Ubuntu (Gnome?) system settings

[alienmindtrick]

Several of my system settings revert to their defaults no sooner than I click the 'Close' button after setting them.  One in particular, the Touchpad Sensitivity setting does this constantly, setting itself for higher sensitivity regardless of what I choose for it.  Also, I've changed several passwords only to have them revert to the former password.  I've looked everywhere I could think of in user forums but can't find anything about these settings.  They change themselves often enough that I've dug my Windows CD out in order to dump Ubuntu and go back to Windows, but decided to try to get an answer here first.  This isn't just annoying, it limits my productivity because between any two functions, I have to constantly reset the touchpad, or try to remember what password was used prior to change. 
Thank you for your help.

I'm using Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

[alienmindtrick]

A temporary solution that I've found is to open Touchpad in System > Preferences, set it to my desired setting and to leave it open.  It's not an elegant solution, but it does work. 

amt

[alienmindtrick]

As it turns out, this isn't as good a solution as I'd originally thought.  Even with the touchpad preferences utility open, the pressure required to click is anything but steady; one time it responds to an average tap, the next you have to barely breathe on it to operate it.  I've tried every setting and combination of settings that I can think of.  I desperately need help with this.  What used to take 1 click to do now can take up to a full minute to find the right pressure to operate the touchpad.  Even Windows was better than THIS.

[joe12]

hey ,

try Linux mint !

[alienmindtrick]

As I dig deeper into this, I've discovered that there seems to be 2 conflicting utilities which control the touchpad - Mouse preferences and Touchpad preferences.  I've found that if I open both of these in, say, workspace 4, and leave them open, I can get some functionality improvement with the touchpad. (This is a Toshiba laptop and uses Synaptic?)  However, each has a set of controls for sensitivity and acceleration.  Both influence the behavior of the touchpad. 
Could this be a source of the problem or am I just a clueless noob?  (I'm perfectly happy to be told yes if there's an answer that will fix the issue!    )

[joe12]

hi,

try removing Mouse preferences !

[alienmindtrick]

Hey, thanks, Joe.  I looked in Synaptic Package Manager for 'Mouse Preferences', but can't find it.  Soooo....how do I remove it?  (Told ya I was a noob...) 

[alienmindtrick]

Yesterday, I upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 (yeah, I missed it on 10.10.10...).  I notice that the touchpad utility isn't included in System > Preferences, but Mouse preferences is still there.  So far, I've had no problems with the touchpad. 
While I have no evidence to support my thought, while using Lucid Lynx and having had to open both Mouse Preferences and Touchpad Preferences simultaneously and leave them open while I used my laptop - and occasionally readjust one or the other - I believe that the two utilities were conflicted causing my touchpad to act oddly.

I have high hopes for Maverick Meerkat, but I'm keeping my Computer Fine-Adjustment Hammer close by, just in case.