path: root/Documentation/input/alps.txt

ALPS Touchpad Protocol
----------------------

Introduction
------------
Currently the ALPS touchpad driver supports seven protocol versions in use by
ALPS touchpads, called versions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Since roughly mid-2010 several new ALPS touchpads have been released and
integrated into a variety of laptops and netbooks.  These new touchpads
have enough behavior differences that the alps_model_data definition
table, describing the properties of the different versions, is no longer
adequate.  The design choices were to re-define the alps_model_data
table, with the risk of regression testing existing devices, or isolate
the new devices outside of the alps_model_data table.  The latter design
choice was made.  The new touchpad signatures are named: "Rushmore",
"Pinnacle", and "Dolphin", which you will see in the alps.c code.
For the purposes of this document, this group of ALPS touchpads will
generically be called "new ALPS touchpads".

We experimented with probing the ACPI interface _HID (Hardware ID)/_CID
(Compatibility ID) definition as a way to uniquely identify the
different ALPS variants but there did not appear to be a 1:1 mapping.
In fact, it appeared to be an m:n mapping between the _HID and actual
hardware type.

Detection
---------

All ALPS touchpads should respond to the "E6 report" command sequence:
E8-E6-E6-E6-E9. An ALPS touchpad should respond with either 00-00-0A or
00-00-64 if no buttons are pressed. The bits 0-2 of the first byte will be 1s
if some buttons are pressed.

If the E6 report is successful, the touchpad model is identified using the "E7
report" sequence: E8-E7-E7-E7-E9. The response is the model signature and is
matched against known models in the alps_model_data_array.

For older touchpads supporting protocol versions 3 and 4, the E7 report
model signature is always 73-02-64. To differentiate between these
versions, the response from the "Enter Command Mode" sequence must be
inspected as described below.

The new ALPS touchpads have an E7 signature of 73-03-50 or 73-03-0A but
seem to be better differentiated by the EC Command Mode response.

Command Mode
------------

Protocol versions 3 and 4 have a command mode that is used to read and write
one-byte device registers in a 16-bit address space. The command sequence
EC-EC-EC-E9 places the device in command mode, and the device will respond
with 88-07 followed by a third byte. This third byte can be used to determine
whether the devices uses the version 3 or 4 protocol.

To exit command mode, PSMOUSE_CMD_SETSTREAM (EA) is sent to the touchpad.

While in command mode, register addresses can be set by first sending a
specific command, either EC for v3 devices or F5 for v4 devices. Then the
address is sent one nibble at a time, where each nibble is encoded as a
command with optional data. This encoding differs slightly between the v3 and
v4 protocols.

Once an address has been set, the addressed register can be read by sending
PSMOUSE_CMD_GETINFO (E9). The first two bytes of the response contains the
address of the register being read, and the third contains the value of the
register. Registers are written by writing the value one nibble at a time
using the same encoding used for addresses.

For the new ALPS touchpads, the EC command is used to enter command
mode. The response in the new ALPS touchpads is significantly different,
and more important in determining the behavior.  This code has been
separated from the original alps_model_data table and put in the
alps_identify function.  For example, there seem to be two hardware init
sequences for the "Dolphin" touchpads as determined by the second byte
of the EC response.

Packet Format
-------------

In the following tables, the following notation is used.

 CAPITALS = stick, miniscules = touchpad

?'s can have different meanings on different models, such as wheel rotation,
extra buttons, stick buttons on a dualpoint, etc.

PS/2 packet format
------------------

 byte 0:  0    0 YSGN XSGN    1    M    R    L
 byte 1: X7   X6   X5   X4   X3   X2   X1   X0
 byte 2: Y7   Y6   Y5   Y4   Y3   Y2   Y1   Y0

Note that the device never signals overflow condition.

For protocol version 2 devices when the trackpoint is used, and no fingers
are on the touchpad, the M R L bits signal the combined status of both the
pointingstick and touchpad buttons.

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 1
--------------------------------------

 byte 0:  1    0    0    0    1   x9   x8   x7
 byte 1:  0   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2   x1   x0
 byte 2:  0    ?    ?    l    r    ?  fin  ges
 byte 3:  0    ?    ?    ?    ?   y9   y8   y7
 byte 4:  0   y6   y5   y4   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 5:  0   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 2
---------------------------------------

 byte 0:  1    ?    ?    ?    1  PSM  PSR  PSL
 byte 1:  0   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2   x1   x0
 byte 2:  0  x10   x9   x8   x7    ?  fin  ges
 byte 3:  0   y9   y8   y7    1    M    R    L
 byte 4:  0   y6   y5   y4   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 5:  0   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0

Protocol Version 2 DualPoint devices send standard PS/2 mouse packets for
the DualPoint Stick. For non interleaved dualpoint devices the pointingstick
buttons get reported separately in the PSM, PSR and PSL bits.

