Trackpad++: Alternate Trackpad Driver for BootCamp

[khaneliman]

You should have been able to read the fact that it has been installed several times on Windows 7 and Windows 8 pro on a 2012 rMBP using the newest boot camp drivers, with no success. Unless, remaining in beta and declaring all is well is your goal. Then, yes, this is perfect software.

@khaneliman: 3-finger drag is THE feature of the Trackpad++, and in fact no user had ever reported it doesn't work, so, sure, I would like to help you. An idea: did you try to exit Trackpad++ Control Module from tray icon (right click its '++' icon for unveiling the quit option) and then reinstall?

@Quarc: Congratulations, you have just found a bug. An issue is, the option to disable trackpad was added primarily for testing purposes, and it doesn't disable device like Device Manager, but what it actually does blocks all the kinds of input individually (natively, i.e. inside the Trackpad++ driver). So, I forgot to block this specific gesture. This is it.

Is there a place for humor on these pages, I don't know, but, just to notice, the last two requests to some extent complement each other - only 3-finger dragging is working, and only 3-finger dragging is NOT working

 

[CocaCoca]

My 5c: I was using Trackpad++ for quite the long ltime on MBA. My summary would be, it's the stable driver, it's no BETA, I've had no issues at all, and the gesture support is already perfect imho. Now, a week ago I received rMBP and again all of the gestures work for me. Three finger drag is the killer feature, and again works like a charm from here. Just keep on your amazing work, Vladmir! Cheers!

 

[Ghoumard]

New MBA 2013

Vladimir,

I have the new MBA 2013, and Trackpad++ is not working.
The exact message is: "Cannot communicate with Trackpad++ driver! Please reinstall the Trackpad++. Simply re-run the installer, this should resolve the issue.

Feel free to contact me.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@ALL:

Regarding Mid-2013 Macbook Air support: with the help of remote testers I have determined that it comes with a completely new trackpad (externally it looks 100% the same, but is very different internally - for the first time since 2009!).

If you could consider donating for the new MBA, that would be amazing... Because, now it is clear, only if I buy one, it would make possible creating Trackpad++ for it. If just ~50 people give 25 USD, that would be it. Remote testers cannot help anymore, because now I need BOTH to reverse-engineer and to perform complex real-time analysis. Which is not possible remotely.

Summary: please actively donate to get the Trackpad++ for Haswell MBA soon!
P.S. I would put the names of top 10 contributors in the About box of the Trackpad++ Control Module for Haswell MBA! Thank you in advance all the good people!

 

[rajju077]

@ALL:

Regarding Mid-2013 Macbook Air support: with the help of remote testers I have determined that it comes with a completely new trackpad (externally it looks 100% the same, but is very different internally - for the first time since 2009!).

If you could consider donating for the new MBA, that would be amazing... Because, now it is clear, only if I buy one, it would make possible creating Trackpad++ for it. If just ~50 people give 25 USD, that would be it. Remote testers cannot help anymore, because now I need BOTH to reverse-engineer and to perform complex real-time analysis. Which is not possible remotely.

Summary: please actively donate to get the Trackpad++ for Haswell MBA soon!
P.S. I would put the names of top 10 contributors in the About box of the Trackpad++ Control Module for Haswell MBA! Thank you in advance all the good people!

I am willing to donate, and hoping to get a serial.
I have a question though. Can I use a one finger drag/select feature similar to PC laptops? I hate to click and then drag.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@rajju077: Thank you! Regarding the dragging, Trackpad++ has much better option - it's the 3-finger dragging similar to OS X. Furthermore, it's more configurable feature than in OS X... For example: you can choose to remove the small delay before releasing the dragging hold state, and you can enhance the dragging speed independently from pointer speed.

 

[pickaxe]

I donated to the Haswell fund. Sucks to hear about the new hardware (especially since Apple has no problem reusing TN panels from 2011, why the heck did they have to change the trackpad of all things?)

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@pickaxe: Thank you! I agree, strange they changed it only inside... By the way, only a few people donated so far. But hold on, I am buying one by adding my own funds.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Here is the beta version of the new Trackpad++ driver: http://powerplan7.com/Trackpad_Plus_Plus_Driver_Control_Module_24b_BETA13_Setup_07052013.exe

Highlights:

- Mid-2013 Macbook Air support added;

- Windows 8.1 Preview support added;

- 3-finger dragging refactored, shall now be even closer to OS X implementation;

- Driver performance optimized, now nearly zero CPU usage even on the 1.3 Ghz Core i5 (tested on Haswell MBA);

- Other gestures and features are the same as in the previous version (2.4a).

Please post the feedback here.

Also, could someone test on the previous models (i.e. Air / Pro / Retina, any generation from Mid-2009 to Late-2012). You'll like the way 3-finger dragging has been reworked. Please post the feedback here.

