Hide Touchpad on unsupported hardware

[andirsun]

What Happened

My device is a mac mini 2014 with a mouse and keyboard, but the mouse section are showing a touchpad configuration without having one.

Expected Behavior

hide the touchpad section.

Steps to Reproduce

Logs

Platform Information

[elsiehupp]

I have kind of the inverse issue. My Logitech K830 keyboard/touchpad combo is recognized as a mouse rather than a touchpad, and the mouse preferences apply to it while the touchpad preferences do nothing. The fact that the touchpad preferences were present but nonfunctional was initially confusing for me.

If a computer has only a mouse or only a touchpad connected, it could make sense to show both but have the inapplicable one grayed out. (Or, if you click on an inapplicable item, all the options could be grayed out, and there could be a notice at the top of the screen saying “No Mouse Connected” or “No Touchpad Connected”.)

Though IMHO the best option here would be for each attached HID device to appear as its own item on the lefthand side, with its name and the relevant icon, and each attached HID device could be individually configurable. I say this because someone might very well have multiple similar devices connected to the same computer, for example if a computer has both a desk monitor and a tv or projector, and the user has both desktop HID devices and “living room” HID devices attached to it at the same time. In this situation it could make sense to put certain keyboard settings in the same switchboard plug as the mouse/touchpad settings, for example configurable shortcut keys. And maybe graphics-tablet preferences could be here, as well, especially considering some graphics tablets also function as mouse or trackpad inputs. Also having each connected HID device appear with its name and an icon would make it easier to diagnose erratic behavior. This sort of approach could facilitate incorporating manufacturer-specific settings [1][2], as well.

Though I digress… Basically IMHO having a one-size-fits-all approach to mouses and trackpads seems inherently problematic.