Dualpoint device -- interleaved packet format
---------------------------------------------

 byte 0:    1    1    0    0    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2   x1   x0
 byte 2:    0  x10   x9   x8   x7    0  fin  ges
 byte 3:    0    0 YSGN XSGN    1    1    1    1
 byte 4:   X7   X6   X5   X4   X3   X2   X1   X0
 byte 5:   Y7   Y6   Y5   Y4   Y3   Y2   Y1   Y0
 byte 6:    0   y9   y8   y7    1    m    r    l
 byte 7:    0   y6   y5   y4   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 8:    0   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0

Devices which use the interleaving format normally send standard PS/2 mouse
packets for the DualPoint Stick + ALPS Absolute Mode packets for the
touchpad, switching to the interleaved packet format when both the stick and
the touchpad are used at the same time.

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 3
---------------------------------------

ALPS protocol version 3 has three different packet formats. The first two are
associated with touchpad events, and the third is associated with trackstick
events.

The first type is the touchpad position packet.

 byte 0:    1    ?   x1   x0    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0  x10   x9   x8   x7   x6   x5   x4
 byte 2:    0  y10   y9   y8   y7   y6   y5   y4
 byte 3:    0    M    R    L    1    m    r    l
 byte 4:    0   mt   x3   x2   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 5:    0   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0

Note that for some devices the trackstick buttons are reported in this packet,
and on others it is reported in the trackstick packets.

The second packet type contains bitmaps representing the x and y axes. In the
bitmaps a given bit is set if there is a finger covering that position on the
given axis. Thus the bitmap packet can be used for low-resolution multi-touch
data, although finger tracking is not possible.  This packet also encodes the
number of contacts (f1 and f0 in the table below).

 byte 0:    1    1   x1   x0    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0   x8   x7   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2
 byte 2:    0   y7   y6   y5   y4   y3   y2   y1
 byte 3:    0  y10   y9   y8    1    1    1    1
 byte 4:    0  x14  x13  x12  x11  x10   x9   y0
 byte 5:    0    1    ?    ?    ?    ?   f1   f0

This packet only appears after a position packet with the mt bit set, and
usually only appears when there are two or more contacts (although
occasionally it's seen with only a single contact).

The final v3 packet type is the trackstick packet.

 byte 0:    1    1   x7   y7    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2   x1   x0
 byte 2:    0   y6   y5   y4   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 3:    0    1    0    0    1    0    0    0
 byte 4:    0   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0    ?    ?
 byte 5:    0    0    1    1    1    1    1    1

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 4
---------------------------------------

Protocol version 4 has an 8-byte packet format.

 byte 0:    1    ?   x1   x0    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0  x10   x9   x8   x7   x6   x5   x4
 byte 2:    0  y10   y9   y8   y7   y6   y5   y4
 byte 3:    0    1   x3   x2   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 4:    0    ?    ?    ?    1    ?    r    l
 byte 5:    0   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0
 byte 6:    bitmap data (described below)
 byte 7:    bitmap data (described below)

The last two bytes represent a partial bitmap packet, with 3 full packets
required to construct a complete bitmap packet.  Once assembled, the 6-byte
bitmap packet has the following format:

 byte 0:    0    1   x7   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2
 byte 1:    0   x1   x0   y4   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 2:    0    0    ?  x14  x13  x12  x11  x10
 byte 3:    0   x9   x8   y9   y8   y7   y6   y5
 byte 4:    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0
 byte 5:    0    0    0    0    0    0    0  y10

There are several things worth noting here.

 1) In the bitmap data, bit 6 of byte 0 serves as a sync byte to
    identify the first fragment of a bitmap packet.

 2) The bitmaps represent the same data as in the v3 bitmap packets, although
    the packet layout is different.

 3) There doesn't seem to be a count of the contact points anywhere in the v4
    protocol packets. Deriving a count of contact points must be done by
    analyzing the bitmaps.

 4) There is a 3 to 1 ratio of position packets to bitmap packets. Therefore
    MT position can only be updated for every third ST position update, and
    the count of contact points can only be updated every third packet as
    well.

So far no v4 devices with tracksticks have been encountered.

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 5
---------------------------------------
This is basically Protocol Version 3 but with different logic for packet
decode.  It uses the same alps_process_touchpad_packet_v3 call with a
specialized decode_fields function pointer to correctly interpret the
packets.  This appears to only be used by the Dolphin devices.

