Possible to use pencil eraser to scroll without pressing middle button? [SOLVED!]

[wrybread]

I bought my girlfriend a T530 to replace her old Macbook, and she loves it *except* when she has to use the touchpad to scroll. Personally I'm mostly used to its quirks but compared to a Macbook its pretty heinously clunky.

I know the pencil eraser can scroll if I press the middle button simultaneously, but that's a pretty rough contortion, and she doesn't use the pencil eraser for anything else. So I was wondering, is there some way to make it control scrolling without having to simultaneously press that middle button?

If it matters we're using Win7, are are comfortable with Auto Hot Key and the like.

Thanks for any help.

[kfzhu1229]

Pencil eraser? You mean that red dot in between G, H and B key? That is called TRACKPOINT. For how TrackPoint work since in 1997 that ThinkPad 770 introduced the scroll button, the scroll button must be pressed to scroll and at some applications it does not work for some reason, especially on older Ultranav (That's IBM/Lenovo's terminology for TrackPoint + Touchpad) versions. Well in Windows I guess she can either get used with the touchpad scroll, navigation keys scroll (up, down, pgup, pgdn, home, end), or get her a expensive gesture mouse (basically a much more enhanced version of Touchpad).
Also for what you mean by touchpad scrolling, doesn't apple do the same thing? If you are talking about two-finger scrolling instead of touchpad edge scrolling, as long as you have the right driver it will do. It even works on my T43 just I don't remember how I got the right driver.

[wrybread]

> doesn't apple do the same thing?

Yes, but scrolling on the Macbook touchpad works infinitely better. It doesn't randomly stop scrolling before you want it to, or suddenly jump to the bottom of the page, or occasionally require you to press really hard.

I don't mind dealing with the touchpad's quirks, especially since I otherwise love the T530, and I've used its sequels and know what a truly horribly a touchpad can be... but its a dealbreaker for some people.

And yes I know that the usual use of the trackpoint is to press the center button to make it scroll, but I'm trying to find a workaround that makes it scroll without doing so since, again, that's a dealbreaker to some people.

[kfzhu1229]

> doesn't apple do the same thing?

Yes, but scrolling on the Macbook touchpad works infinitely better. It doesn't randomly stop scrolling before you want it to, or suddenly jump to the bottom of the page, or occasionally require you to press really hard.

I don't mind dealing with the touchpad's quirks, especially since I otherwise love the T530, and I've used its sequels and know what a truly horribly a touchpad can be... but its a dealbreaker for some people.

And yes I know that the usual use of the trackpoint is to press the center button to make it scroll, but I'm trying to find a workaround that makes it scroll without doing so since, again, that's a dealbreaker to some people.

FYI, if you want the best scrolling, go get a Surface. Touchscreen always works better than touchpads in terms of scrolling.
ThinkPads stayed away from touchpads before T30, R50 and X200. I guess it will be the same as how your girlfriend is feeling right now if I move away from the business class laptops which I will miss the trackpoint so much that I will buy a ThinkPad USB keyboard with trackpoint.
I dug through the settings on my T43 and T530i and found out you don't have that settings unfortunately.
What specifications do you have for that T530? If you have the regular HD screen, go replace it with FHD IPS.
I think you should also get used to the audio quality as well. It is not the worst, but definitely a lot worse than my T43 and 100% no match with A3x and 600.
Also tell her to get used with the trackpoint as well because it is wayy faster than touchpads, especially when you want to move the mouse from one side to the opposite or if you switch from keyboard to mouse very frequently.

[wrybread]

I still hate win10, and besides I think a MacBook or iPad would be a better choice for her than a surface. But still, this is so close. I and she love the screen and audio and everything else, even the touchpad, it's just that flaky scrolling behavior.

[kfzhu1229]

I still hate win10, and besides I think a MacBook or iPad would be a better choice for her than a surface. But still, this is so close. I and she love the screen and audio and everything else, even the touchpad, it's just that flaky scrolling behavior.

