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gsynaptics gives you a nice little GUI in gnome to control the options on your synaptics touchpad, like the one my T61p came with. It’s easy to set up on a default debian install, you just need to add a few stanazas to your xorg.conf

Here’s the edits I needed from a default install xorg.conf:

1. Make a backup of your current xorg.conf
2. Remove the “Generic Mouse” section. You don’t need it anymore.
3. Add a section for your touchpad like so:
   

   Section "InputDevice"
  Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
  Driver "synaptics"
  Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
  Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
  Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
  Option "SHMConfig" "true"
EndSection

4. And add a line in your “ServerLayout” section referencing your new synaptics section. I didn’t have a ServerLayout section so I had to add one, mine looks like this:
   

   Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier "Default Layout"
  Screen "Default Screen"
  InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
  InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection


Now save everything you’re doing and then restart X11 by hitting cntrl-alt-backspace. If X won’t start back up, you can hit cntrl-alt-f1 and log in at a command prompt, restore your xorg.conf from the backup you made earlier, then run /etc/init.d/gdm restart.

In the event that things just aren’t working, your friend is /var/log/Xorg.0.log. That log file contains the results of your x-server’s parsing of your xorg.conf.

CapsLock… who needs it?  If you’ve got a CapsLock problem, there is help.  Otherwise, if you happen to be an vi addict, then swapping CapsLock with ESC is pretty awesome since that Meta key is only rivaled by the space bar in terms of key presses per second.

Nowdays, a default Debian install with Gnome comes with a gnome-control-center capplet for gnome-keyboard-properties. If you go System->Preferences->Keyboard->Layouts->Layout Options->CapsLock Key behavior->”Swap ESC and CapsLock” then your ESC and CapsLock are swapped. More or less. I found a few problems with this on my T61p.

• The little Thinkpad CapsLock LED does not do the swap.  It will toggle as you hit your new Meta (ESC) key, not your new CapsLock key.
• Hibernation:  Depending on what combo of ESC and CapsLock are set when you initiate hibernation, when you come out of hibernation they can be in an inconsistent state.  The only GUI solution I’ve found to this is to reset my Keyboard Layout Options to the defaults, and then do the “Swap ESC and CapsLock” GUI chain again.  (No, I haven’t tracked this bug down and filed a report… I suspect it’s somehow unique to Thinkpads.)

Old skool to the rescue… Xmodmap.

Edit (create if non-existent) your ~/.Xmodmap file as follows:

! Swap Caps_Lock and Escape.
! see man xmodmap

remove Lock = Caps_Lock
keycode 0×9 = Caps_Lock
keycode 0×42 = Escape
add Lock = Caps_Lock

And restart your X session. Bam. The above two issues are solved.

Fun times figuring this out…. AFAIK, this will work for the whole HP Photosmart 2570 series. I’ve got a Photosmart 2575.

First, set up your Photosmart 2575 to print over the network. This is (relatively) simple… install the debian package hplip, then use the gnome Applications->System Tools->Printers GUI to go from there. Or… use the cmd line to get there.

A default debian lenny installation with the joy that is OpenOffice will come with xsane installed. Applications->Graphics->Xsane. Try it… it will fail to find your HP Photosmart.

You have issue #2. To fix this, you need your printer’s IP address, which there are several ways to get. One way: navigate your favorite browser to http://localhost:631 to access your CUPS admin page (creepy, huh? your laptop is running a http server? surprise!). Find your Photosmart 2570 series printer under ‘Manage Printers’, its IP address will be listed there.

Now, using a terminal, run xsane with the following argument:

xsane hpaio:/net/Photosmart_2570_series?ip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of your Photosmart 2570 series printer on your local network. Xsane should be able to find your HP Photosmart now. Enjoy….!