P.S. So far 4 people donated for the Haswell fund. So I had to spend my own money on the costly Mac hardware. Maybe you could donate if you feel like the Trackpad++ is a drastic improvement over the Boot Camp driver hell . Thank you much!

Your Dev,
Vladimir

 

[Flavour]

Hi Vlad, love your work on Trackpad++.

I've ran into a slight hitch lately though. I had to reinstall Windows not too long ago and now I'm stuck with the watermark

"Test Mode
Windows 8 Pro with Media Center
Build 9200"

on the desktop. It's a legitimate copy of windows and it's activated just fine and all that. I've found a fix to get rid of it involving using (admin) cmd.exe and running the command "bcdedit /set testsigning off". Apparently it turns off Test Mode, and it does the trick.

The only problem is once I'm out of Test Mode and watermark free, Trackpad++ stops working and needs to reinstall. The message about ppa_x64.sys pops up and says to reinstall Trackpad++ to fix it, which it does ... but it brings back my old friend, the watermark :S

I've tried uninstalling both Trackpad++ and Power Power Plan Assistant and then installing them again, but I can't seem to get anything to work. Do you have any suggestions for me?

Thanks man d(._.d)

UPDATE Dug a little deeper and found a fix ::cough:registry hack!::cough:: to fix it. Then also found your Test Mode Remover exe, so I'll keep that one filed away in case the little bastard shows up again.
Cheers Vlad, have a nice day!

 

[khaneliman]

Had to reply to tell you how well the newest build is working on Windows 7 on my 15" mid 2012 rMBP. Saw you released a new update and wanted to give it another shot. Went through the time to partition boot camp and install windows just to see how your latest update worked. Flawless three finger drag and LOVE the four finger gestures. Expect a donation as soon as I get the chance, Vlad. I am glad to support your hard work and dedication to this driver! Not sure why 2.4a didn't work, but 2.4b is beautiful on my machine! Thanks again!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@khaneliman: Thank you!

@ALL:

Beta-program is closed. Trackpad++ version 2.4b has been released a minute ago as is available for download.

Notice: as always, please exit the Trackpad++ Control Module from tray icon before reinstalling.

What's new:

- Mid-2013 Macbook Air supported;
- Windows 8.1 Preview supported;
- 3-finger dragging refactored (to behave even closer to OS X implementation);
- Performance optimized: nearly zero CPU usage guaranteed even on 1.3 GHz Core i5;
- Minor fixes;
- Other features and gestures are the same as in the previous version (for details, see my first post on the first page of this thread).

 

[arneevertsson]

Inertial scrolling?

Thank you Vladimir for making the trackpad a little bit better. But actually I miss a very important feature: inertial scrolling. The inertial scrolling is the best feature of the Mac trackpad in OS X. Any plans to add that?

Also when I scroll, the faster I swipe the slower it scrolls. It seems the software cannot keep up with really fast swipes.

Feature request: Add the possibility to scroll to the top/bottom with a gesture.

I'm running Windows 7 on a Mid-2010 13" Macbook Pro.

Kind regards,

Arne Evertsson

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@arneevertsson: Thanks for suggesting. Feature request accepted. I too think it could be a good idea to provide the option to assign, for example, 4-finger vertical swipe to this function. Now regarding the scrolling: it hasn't been changed much since the very first version of Trackpad++, but actually according to the user feedback most people are loving the way it works. By the way both on my old Mid-2009 Macbook Pro and now on the new Haswell MBA the accelerated scrolling speed naturally follows the finger speed. If it doesn't, something is wrong with your Windows, maybe some other driver has very high DPC latency. Again, this is all based not only on my assumptions, but on the long-term user feedback. For example: my topic at an Apple Support Communities (discussions.apple.com) has 257,344 Views and 694 Replies, and only 2 replies or so were about the scrolling. But that doesn't mean I am not going to enhance the scrolling further. Definitely the inertial scrolling is in my plans, so keep an eye on the future releases. Maybe it will become available before the end of the year.

Cheers,
Vladimir

 

[pickaxe]

Hey Vladimir, nice to see the 2013 Air support was added so quickly.

Here's a suggestion. Right now Four Finger Swipe Up and Four Finger Swipe Down are sending Win+D to Windows (probably). But in OS X four fingers up is usually for Expose or Mission Control. I'm always looking for some sort of touchpad-activated window manager while using bootcamp.

So - how about you change Four Fingers Up to send Ctrl+Alt+Tab?? This opens a persistent AltTab window where you can switch between open tasks or hold mouse on a task to see Aero Peek. I think it would be very useful.
Keep Four Fingers Swipe Down as Win+D (or even change to Win+M, Win+Shift+M to make it more useful!).

 

[arneevertsson]

Fast swipe gives slow scrolling

About scrolling, is there a video to watch that shows how Trackpad++ is supposed to work?

When I move move fingers fast the scrolling "gears down" and becomes really slow. When making the same movement in OS X the inertial scrolling gets going, so it's not like I'm swiping extremely fast.