For single-touch, the 6-byte packet format is:

 byte 0:    1    1    0    0    1    0    0    0
 byte 1:    0   x6   x5   x4   x3   x2   x1   x0
 byte 2:    0   y6   y5   y4   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 3:    0    M    R    L    1    m    r    l
 byte 4:   y10  y9   y8   y7  x10   x9   x8   x7
 byte 5:    0   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0

For mt, the format is:

 byte 0:    1    1    1    n3   1   n2   n1   x24
 byte 1:    1   y7   y6    y5  y4   y3   y2    y1
 byte 2:    ?   x2   x1   y12 y11  y10   y9    y8
 byte 3:    0  x23  x22   x21 x20  x19  x18   x17
 byte 4:    0   x9   x8    x7  x6   x5   x4    x3
 byte 5:    0  x16  x15   x14 x13  x12  x11   x10

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 6
---------------------------------------

For trackstick packet, the format is:

 byte 0:    1    1    1    1    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0   X6   X5   X4   X3   X2   X1   X0
 byte 2:    0   Y6   Y5   Y4   Y3   Y2   Y1   Y0
 byte 3:    ?   Y7   X7    ?    ?    M    R    L
 byte 4:   Z7   Z6   Z5   Z4   Z3   Z2   Z1   Z0
 byte 5:    0    1    1    1    1    1    1    1

For touchpad packet, the format is:

 byte 0:    1    1    1    1    1    1    1    1
 byte 1:    0    0    0    0   x3   x2   x1   x0
 byte 2:    0    0    0    0   y3   y2   y1   y0
 byte 3:    ?   x7   x6   x5   x4    ?    r    l
 byte 4:    ?   y7   y6   y5   y4    ?    ?    ?
 byte 5:   z7   z6   z5   z4   z3   z2   z1   z0

(v6 touchpad does not have middle button)

ALPS Absolute Mode - Protocol Version 7
---------------------------------------

For trackstick packet, the format is:

 byte 0:    0    1    0    0    1    0    0    0
 byte 1:    1    1    *    *    1    M    R    L
 byte 2:   X7    1   X5   X4   X3   X2   X1   X0
 byte 3:   Z6    1   Y6   X6    1   Y2   Y1   Y0
 byte 4:   Y7    0   Y5   Y4   Y3    1    1    0
 byte 5:  T&P    0   Z5   Z4   Z3   Z2   Z1   Z0

For touchpad packet, the format is:

         packet-fmt     b7     b6     b5     b4     b3     b2     b1     b0
 byte 0: TWO & MULTI     L      1      R      M      1   Y0-2   Y0-1   Y0-0
 byte 0: NEW             L      1   X1-5      1      1   Y0-2   Y0-1   Y0-0
 byte 1:             Y0-10   Y0-9   Y0-8   Y0-7   Y0-6   Y0-5   Y0-4   Y0-3
 byte 2:             X0-11      1  X0-10   X0-9   X0-8   X0-7   X0-6   X0-5
 byte 3:             X1-11      1   X0-4   X0-3      1   X0-2   X0-1   X0-0
 byte 4: TWO         X1-10    TWO   X1-9   X1-8   X1-7   X1-6   X1-5   X1-4
 byte 4: MULTI       X1-10    TWO   X1-9   X1-8   X1-7   X1-6   Y1-5      1
 byte 4: NEW         X1-10    TWO   X1-9   X1-8   X1-7   X1-6      0      0
 byte 5: TWO & NEW   Y1-10      0   Y1-9   Y1-8   Y1-7   Y1-6   Y1-5   Y1-4
 byte 5: MULTI       Y1-10      0   Y1-9   Y1-8   Y1-7   Y1-6    F-1    F-0

 L:         Left button
 R / M:     Non-clickpads: Right / Middle button
            Clickpads: When > 2 fingers are down, and some fingers
            are in the button area, then the 2 coordinates reported
            are for fingers outside the button area and these report
            extra fingers being present in the right / left button
            area. Note these fingers are not added to the F field!
            so if a TWO packet is received and R = 1 then there are
            3 fingers down, etc.
 TWO:       1: Two touches present, byte 0/4/5 are in TWO fmt
            0: If byte 4 bit 0 is 1, then byte 0/4/5 are in MULTI fmt
               otherwise byte 0 bit 4 must be set and byte 0/4/5 are
               in NEW fmt
 F:         Number of fingers - 3, 0 means 3 fingers, 1 means 4 ...