations for pointing devices. E.g., if a machine has both a Serial TouchPad and a PS/2 mouse attached (or thinks that it does), there would be 2 entries under "Mouse". Any of the available device configurations may be viewed by double clicking on the selection or by selecting the item and then clicking on the "Properties" button. 2a) Potential PC/Windows Configuration Conflicts. A) BIOS Settings Many PCs include a BIOS that permits you to change serial port addresses and disable the on board PS/2 mouse port. Changes made after Windows 98 was installed may not be known to Windows 98. It is recommended that BIOS changes be made only in severe cases, or when you are familiar with the impact of the changes. One possible conflict that can be caused by BIOS settings is that the PS/2 port on your computer might be disabled. If you are attempting to connect a pointing device to a PS/2 port and Windows 98 does not know that the port exists (i.e., a "PS/2 Mouse" device doesn't show up in the Device Manager's Mouse page), you should tell Windows to search for one. To do this, click on the Add New Hardware icon in the Control Panel and follow the instructions that are displayed; when it asks you if you want to let Windows 98 search for new devices, say yes. If Windows 98 does not find a PS/2 port there may be a BIOS setting that has disabled the port. To access the BIOS settings of the computer you must restart your PC and watch the screen carefully for instructions on how to "Enter Setup". These instructions appear prior to the PC beginning to load Windows 98 and may be displayed briefly. Refer to your PC's documentation for proper procedures to access the BIOS setup. If the PS/2 port is disabled by a BIOS setting, it must be enabled and the new configuration must be saved. Windows 98 may not find this port automatically upon restarting and you may have to follow the above instructions for Adding New Hardware again. Once the PS/2 port has been found by Windows 98, try using the Setup program again to install the TouchPad drivers. B) Windows 98 MOUSE Settings Some computers include a standard PS/2 mouse port on the PC's motherboard, but do not provide any connector for a PS/2 mouse. In this case, Windows 98 will still try to find the PS/2 port when it configures itself, and if found, will install the software to support it automatically, even if no PS/2 device (or even connector) is present. If you have a PC that automatically adds its PS/2 port to the list, you may have an entry in the Device Manager's list of Mouse configurations that has a yellow circle with an exclamation mark over it. This will always be present and will not cause any problems for Windows 98 operation. If you attach a serial pointing device to the PC, and do not attach anything to the PS/2 port, Windows 98 will automatically use the serial device even though Windows 98 is configured to use a PS/2 mouse. In this setting Windows 98 has used a fall-back procedure that supports the serial pointing device in a basic mode without any of its special features. If you have a serial TouchPad connected, and run the Setup program, then a serial Synaptics TouchPad driver will be installed, and the PS/2 port driver will be unchanged. In other words, you will still see a PS/2 mouse driver in the Device Manager's list, flagged with an error, but this should cause no problems. C) Windows 98 SERIAL PORT Settings When Windows 98 was installed, it found the serial ports available on the PC at that time. If new serial ports are added (e.g., by plugging in a new serial card), or the current ports have had their addresses changed, Windows 98 may not know about the changes. Once changes in serial port addresses have been made at the BIOS level, Windows 98 needs to be updated with new configuration information. The easiest way to ensure that Windows 98 correctly identifies each port is to delete all the Communications Ports found under the Port section of the System's Device Manager. Next, shut the system down and power off and then on again. If Windows 98 did not automatically detect the new ports, run the Add New Hardware application from the Control Panel, let Windows 98 search for new hardware, and it should find the reconfigured serial ports. Once Windows 98 has detected its serial ports, you can connect your serial TouchPad and run the Setup program to install the serial driver. 3. Other potential conflicts with the TouchPad driver. ------------------------------------------------------ Conflicting Software: The Microsoft application "IntelliPoint" may cause unintended behavior for some users. IntelliPoint interferes with the operation of internal TouchPads and external pointing devices on some computers. Please refer to the readme file included on disk 1 of the IntelliPoint installation disk set. Some other types of "Mouse Enhancement" software may interfere with the operation of your Synaptics TouchPad. If all else appears correct and you are still having difficulty remove or disable the other software. Issues related to keyboards with integrated TouchPads: Some keyboards with TouchPads built into them have a port on the back of the keyboard is called a "pass through" port. This port supports plugging in another serial pointing device, which can be selected by switching a switch on the bottom of the keyboard. **CAUTION** Some pointing devices (particularly inexpensive serial mice), can cause conflicts with the built-in TouchPad simply by being plugged into the port (i.e., even if they are switched off by the switch on the bottom of the keyboard). If all else appears correct with your Windows 98 setup, but you are still not seeing the TouchPad icon in the control tray, unplug the other pointing device from your keyboard, make sure that the switch on the bottom of the keyboard is set to TouchPad, and restart your computer. WHAT TYPE OF CONNECTOR DO I HAVE? A PS/2 port is round and is about 1/4 inch in diameter. A serial port is either a 9 pin connector about 1 inch wide or a 25 pin connector about 2 inches wide. Neither serial connector appears round. The type of port is critical for the successful operation of your Synaptics TouchPad. The TouchPad's type of connector controls which type of port you must use. Windows 98 mouse setting's port and the TouchPad's port type must match exactly. WHAT TYPE OF PORT DOES WINDOWS 98 THINK I HAVE To determine what Windows 98 thinks it is using as your TouchPad port, go to the Device Manager from the System icon of the Control Panel. Click on the "+" symbol beside the word "Mouse" if it is not already open. The mouse types that Windows 98 knows about are each represented here. Any installed driver that Windows 98 thinks is not functioning correctly will have a yellow circle with an exclamation mark over it. If there is more than one definition and you have only one TouchPad connected to your computer this might be the source of some difficulty. If there is only one definition present then this is the one Windows 98 will try to use. Double click on the definition which says Synaptics, if present. If there is a TAB on the resulting window which is labelled "Resources" then Windows 98 thinks it is using a PS/2 port for the TouchPad, even though you may have told the computer to install a Synaptics Serial TouchPad! 3A) If your TouchPad has a Serial connector The TouchPad must be connected to a serial port. Once the TouchPad is connected, run the Setup program to install a serial driver for it. 3B) If your TouchPad has a PS/2 connector Your TouchPad must be connected to the PS/2 port of the PC. Run the Setup program to install a PS/2 port for the TouchPad. 3C) If your TouchPad is a "Combo" device You can plug the TouchPad into either the PS/2 or the serial port, using the provided adapter when necessary.