I'm kind of getting used to it now but it would sure be nice not having to take it slowly.

 

[arneevertsson]

IE, Firefox, Chrome

There are obviously many factors that affects the scrolling behavior. The different browsers have really different behavior:

IE10: Hopeless! Keeps scrolling for 1-2 seconds after the swiping movement stopped.
Firefox 22: A little delay, but much better than IE. Doesn't handle quick swipes.
Chrome 28: Most responsive behavior of the three browsers. But still can't handle quick swipes.

Settings: Accelerate Scrolling is OFF.
OS: Windows 7

/Arne

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@pickaxe: Ctrl-Alt-Tab for 4-finger swipe is precisely the way it had been implemented in the Trackpad++ version 2.3d, however this was available for Windows 7 only. Please let me explain why. In Windows 8, Microsoft invented a new ****: 'Alt' key cannot be sent programmatically unless A)the code is signed, B)special manifest is prepared and C)file is placed in certain folder. And while B,C are not the problem in general, A is.

@arneevertsson: I do not have the video, but according to what you wrote, the scroll behavior is wrong in your system, not the way it's designed to work with Trackpad++. (For me at least) it naturally follows the finger speed and, 100%, handles any finger speed. Just imagine how many people would complain having the same behavior. This topic would contain mostly the scroll discussion in such case. OK, but what happens if you enable accelerated scrolling? Also, please make sure you do not have any scrolling enhancement software installed, especially WizMouse or its siblings, or different smooth scrolling plugins for browsers. For instance, when using Logitech mouse, smooth scrolling addon is installed in IE ==> wrong behavior could appear.

 

[Flavour]

Hey Vlad, still having troubles with the watermark. I've done a clean install of Windows, but I just can't get rid of it. I've just got Power Plan Assistant installed at the moment. I followed the installation instructions perfectly and I've tried using the test mode remover fix you posted but it doesn't seem to work. I can either choose between having the watermark stuck there, or switching test mode off with command prompt and getting the ppa driver error on every boot.

I understand if you have your reasons, but can you get the drivers signed or something? I'd really love to keep using Trackpad++


Test Mode
Windows 8 Pro
Build 9200

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@Flavour: In 99.9% this is done automatically by Power Plan Assistant. Otherwise, I think this topic would contain solely the Test Mode text removal discussions One important thing to know that the whole issue, even if it occurs in 0.01% of cases, is purely the aesthetics-related thing.

Please make sure your locale setting and format setting (both from the Windows regional settings) are identical before running the fix. Even better, set both to "English (United States)", and the fix will work, guaranteed. To restate:
Region / Format : English (United States)
Region / Administrative : System Locale (language for non unicode programs): English (United States)

Then, please re-run the fix as administrator! If after reboot no effect, run again as administrator (i.e. right-click the file and choose 'Run as administrator...').

Finally, please note that for Windows 7 and 8 there are two separate fixes, make sure to use the one that has Windows 8 in its name (if you are on Windows 8).

 

[Flavour]

Hey Vlad, thanks for the reply! Unfortunately, still no luck. I changed both region settings (Format and System Locale) to English (United States), ran the fix as administrator and restarted many times and it's still stuck there. I've got the Windows 8 fix. The exe opens and closes very quickly. By spamming it open I think it says "could not detect locale for removing watermark. Tried en-US and en-US". I've definitely got both region settings as English (United States) and did restart after changing the System Locale. Not sure why it doesn't want to work :S

Another slight hitch I ran into was I initially couldn't chose v2.3d when installing TP++. An error message saying
"Trackpad++ Control Module Initializer has stopped working"
showed and it would close. It worked when I chose 2.4b. After running the installer again, 2.3d worked. Probably not related but I thought I should mention it.

Appreciate all your help with this. It'd be great to figure this watermark bug out!

 

[kenhsu1025]

Can not connect to powerplan7.com

Hello, Vladimir

I like to use the trackpad ++ software.
But I can not link to powerplan7.com.
I dont know why... maybe my IP is blocked by the service provide?

I use Google Chrome and IE.
When I use Chrome, the web page error code = 'ERR_CONNECTION_RESET'.

Please help <(_ _)>

Ken

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@kenhsu1025: I think you should contact your internet provider and ask why the website (which works for the rest of the world) is not working from your location.

 

[kenhsu1025]

@kenhsu1025: Strange... Anyways, you can search in Google for 'Trackpad++ at FileCluster.com' (this is the new official mirror) and download from there. I think you should contact your internet provider and ask why the website (which works for the rest of the world) is not working from your location.

Thank you! Vladimir. I have download Trackpad ++ from the mirror site.

Trackpad ++ is great tools for me.

3 fingers dragging is very useful !

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@kenhsu1025: Thanks for the feedback! Good to know you really like the 3-finger dragging feature. You know, I have put a lot of work to make it working in Boot Camp... It's in fact one of the most complex gestures of the Trackpad++ (I am talking about the programming complexity).