IT IS SCARY YET EASY TO DO, DON'T BE SCARED MY CHILD
try this if neither of the previous ideas of this thread worked:
In a terminal enter :
xinput
you should get something looking like this :
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad id=14 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ MOSART Semi. 2.4G Wireless Mouse id=10 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Sleep Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ USB Camera id=11 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Asus WMI hotkeys id=12 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=13 [slave keyboard (3)]
Even though it is scary, it is actually very easy to understand; now locate your touchpad, mine here is called is called "ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad" (on the third line).
now, once you've done this enter :
xinput --list-props "whatever your touchpad is called"
for instance mine would be
nathan@linux-engine:~$ xinput --list-props "ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad"
Once you've done this, Lotta lines should appear, for me it is :
Device 'ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad':
Device Enabled (135): 1
Coordinate Transformation Matrix (137): 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000
Device Accel Profile (263): 1
Device Accel Constant Deceleration (264): 2.500000
Device Accel Adaptive Deceleration (265): 1.000000
Device Accel Velocity Scaling (266): 12.500000
Synaptics Edges (288): 123, 2974, 114, 2005
Synaptics Finger (289): 1, 1, 0
Synaptics Tap Time (290): 180
Synaptics Tap Move (291): 165
Synaptics Tap Durations (292): 180, 180, 100
Synaptics ClickPad (293): 1
Synaptics Middle Button Timeout (294): 0
Synaptics Two-Finger Pressure (295): 282
Synaptics Two-Finger Width (296): 7
Synaptics Scrolling Distance (297): 75, 75
Synaptics Edge Scrolling (298): 0, 0, 0
Synaptics Two-Finger Scrolling (299): 1, 1
Synaptics Move Speed (300): 1.000000, 1.750000, 0.053305, 0.000000
Synaptics Off (301): 0
Synaptics Locked Drags (302): 0
Synaptics Locked Drags Timeout (303): 5000
Synaptics Tap Action (304): 2, 3, 0, 0, 1, 3, 0
Synaptics Click Action (305): 1, 3, 0
Synaptics Circular Scrolling (306): 0
Synaptics Circular Scrolling Distance (307): 0.100000
Synaptics Circular Scrolling Trigger (308): 0
Synaptics Circular Pad (309): 0
Synaptics Palm Detection (310): 0
Synaptics Palm Dimensions (311): 10, 200
Synaptics Coasting Speed (312): 20.000000, 50.000000
Synaptics Pressure Motion (313): 30, 160
Synaptics Pressure Motion Factor (314): 1.000000, 1.000000
Synaptics Resolution Detect (315): 1
Synaptics Grab Event Device (316): 1
Synaptics Gestures (317): 1
Synaptics Capabilities (318): 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1
Synaptics Pad Resolution (319): 32, 31
Synaptics Area (320): 0, 0, 0, 0
Synaptics Soft Button Areas (321): 1548, 0, 1737, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
Synaptics Noise Cancellation (322): 18, 18
Device Product ID (255): 2, 14
Device Node (256): "/dev/input/event5"
But it is alwright! If you look carefully you should be able to find the a line saying "two fingers scrolling". for instance, mine is at Synaptics Two finger scrolling (299). If the values in that line are something else than 1, 1 then BINGO here are the problem ! just type :
xinput --set-prop "touchpad name" "scrolling option" 1 1
mine is
nathan@linux-engine:~$ xinput --set-prop "ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad" "Synaptics Two-Finger Scrolling" 1 1.
it should be working now :)
You'll have to this everytime you restart your computer though !
Now it is time to automatized that everytime you wake up your computer :
In your home folder (or wherever you want) make a file named as you wish. it should contain
#! bash
xinput (the command) ...
Then in the search for an application name startup applications and press "ADD". Name it as you wish and write in the command Field bash /your/file/path. example. It is done, forever :D !!!
Best Answer
I started having this problem after upgrading from 12.04 to 14.04. Tried purging / reinstalling xserver-xorg-input-synaptics, but the problem persisted. I decided to browse the available packages in Synaptic Package Manager, and found this:
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics-lts-trustyI installed it alongside the other ("generic") package. Hopefully this fixes the issue.