Ubuntu 16.04 multitouch gestures

Is it possible to make multitouch gestures on Ubuntu Xenial Xerus? For example with TouchEgg? I tried already but without success.


I never succeeded in making it work with touchegg. But there is an easy way to achieve it with another tool. Here are the steps: At first download, compile libinput-gestures and install from git repository:

git clone http://github.com/bulletmark/libinput-gestures
cd libinput-gestures
sudo make install

Make sure libinput-tools and xdotool are installed:

sudo apt install libinput-tools xdotool

Make sure current user is in the input group to have permission to read the touchpad device:

sudo gpasswd -a $USER input  # Log out and back in to assign this group

Start libinput-gestures on every start up:

libinput-gestures-setup autostart

Now you can change your virtual workspace by swiping up an down. If you want to make some custom configuration, you should copy the configuration file to your home folder. You can then change it there.

cp /etc/libinput-gestures.conf ~/.config/libinput-gestures.conf
nano ~/.config/libinput-gestures.conf

Have a look at the git repository for further documentation: https://github.com/bulletmark/libinput-gestures

Don't forget to logout then login to see the changes taking effect.


You might be able to get touch working by disabling the xinput 2FGT gestures and letting gestures bubble to the xserver.

To do this, find out the id of the input method that you want to fix:

xsetwacom list

Then disable processing of gestures of that method using

xsetwacom set (id here) Gesture off

This makes it work for me.

If you want to make these changes permanent beyond reboot, the easiest way is to write the command from above into ~/.xinirc. See here for alternative methods.


libinput-gestures works for my xps15 on ubuntu 16.04.

And I would like to share my configure commands.

gesture swipe up    3 xdotool key ctrl+alt+Up
gesture swipe down  3 xdotool key ctrl+alt+Down
gesture swipe left  3 xdotool key ctrl+alt+Left
gesture swipe right 3 xdotool key ctrl+alt+Right
gesture swipe up 4 xdotool key super+w
gesture swipe down 4 xdotool key ctrl+super+d

Yes.

Firstly you'd wanna check if your touchpad supports multitouch. As written here How can I test to see if my touchpad is supports more than 2 finger gestures?

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install geis-tools
geisview

In the new window, go under DeviceAdded: (Probably the last option) and check device touches: . finger_number will tell you the number of multi-touch fingers your touchpad supports.

Next, install touchegg:

sudo apt install touchegg

Next, go to your home directory.

create a file: .xprofile with the following content :

synclient TapButton2=0
synclient ClickFinger2=0
synclient TapButton3=0
synclient ClickFinger3=0
synclient HorizTwoFingerScroll=0
synclient VertTwoFingerScroll=0
touchegg &

Now restart your computer.

When you login, you should have multitouch support from touchegg. You can configure the file and modify the gestures in

~/.config/touchegg/touchegg.conf