Touchpad not working and not detected when I run 'xinput list', on Ubuntu 20.04

Question

I was typing a text when my touchpad stopped working. After surfing on the web to try to fix the error, I ran

xinput list

and here is the output :

⎡ Virtual core pointer                      id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech USB Optical Mouse                id=10   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                     id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Video Bus                                 id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=8    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Sleep Button                              id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ HD Webcam: HD Webcam                      id=11   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard              id=12   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ MSI WMI hotkeys                           id=13   [slave  keyboard (3)]

My touchpad seems to be not detected as it does not appear in the output.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Two possibilities:

1. Something physically wrong with touchpad, e.g., a connector unpluged due to vibration, or water got into it.
2. Software issues, e.g., a missing or bad driver, or the device was disabled.

In your xinput list output, there is no entry for a touchpad, e.g.,

SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=12 [slave pointer (2)]

• To see if that device is connected, create a Live Ubuntu Flash USB Stick and boot from it. Run xinput list and see if the touchpad shows. * If the touchpad is not in the list, the issue is likely in hardware, and you should check for loose connections or a bad touchpad.
• If the touchpad is present in the list, the issue is likely in software, so note the touchpad make and model. Then reboot from the HDD or SSD and try reinstalling the drivers shown using Terminal or the Syanaptic Package Manager.