Open Input Framework

How can I get the device node for my Dell XT2/HP tx2/Lenovo T410s multi-touch device?

Asked by Duncan McGreggor

Run the following command:

  $ sudo lsinput

If you have N-trig hardware and are using the community-maintained open source driver, you may see three devices:

 * N-trig Pen
 * N-trig Touchscreen
 * N-trig Multitouch

Here is example output (other devices removed):
[...]
/dev/input/event9
   bustype : BUS_USB
   vendor : 0x1b96
   product : 0x1
   version : 272
   name : "N-Trig Pen"
   phys : "usb-0000:00:1d.1-2/input1"
   uniq : ""
   bits ev : EV_SYN EV_KEY EV_ABS EV_MSC

/dev/input/event10
   bustype : BUS_USB
   vendor : 0x1b96
   product : 0x1
   version : 272
   name : "N-Trig MultiTouch"
   phys : "usb-0000:00:1d.1-2/input1"
   uniq : ""
   bits ev : EV_SYN EV_KEY EV_ABS EV_MSC

/dev/input/event11
   bustype : BUS_USB
   vendor : 0x1b96
   product : 0x1
   version : 272
   name : "N-Trig Touchscreen"
   phys : "usb-0000:00:1d.1-2/input1"
   uniq : ""
   bits ev : EV_SYN EV_KEY EV_ABS EV_MSC
[...]

You will want the device node associated with "N-trig Multitouch", in this case, /dev/input/event10.

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Duncan McGreggor
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Duncan McGreggor (oubiwann) said : 		#1

Duncan McGreggor suggests this article as an answer to your question:
FAQ #1257: “How can I get the device node for my multi-touch device?”.

Revision history for this message
Henrik Rydberg (rydberg) said : 		#2

One can also read /proc/bus/input/devices, which lists much of the same information as lsinput. Example:
[code]
grep -A6 -i multitouch /proc/bus/input/devices | grep H:
[/code]

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Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab) said : 		#3

Apple devices (Magic Mouse, Magic TrackPad) don't have the "Multitouch" string in their output of the above commands so this doesn't work.

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Duncan McGreggor (oubiwann) said : 		#4

Fabián, indeed -- thanks. I've updated the title to reflect the supported devices this answer describes. Perhaps Henrik's comment is helpful?

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Fabián Rodríguez (magicfab) said : 		#5

Duncan you had also mentioned:
The following shell snippet may be useful to you:
  grep -i "multitouch" /sys/class/input/event*/device/name | cut -f 5 -d /event5

but that command does not work. Perhaps open a new question about the problem it would solve ?