[tntc.tig]

It looks like the audio drivers work out of the box in the alpha 6 and beta of Ubuntu 9.10, only requiring you to un-mute the mic to get recording in sound recorder. The touchscreen driver from Dell's website under the ubuntu 9.04 drivers catagory also works in 9.10. I will write a tutorial on how to install this when it is not 3AM.

[tntc.tig]

Step 1) Get the drivers:
Go to Welcome to Dell Support, go to driver downloads, select your mode(Latitude 2100), select Ubuntu Desktop Edition 9.04 as the OS, and download the ideacom touchscreen drivers. In my case, the file was called welch_touchscreen_ubunt9.04.tgz. Extract them to whatever folder you like. I chose ~\Downloads, and will use this folder throughout.

Step 2) Stop GDM and X, get an Xorg.conf.
Press CTRL+ALT+F1 to change to TTY1 (Virtual Terminal). Log in using your normal username and password. Stop gdm with the following command: "sudo service gdm stop"
You will be asked for your password.

Next, type "sudo Xorg -configure" to create an Xorg.conf. It will be generated in your home directory (~), and it will be called xorg.conf.new. Type "sudo mv ~/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf" to move it to the correct folder in etc for the driver. Press CTRL+ALT+F2 to get to TTY2. Log in there, and type "sudo Xorg" to start X for setting up the touchscreen. You will need to enter your password.
Press CTRL+ALT+F1 to change to TTY1 again.

Step 3) Install the drivers:
find where you put the files (again, in my case ~/Downloads/), and do "cd debs/main/". Run
"sudo -s" and enter your password again (if needed). YOU ARE NOW ROOT. BE VERY CAREFUL.
As root, run "DISPLAY=:0 dpkg -i idc-touch*.deb" to install the driver. The DISPLAY=:0 bit is to tell the driver where your X session from before is running.
Hit CTRL+ALT+F1 to get to TTY1. Make sure dpkg finished succesfully and with no errors.
Hit CTRL+ALT+F2 to get back to TTY2. Press CTRL+C to kill the Xorg server.
Type "sudo service gdm start" to restart GDM. Log in.
Run the calibration utlitiy now found under Applications->Accessories->Touch Screen (Likely near the bottom.)
You will need to type in your password.

Step 4) Reboot:
Reboot (sudo reboot) to make sure the touchscreen maps correctly in udev. Log in to your Gnome Desktop. Test your touchscreen. Recalibrate if needed. RECALIBRATION DOES NOT REQUIRE A LOG OUT WITH THIS DRIVER! It takes effect immediately, unlike the previous evtouch driver.

Step 5) Tweaking:
I had some issues with using controls in Gnome on this screen. They are relatively small targets, and this made scrolling, mouse movement, etc, difficult. As a result, I decided to change the window controls to make them easier to use. First, I increased the font size in System->Preferences->Appearance, click the Fonts tab. Change the Window title font to something larger (I picked 12.5), and this will increase the size of the minimize/maximize/close controls in most themes. Next, I wanted to make the scroll bars wider and easy to scroll. I created ~/.gtkrc-2.0 to put some additional settings in. In this file, put the following text:

style "scroll"
{
GtkScrollbar::slider-width = 15
}

class "*" style "scroll"


The line "GtkScollbar::slider-width = 15" is where the action is at. This sets the number of pixels wide that the scrollbars are. I initially tried setting it for 25 and 20, but these were too wide and looked ungainly.

I also had some difficulty getting right click to work on the touchscreen (tap and hold on the touchscreen produces a right click event). I hunted for configuration files for the touchscreen after installing the driver, and discovered that it used configuration files in /etc/. There is a folder called /etc/IDC/ which contains the same files, but the driver appears to ignore these. The file that is important for fixing my right click issue was /etc/settings.txt, specifically "LongTouchTime" and "MoveLimit". The LongTouchTime is how long you must hold the touchscreen before the right click menu comes up. I set mine for 500. MoveLimit is how many pixels you can move your finger before it is considered moving the mouse rather than a right click. I set this for 100. These settings worked for me, but your milage may vary.

I also found that /etc/idctsc.conf had a line called "stabilityRange", with an intial setting of "3". I was able to leave this at the default, but found that increasing this setting makes the cursor move in bursts of pixels: When you click and drag on the touchscreen, you will notice it follows your finger in a jagged line moving across and down in segments rather than a direct diagonal pull. It also means that your mouse stays in one place if you click and hold, ignoring slight movements. This makes right clicking easier, but dragging accurately harder.

[itchyd]

Hey I'm having tons of trouble getting UNR 9.10 on my latitude working. When I boot from the USB key it prompts me to load restricted drivers to get the wifi working. When I boot from the ssd after installing I don't get any option to install those drivers... any advice? I've gone to the hardware drivers screen and it says no proprietary drivers installed.

[reflex]

Originally Posted by itchyd

Hey I'm having tons of trouble getting UNR 9.10 on my latitude working. When I boot from the USB key it prompts me to load restricted drivers to get the wifi working. When I boot from the ssd after installing I don't get any option to install those drivers... any advice? I've gone to the hardware drivers screen and it says no proprietary drivers installed.

I'm guessing your Latitude has a Broadcom WiFi card, so this might be a description of your problem and a potential solution.

[itchyd]

Hey thanks for the fast response, that solution worked great! I am now trying to get the touch screen working. I followed all the instructions above but when I launch the calibration utility it flashes up on the screen for a second and then crashes... any tips?