I was pretty fine with the LCD as well when I first got my T530i (a mislead model: this one has the Nvidia graphics as well as the Intel graphics). But that is until I got a UXGA screen for my T43. I could still withstand the 1366*768 TFT screen until I got IPS UXGA screen for my T43 and IDTech IPS UXGA for my A30. Since then I felt it is an irony for me to have such a computer more than 10 years newer than my A30 yet has a worse LCD.
Anyways, long story short, if your gf was using a Macbook Pro with Retina display, GET HER THE 1080P IPS!! If she was using the iBook/original MacBook or MacBook Air, she is likely to be fine with the LCD. Also for T530 it is nice that the display is plug and play, unlike my A30 and T43 where you need to replace the LCD cable as well.
What CPU and RAM do you have in that T530? I had the very base model with 2ND GENERATION i3-2328M (This machine is supposed to support 3rd gen) and 2GB RAM in Windows 7 x64 WAS HORRIBLE!! My T43 runs Windows 10 x86 faster than that!! x86 solved everything for that T530i in the case of little 2G RAM. Then I put 16GB RAM and Windows 7, 8x, and 10 x64 runs fine.

[wrybread]

Good tip on the RAM. I've been getting them from a seller on ebay with the 1600 x 900 display, looks really sharp. Also has the i5 processor with 8 gigs of RAM. I made a single image (dual boot Win7 and Ubuntu, both configured with love) and just install it on every new T530 I get. I'm up to 5 of them at this point, they're just such great machines and for under $300 on ebay why buy anything else.

I've been using Thinkpads for awhile now, can't remember what I started with, then a T30, then various T40's, then various T41's, and this is by far my favorite yet.

[wrybread]

(oops, deleting the duplicate post)

[rkawakami]

I know the pencil eraser can scroll if I press the middle button simultaneously, but that's a pretty rough contortion, and she doesn't use the pencil eraser for anything else. So I was wondering, is there some way to make it control scrolling without having to simultaneously press that middle button?

I'm not exactly sure if this will work for your girlfriend but if you drill down into the Mouse Properties/UltraNav tab/Trackpoint Settings and enable the Press-to-Select option, you can then "quick press" or "tap" on top of the trackpoint and that would be equivalent to a left button click. How does this help with scrolling? Move the mouse pointer into the scroll bar and tap the trackpoint. Yes, I know that this is not much different than simply pressing the left mouse button in the same area but you asked for a method that doesn't rely on simultaneous mouse movement with button pushing. However, there's another option located in the same TrackPoint Properties window as Press-to-Select that might work for you/her. It sounds like the "Choose Scrolling or Magnifying Glass Function" is set to Standard. Change it to Neither and click OK. You can then middle click ONCE in the target area or a window and the mouse pointer should change to an Up/Down circle. Moving the mouse pointer up will scroll up; moving down scrolls down. Press the middle button once again and the scrolling indicator will disappear. As a side benefit (?) to this mouse change, you can now middle click any browser link and it will launch in its own tab.

[wrybread]

Aha I think I got it! For anyone else that needs it:

- go to Control Panel -> Mouse -> Ultranav

- make sure "Enable Trackpoint" is checked

- then in the Trackpoint area check "Use Advanced Features Only"

If you don't see that feature, you might have to update your version of UltraNav? Mine (as seen in Control Panel -> Programs and Features) is v16.2.19.14.

Working great under Win7. If anyone can't get it to work, feel free to post and I'll send more info about the driver version, etc.

[kfzhu1229]

Im using 16.2.19.7 ultranav version in Windows 10 and i do not have the option to use advanced features only... I don't really care but it is something to mention about

[wrybread]

Interesting. Where do you see what version of Ultranav you have?

And on a sidenote, when looking for the verison number, I found that disabling "edge motion scrolling" in the UltraNav advanced properties greatly improves two finger scrolling with the touchpad.

[kfzhu1229]

Programs and features in control panel
Also edgemotion is for the older touchpads/drivers that do not support two finger scrolling

[wrybread]

> Programs and features in control panel

Aha, mine is version 16.2.19.14.

> Also edgemotion is for the older touchpads/drivers that do not support two finger scrolling

I don't think so. Mine very clearly has a checkbox for "edge motion" in the area that configures "two fingered scrolling". And unchecking it clearly stops it from scrolling when your fingers are at the edge of the touchpad.

[kfzhu1229]

I mean edgemotion is designed for the old touchpads that do not support multitouch. It is still kept but i don't think you need that function anymore

[wrybread]

> i don't think you need that function anymore

Not sure what you mean exactly. The parameter does have an effect: if enabled, and my fingers are at the bottom of the touchpad, scrolling continues. If unchecked and I reach the bottom of the touchpad, scrolling stops.

But anyway, I don't think the feature works very well, and unchecking it has fixed a lot of the quirks I was experiencing.