script to set synaptics configuration for Thinkpad T440p

touchpadconf.sh

#!/bin/sh

# this script sets some parameters to get a useable configuration
# these changes are not persistent, you may want to include this in your autostart

# 1 finger = left click, 2 finger = right click, 3 finger = middle click 
synclient TapButton2=3
synclient TapButton3=2
synclient ClickFinger2=3
synclient ClickFinger3=2

# enable horizontal two-finger scrolling (vertical is enabled by default)
synclient HorizTwoFingerScroll=1

# disable the top edge of the touchpad to prevent jittering when using the trackpoint
synclient AreaTopEdge=2500

# configure trackpoint buttons
synclient RightButtonAreaLeft=3700
synclient RightButtonAreaRight=0
synclient RightButtonAreaTop=0
synclient RightButtonAreaBottom=2300
synclient MiddleButtonAreaLeft=2900
synclient MiddleButtonAreaRight=3500
synclient MiddleButtonAreaTop=0
synclient MiddleButtonAreaBottom=2300

Instead of creating a start script, it's better to store this in a config file for X11.

For example in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf (this is for Archlinux, the path might be slighty different for ubuntu.

Here is the translated content:

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "touchpad"
    Driver "synaptics"
    MatchIsTouchpad "on"
      #1 finger = left click, 2 finger = right click, 3 finger = middle click 
      Option "TapButton2"   "3"
      Option "TapButton3"   "2"
      Option "ClickFinger2" "3"
      Option "ClickFinger3" "2"

      # enable horizontal two-finger scrolling (vertical is enabled by default)
      Option "HorizTwoFingerScroll" "1"

      # disable the top edge of the touchpad to prevent jittering when using the trackpoint
      Option "AreaTopEdge" "2500"

      # configure trackpoint buttons
      Option "RightButtonAreaLeft"    "3700"
      Option "RightButtonAreaRight"   "0"
      Option "RightButtonAreaTop"     "0"
      Option "RightButtonAreaBottom"  "2300"
      Option "MiddleButtonAreaLeft"   "2900"
      Option "MiddleButtonAreaRight"  "3500"
      Option "MiddleButtonAreaTop"    "0"
      Option "MiddleButtonAreaBottom" "2300"

EndSection

Thanks so much for that... this touchpad was driving me nuts!

thanks for this tfg13.

if you just use the script and get an "integer parameter out of range" error, you may need to move the MiddleButtonAreaRight directive about the MiddleButtonAreaLeft directive.

If you want to disable the touchpad for cursor movement (if you only use the nub mouse), but keep the click buttons and right edge scrolling, add:
synclient AreaLeftEdge=4826 (or whatever the value of RightEdge is as shown by synclient -l)

I've been using

      Option "MiddleButtonAreaLeft"   "2900"
      Option "MiddleButtonAreaRight"  "3500"

over a year now. However, I've just experienced the out or range error for some reason, as mentioned by @bbraybrook . I can confirm that if I change the swap those two lines, the error goes away.