Take the 2-minute tour ×

My Specs:

  • HP Envy 15 2012
  • Processor: Intel core i7 2760QM 2.2 ghz multi-thread capabilities, quadcore.
  • Graphics: Intel HD 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 7690M
  • RAM: 8gb DDR3
  • Default resolution: 1920 x 1080
  • On Windows 7, there are 3 "zooms" with each resolution, 100%, 150%, and 200% small, medium, and large respectively.
  • My audio is "Beats" audio.

Now, I have SO many issues with this computer and with Linux especially. On Gnome shell and KDE, I was unable to change my resolution to 1366 x 768 (normal for 15.6 inch screens like mine). I cannot use the default 1080 hd resolution because it makes everything look small and it really hurts my eyes. This is the biggest problem for me.

I had to drop my Arch Linux installation :( and come back to ubuntu's unity because the option is available.

I'm actually very impressed with 12.04 But, outside of the screen resolution, Ubuntu seems to inherit all of Arch's issues. Pulseaudio always crashes on log out. Ocassionally, Lightdm does not work properly as I am unable to log in. So, I ctrl + alt + f2 and dpkg-configure lightdm and then switch to gdm, and once i switch back to lightdm all is good. Next, sound is an absolute nightmare. If I try to change my volume, it almost never changes, will freeze whatever is trying to use sound, and crashes everything before actually adjusting the sound. Adobe Flash is once again garbage too. I believe that there is nothing to do but have false hope in Adobe :(

The Ubuntu Splash rarely works during boot-up and will just show a black screen. I changed the splash, but to no avail.

Finally, I have a Mac-styled touchpad. The way it is made, is like a hybrid of the Mac touchpad and physical buttons.

In the picture below, you can see the line separate the "physical" region where you are able to left and right click as normal on other laptops. On windows, the touchpad is properly recognized. However, on Linux, the touchpad is seen as a whole. In other words, if I am moving my cursor and try to click below that line, then the cursor will move because I touched another spot on the touchpad. That is incorrect behavior and completely breaks my workflow.

enter image description here

Can someone please tell me what to do? I am prepared to file a bunch of bug reports and cooperate if necessary. I actually really like Ubuntu 12.04 and really wish I was able to use it. :(

share|improve this question
This is extremely scary... I ordered my HP Envy 15t-3200 on the 6th from the HP custom store, and will be getting it tomorrow. Though I noticed in the HP store, the lowest configuration for this system has a 1366x768 screen. Why didn't you just save your money and get that screen? I upgraded to 1920x1080 and it was not that cheap. Though I need a high resolution like that... –  Dean Howell Jun 20 '12 at 19:27
add comment

1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

To fix the pulseaudio freezing, and freezing on login, do this:

  1. open /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
  2. add this to the bottom of the file: blacklist snd-usb-audio

Hybrid Graphics:

Clickpad right-click:

The file "enable-rightbutton.sh" will allow you to right-click from the right side of the clickpad. I added the following to the bash script in order to reduce the sensitivity of the clickpad:

synclient HorizHysteresis=50
synclient VertHysteresis=50

I am using the HP ENVY 15-3040. It's a little different from what you are running, but most of these should work for you. Cheers!

share|improve this answer
You solved everything, but it seems that the lack of multitouch is a synaptics driver problem. -_- –  Blah Aug 28 '12 at 20:25
add comment

Your Answer


