Little blue thing on my keyboard

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around issues related to the pointing stick feature on a Dell D620 laptop keyboard, specifically addressing sensitivity problems and how to disable or adjust the feature. Participants share their experiences and solutions regarding the control panel settings and driver installations.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the issue of the pointing stick being overly sensitive, causing cursor movement while typing.
  • Another participant suggests disabling the pointing stick through the control panel under a tab labeled "Device Select."
  • A different participant reports difficulty finding the "Device Select" tab and mentions only seeing other tabs like "Buttons" and "Pointer Options."
  • Another participant points out that the "Device Select" option can be found by clicking on a picture of the touchpad in the Dell Touchpad Settings tab.
  • One participant recommends reinstalling the ALPS driver if certain tabs are missing in the mouse settings.
  • A participant confirms that reinstalling the driver resolved their issue, expressing confusion about how the driver became problematic.
  • Another participant speculates that driver issues may arise from software installations and shares their own experiences with driver stability on Dell computers.
  • A participant asks for clarification on the term "driver" in the context of computer science.
  • Another participant provides a link to a Wikipedia page explaining what a device driver is.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share various suggestions and experiences, but there is no consensus on the best approach to resolve the sensitivity issue or the exact nature of driver problems. The discussion includes both agreement on certain solutions and differing experiences regarding driver management.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention missing tabs and driver issues, indicating potential limitations in the software or settings available on their systems. The discussion does not resolve these limitations or provide a definitive solution to the sensitivity problem.

ehrenfest
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Hello, I have a Dell D620 laptop and recently I have been having trouble with the input the tells the cursor where to go. I have the standard finger-pad that I use to move the cursor but there is also a little blue rubber thing between the "h" and the "g" on my keyboard that can also move the cursor. Recently, while I have been typing, when I press the keys close to the blue thing, it actually gives it enough vibration so the blue thing thinks I touched it and it moves the cursor away from where I am typing. This is really annoying because then the text starts showing up in the new location. Does that make sense?


Does anyone know how to turn the little blue thing off or make it less sensitive?
 
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I also have a D620. Go to the control panel and open up the mouse dialog box. There should be a tab for "Device Select". Select that tab and find the section called "Pointing Stick" and click on "Disable device"
 
DaleSpam said:
I also have a D620. Go to the control panel and open up the mouse dialog box. There should be a tab for "Device Select". Select that tab and find the section called "Pointing Stick" and click on "Disable device"

I found "Mouse" in the control panel but when I clicked on it the only tabs were "Buttons", "Pointers", "Pointer Options","Wheel", and "Hardware". The third and fifth of those looked promising but I played around with them and I couldn't find anything called "Device Select" or make any other progress. :(
 
ehrenfest said:
I found "Mouse" in the control panel but when I clicked on it the only tabs were "Buttons", "Pointers", "Pointer Options","Wheel", and "Hardware". The third and fifth of those looked promising but I played around with them and I couldn't find anything called "Device Select" or make any other progress. :(

Do you see the first tab that says Dell Touchpad Settings? It doesn't look like there's much to do on that tab, but if you click on the giant picture of a touchpad, you get another menu with a "device select" option (yes, it's about the least intuitive place to put that control).
 
robphy said:
If you are missing those tabs, you might have to reinstall the
ALPS driver [under Input Device drivers]:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...en&s=gen&SystemID=LATITUDE D620&os=WW1&osl=EN
(I did this recently for my D620.)

Yup, that was the solution. I wonder how I managed to delete that though? When I installed it said I already had the latest version on my computer...weird. But thanks so much it is so nice being able to type a complete line now without having to reposition the cursor!
 
ehrenfest said:
Yup, that was the solution. I wonder how I managed to delete that though? When I installed it said I already had the latest version on my computer...weird. But thanks so much it is so nice being able to type a complete line now without having to reposition the cursor!

You may not have deleted it, it may have been corrupted when something else got installed. I have a lot of problems getting drivers to stay put on my Dell (different model) when I install new software (I've just gotten in the habit of not installing anything new unless I have the driver CDs with me). I don't know if it is because it's a Dell or because it's Windows.
 
Moonbear said:
You may not have deleted it, it may have been corrupted when something else got installed. I have a lot of problems getting drivers to stay put on my Dell (different model) when I install new software (I've just gotten in the habit of not installing anything new unless I have the driver CDs with me). I don't know if it is because it's a Dell or because it's Windows.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly does a "driver" mean in this computer science context? I know what a "drive" is, but this is apparently different.
 
ehrenfest said:
Sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly does a "driver" mean in this computer science context? I know what a "drive" is, but this is apparently different.

"device driver"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_driver
 
  • #10
robphy said:
"device driver"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_driver

Wikipedia said:
A device driver, or software driver, is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a device.

Aha!
 

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