Tags: mac | os_x | trackpads | ubuntu

UPDATE : See my Blog Post on the Trackpad and Ubuntu Maverick

Because I'm Developer, one of the things I tend to get excited about is decent input peripherals. While that may sound a bit kinky, it just means I like to have nice, easy to use Keyboards and Mice. Why...? Well, a while ago I started getting RSI in my right arm. I eventually tracked this down to using a Mouse eight hours a day.

From that moment on I stopped using a Mouse, and switched over to using a Marble Mouse from Logitech. From the moment I switched over to using one, my RSI stopped. These are really robust devices and are probably one of the best trackballs ever made. However, now Apple have made an even better pointing device. The Magic Trackpad.

As soon as it was announced I placed an order at the Apple On-line store, and yesterday it finally arrived. After playing with it for a while I've found its a great device. Fast, quiet and it looks great. (But that's enough about me, what about the Trackpad...?)

Of course, after making sure it worked with OS X, the next task was to get it working with Ubuntu. Not so good.

So far I can connect to it with the following:

sudo apt-get install bluez-compat

Put the Trackpad in "Discovourable" mode.

sudo hcitool scan

Then wait until it finds the Trackpad

sudo hidd --connect D8:AA:BB:CC:DD:EE

But that's about as far as I can connect. The "Mouse" part of the Trackpad works fine. It's just the Multi-touch part that I stumped on. So, if anyone has got this working, let me know if there's a method to use...!

Then, when the prompt for a PIN comes up, enter four zeros (0) as the PIN.