[SOLVED] Elan PS/2 Touchpad Driver for XP

[RainyShadow]

Ok, finally we're talking, lol.

Could you pick one of those working drivers and try to install it on both XP and Win8?

If the settings don't work on Win8 too, then try the next driver.

[Dave-H]

57 minutes ago, RainyShadow said:

Ok, finally we're talking, lol.

Could you pick one of those working drivers and try to install it on both XP and Win8?

If the settings don't work on Win8 too, then try the next driver.

That's already been tried, the drivers don't work on Windows 8.1 either.
They perform exactly the same as they do on XP, the touchpad works, but there is no way to change its settings.
I'm still convinced that the problem is not related to the operating system, it's related to the hardware.
There just doesn't seem to be an Elan driver that works with this hardware, the only driver that does is the Asus Smart Gesture one, which cannot be made to work on XP.
The latest Elan drivers may well work with it too of course, but they won't work on XP either.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Dave-H
Quote added as reply appeared on a new page

[RainyShadow]

eps2.7z

This is just the driver from SmartGesture_Win10_32_VER4012

It seems to be a filter for the generic PS/2 driver.

Looks like XP has all imports it needs.

Use the .bat file to install, then import the .reg file (you may want to backup the original value first).

Originally they use ATP_Reg.exe to modify the registry, but that doesn't run in XP.

 

If this driver runs fine, you should be able to import your settings from Win8. Install the full package there.

Edited April 16, 2020 by RainyShadow
added link

[Dave-H]

Thanks.
I had already tried transplanting the whole Smart Gesture installation from 8.1 to XP, but it didn't work.
I'll give this a try though, you never know!

Update:
OK, it installed fine as usual, but the touchpad is dead.
Device Manager now says it's an "Asus Touchpad" but it's showing error 39 "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing."
So, I guess AsusTP.sys won't work on XP. Its parameters in CFF Explorer are 6/2, 6/2, 6/1, so if that is to be believed it won't work on anything less than Windows 8.
I can try editing them, but I very much doubt if it will make any difference.
This is pretty much what I got when I tried it before.

Edited April 15, 2020 by Dave-H
Addition

[RainyShadow]

@Dave-H Try to edit it in CFF Explorer.

Did you add "atp" as upper filter? (using the .reg file, or manually)

[Dave-H]

OK, I will reinstall it and try that.

However, I have had a major breakthrough with Windows 8.1, I've finally found an Elan driver that works with it!

It's version 15.14.4.1, the latest version I've ever tried.
It didn't install at all (although it said that it had) when I tried it normally, but forcing an install in Device Manager from the INF file actually worked, despite a warning from the driver that it wasn't designed for my hardware!
The mouse is now an "Elan Input Touchpad".
There is no control panel icon in the Windows Control Panel, but it can be accessed from the "Elan" tab on the Mouse Properties.
The device is shown there as an "Elan Smart-Pad", which proves that the "Standard PS/2 Mouse" shown in the same place in XP means that the device had not been identified correctly.
At least now I have an equivalent working driver in 8.1 to compare with what's happening in XP.

Sadly there is of course no chance in hell of that driver actually working in XP.

[Dave-H]

Now I've got a bit of a problem!
I tried installing 10.5.2.0 on XP using the INF file from 15.14.4.1, just to see what happened.
The same thing happened, it looked as if it installed but nothing changed, even after a reboot.
Then I did the same as I did on 8.1 and tried installing through Device Manager.
I was offered the Elan Input Device driver, and it installed as it had done on 8.1, after the compatibility warning.
I rebooted, and the keyboard had completely stopped working!
So now I'm completely stuck, as I can't put my password in, even in Safe Mode, so I can't get into Windows XP at all!

Any suggestions gratefully received!

[Dave-H]

OK, panic over!
I restored the XP registry using ERUNT in 8.1, and the keyboard came back to life.
That program has saved my bacon so many times!

I won't be trying that again!

As an aside, my first attempt at recovery was to boot with the XP install disk, and do a System Restore from the repair options.
Unfortunately, once the setup program had loaded all the files, and passed to the "Starting Windows" phase, it went to a BSOD (7B, inaccessible boot device).
Ah ha I thought, that's because it needs the AHCI driver, and it will work if I change the SATA controller back to IDE.
No, it still BSOD'd even in IDE mode.
That's rather worrying, as it means I can't boot from the XP setup disk if I ever need to, but that's a problem for another thread!

[RainyShadow]

^^^ WTF, dude?!

