[SOLVED] Elan PS/2 Touchpad Driver for XP

[Dave-H]

OK, now back working as before, with rather less clutter in the Elantech folder!
Settings still not being saved over a reboot.
Only ETDCtrl.exe is now running, as ETDIntelligent.exe isn't present any more of course.
ETDCtrlHelper.exe still throwing the same error when run manually.

[Dave-H]

Just to confirm, the registry settings are reverting to their defaults even if I just log off and back on again, I don't have to actually reboot.

[jaclaz]

I checked several versions before, most have that call:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-unregisterpowersettingnotification

which is seemingly Vista and later. (in User32.dll).

Unless I am mistaken, the first (last) ETDCtrlHelper.exe without that call is 10.0.0.7 in Z10590.

You can try it, in the worse case it won't work as well.

Rename the current  ETDCtrlHelper.exe to ETDCtrlHelper(11.0.0.7).exe, then try dropping the one from Z10590 in the directory (then logoff/login/reboot/etc.).

 

As a side note, it has to be undestood if the "defaults" correspond to Registry settings ( and what you change is volatile because it is not written to the Registry) or if they are *somehow*/*somewhere* hardcoded in some of the driver files.

   

jaclaz

[Dave-H]

OK, I tried that.
I don't have version 10.5.9.0 to hand, but the version in 10.0.5.4, which I do have, seems to be the same version of ETDCtrlHelper.exe (10.0.0.7) so I used that.
It's still not running, and seems to still have a missing dependency, this time "ChangeWindowMessageFilter".

[cc333]

Is it possible that ETDCtrlHelper.exe is somehow responsible for refreshing the settings at user login, and its not running is why settings aren't being remembered?

That being said, it would be interesting to see what happens once you get it working.

When running Win8.1 with the same/similar drivers that work, are settings forgotten as they are on XP after logout/reboot when this executable is intentionally disabled?  That might offer some clues....

c

Edited May 10, 2020 by cc333

[Dave-H]

That is the obvious assumption, yes.
That is a good thought, I will investigate to see if the same thing does happen on 8.1 if ETDCtrlHelper.exe isn't running.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Dave-H
Addition

[Dave-H]

Yes, good call @cc333!

I tried using 11.5.20.3 on 8.1, and if ETDCtrlHelper.exe is prevented from running, the settings are indeed lost.

[cc333]

Excellent!  So now all that needs to be done is to get some version of it running on XP, and it'll be good to go!

c

[Dave-H]

I do hope that's as simple as you make it sound!

I suspect that the problem will be finding a version which runs happily on XP, and interacts properly with the other files.

Just to update, on 8.1 disabling ETDCtrlHelper.exe and rebooting loses the custom settings, and re-enabling it and running it does not bring them back again, even after a reboot.
They have to be set up and saved again using the Asus control panel.

[Dave-H]

So sorry @cc333 and @jaclaz. This is really embarrassing, but I've now realised that all is not well on 8.1 with 11.5.20.3 either!

The settings are not actually being saved properly there either, they are reverting to the defaults on a restart exactly the same as they are on XP, even with ETDCtrlHelper.exe running!
I really don't know what's happening there, and I can't believe that I haven't noticed it until now.
If I change the settings and save them they are fine for the rest of that session, but when I reboot they have all reverted to the defaults, which is basically everything enabled.
I don't know if the fact that the behaviour is the same in 8.1 and XP is a help or not, but it certainly doesn't seem to depend on whether ETDCtrlHelper.exe is running or not!

[Dave-H]

Update.

I ran the 11.5.20.3 setup program on 8.1 (I installed via the INF previously).
This was without uninstalling first.
Now the settings are being saved properly over a reboot.

The obvious difference is that the Elan Service is now running, which wasn't before, which may be the key process for the proper saving of the settings, rather than ETDCtrlHelper.exe.

At least that explains why I hadn't noticed any problem with the settings being saved before, as up until recently, I had always installed using the setup (which won't run on XP of course!)

Edited May 10, 2020 by Dave-H
Addition

[cc333]

No worries!  I was just going based on your reported info at the time.

Can you figure a way to somehow run/install that service on XP?  Seems you're getting warmer w/rt this being a possible reason why settings aren't being saved across reboots.

By the way, is it morning over there?  Good morning, if so!

c

[jaclaz]

All the ETDCtrlHelper.exe's (including the one in the very early Z10052) do have a call to User32.dll "ChangeWindowMessageFilter" (while later ones after Z10590 have both that one and the one to "UnregisterPowerSettingNotification").

It is "queer" as at least Z10052 is "expressly" for XP.

Anyway, if - as it seems - the missing link is ETDService.exe instead, your next step is searching the Windows 8.1 Registry to find any reference to ETDService.exe.

When run on command line we have:
 

ETDService.exe
Parameters:
 -install  to install the service.
 -remove   to remove the service.
Service failed to run w/err 0x00000427

ETDService.exe -install
ETDService is installed.

And an entry in the Registry is made:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\ETDService

and:

ETDService.exe -remove
ETDService is removed.

the entry is removed allright.

It is absolutely possible that the Setup.exe (and not the .inf processing) runs ETDService.exe -install.

Check the 8.1 Registry.

Try installing the service in XP.

The text strings in ETDService.exe do connect it to ETDCtrl.exe:

Quote

ETDService.exe
00000000EAAC   00000040FEAC      0   65\Desktop\CB267\ETDService\Release\ETDService.pdb
00000000E1C5   00000040F5C5      0   \\.\ETD
00000000E204   00000040F604      0   ETDService
00000000E357   00000040F757      0   @Global\ETDCtrlReady
00000000E440   00000040F840      0   %ProgramFiles%\Elantech\ETDCtrl.exe
000000011428   000000415228      0   ETDService.exe
0000000114FC   0000004152FC      0   ETDService.exe
00000000EAAC   00000040FEAC      0   65\Desktop\CB267\ETDService\Release\ETDService.pdb
00000000E1C5   00000040F5C5      0   \\.\ETD
00000000E204   00000040F604      0   ETDService
00000000E357   00000040F757      0   @Global\ETDCtrlReady
00000000E440   00000040F840      0   %ProgramFiles%\Elantech\ETDCtrl.exe
000000011428   000000415228      0   ETDService.exe
0000000114FC   0000004152FC      0   ETDService.exe

jaclaz

[jaclaz]

@Dave-H

ONLY intended as "Malo nodo, malus quærendus cuneus"   try (it costs nothing) the two attachments (one at the time, of course).

To be filed under: half-@§§ed hacks

jaclaz

P.S.: let me know once you have downloaded them, so that I will remove the attachments.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2020 by jaclaz

[Dave-H]

I installed the ETD Service by running "ETDService.exe -install" at a command prompt, and the service is now installed and appears to be running fine.
Unfortunately the settings are still not being saved over a restart.

Maybe both ETDCtrlHelper and ETDService have to be running?

I will try those modified versions.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Dave-H
Typo