 

Anyways...

eps2.7z

Modded the .sys file, fixed the .reg file, added backup function to install.bat (may fail due to regional settings).

I'm done here.

 

/OT

@dencorso

Any clue why my allowed attachment size shrinks more and more? Is there a fixed amount for all my posts?

And, is there some sort of file browser where i can see all my previous attachments and remove the old ones?

Ignore that, i found it, sorry.

https://msfn.org/board/attachments/

Edited April 16, 2020 by RainyShadow
ot

[jaclaz]

18 hours ago, Dave-H said:

So now I'm completely stuck, as I can't put my password in, even in Safe Mode, so I can't get into Windows XP at all!

Any suggestions gratefully received!

Only as a side note, with a USB mouse you should be able to invoke the OSK (on screen keyboard) on the login screen.

jaclaz

Edited April 16, 2020 by jaclaz
Brain fart, see below

[Dave-H]

@RainyShadow

Thanks for the new test file.
The install batch file tries to make a folder called "16/04/2020" which fails as "/" can't be used in a folder name.
Was that what you meant by "may fail due to regional settings"? I guess some date formats don't contain slashes.
I've manually backed up that registry key anyway.

I tried installing your modified version of the Asus driver,
The touchpad is still working as before, and now says it's an "Asus Touchpad" in Device Manager, using AsusTP.sys.
However, there still seems to be no way of changing any settings on it.
The Dell control panel appears to work, but doesn't actually change the behaviour, and the changes are not remembered.

@jaclaz

I wasn't even aware that there was an on screen keyboard on Windows XP!
How to you actually invoke it, I can't see any obvious option on the login screen?
You can invoke it from the "Ease of Access" button on the 8.1 login screen, but there seems to be no equivalent on XP.

 

[jaclaz]

6 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

 

@jaclaz

I wasn't even aware that there was an on screen keyboard on Windows XP!
How to you actually invoke it, I can't see any obvious option on the login screen?
You can invoke it from the "Ease of Access" button on the 8.1 login screen, but there seems to be no equivalent on XP.

 

I am getting older and forgetful  , it is not there in a default install of XP "automatically", you need to invoke it using "Windows+U" (if the keyboard works "enough" for that) so not really possible in your case,

 Otherwise you need to set it up to run it in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Cu rrentVersion\Winlogon\System

Which again doesn't apply if you cannot log in, maybe from the other 8.1 install in your case.

Forget about it, a senile moment.

What could work might be an external USB keyboard.

jaclaz

 

[Dave-H]

Don't worry, I get those "moments" all the time!
My next line of attack had the registry restore not worked would have been to try a USB keyboard, I do have an ancient one tucked away.
I probably should have tried that first in fact!
I suspect what happened, as the keyboard and the touchpad are both PS/2, was that the PS/2 system somehow got completely disabled by my attempt to install the touchpad driver with a much later INF file.

Anyway, where do we go from here?
I am very grateful indeed for the contributions of @RainyShadow, but I can't see how getting the Asus driver file to install is going to help the fundamental problem of the non-availability of any settings.
It will work of course with the Asus Smart Gesture software, but I see no prospect of getting any version of that working on XP.

It is a help surely to finally have a working Elan driver on 8.1?

[jaclaz]

Well, if the Asus driver works, it has to be seen the structure of Registry settings you have on 8.1, replicate them on XP and see if the driver "catches" them.

In the case of Elantech, all in all it seems to me like the results of the (many) experiments lead to believe that:

1) one thing is changing the settings (using the ELAN "mouse" tab or the Dell touchpad)
and another is:

2) have the driver "read" these settings, which seemingly happen in both cases ONLY by having running in the background the ETDctrl.EXE

No idea whether the Asus driver is "self-standing" or needs as well a background running service.

jaclaz

Note for later:

Being optimistic , I still believe that *somehow* it is possible to have a FrankenInstall of the Elantech drivers picking and editing (carefully) bits and pieces from various versions, point revolves more around what amount of editing/patching/esperimenting is needed.

Edited April 16, 2020 by jaclaz

[Dave-H]

Thanks for the optimism!
Just for the record, the Dell control panel works fine in 8.1 to change the settings of the Elan driver, and they are remembered.
ETDCtrl.exe and its helper program are running in the background.

I'm not sure about copying the registry settings from 8.1 to XP as they stand, as at the moment I'm using the Elan driver on 8.1, not the Asus one.
I think that would only be a valid test if I was still using the Asus Smart Gesture driver on 8.1, surely the Elan driver registry structure is likely to be completely different to the Asus one?