Enable 4 Finger Gestures on early 2008 Multi-touch MBP with 10.5.7 update

adkiller · May 15, 2009

Hi,

I've noticed that there were some attempts to re-use the older 10.5.6 AppleUSBMultitouch.kext with the 10.5.7 updated installs. Though it works, I'm not sure if there are side effects to doing that, though it has been reported to work.

I have come up with easier way of updating the 10.5.7 AppleUSBMultitouch.kext to support 4 finger gestures without having to use the older kext or perform any kext replacement. Here is how:

WARNING: This mod is only applicable to the 2008 Penryn MBPs that were released just prior to the unibody models. Please make sure to follow these steps exactly! Read all the steps before performing any of them!

Download the attached Info.plist.txt file into your home folder.
Open Terminal and cd into your home folder. Like this:
Code:
```
cd ~/
```
Check to see if you have the Info.plist.txt in your home folder. Like this:
Code:
```
ls -l Info.plist.txt
```
Please repeat all the above steps again, if you see the this:
Code:
```
ls: Info.plist.txt: No such file or directory
```
In the subsequent step you will be requested to enter your password to complete some of the commands. Please keep your password ready and enter it when requested!

Execute the following commands one line at a time in Terminal:

Code:

mv Info.plist.txt Info.plist
sudo cp Info.plist /System/Library/Extensions/AppleUSBMultitouch.kext/Contents
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext

Reboot your MBP.

After rebooting your MBP, the multi-touch gestures should work. If it doesn't work please post your problem in this thread.

If you were to do a diff between the Info.plist attached here against the one in your MBP (before you replace it ofcourse), you'll be able to see what the changes are to enable 4 finger gestures support. These changes could also be applied to future 10.5.x updates to enable 4 finger gesture support.

firstname · May 22, 2009

I had to repair permissions to get this working (on a MBP)

kosmac · May 22, 2009

Hey guys it's my first post here and I have a question for the 4 finger on 10.5.7...I bought my macbook pro new on May of 2008...can I enable 4 finger on it??If will not work what will happen??I will loose my trackpad??
Thanks in advance

kosmac · May 23, 2009

kosmac said:
Hey guys it's my first post here and I have a question for the 4 finger on 10.5.7...I bought my macbook pro new on May of 2008...can I enable 4 finger on it??If will not work what will happen??I will loose my trackpad??
Thanks in advance

NOBODY???

spinnerlys · May 23, 2009

kosmac said:
NOBODY???

The first post should answer your question, if your Mac is able to do it.

Just try, what the poster suggested. And if it does not work, you can always make a backup of the edited .kext file.

And if all hell breaks loose, there is always the option of a fresh install.

You can also use MRoogle for more topics on that issue.

kosmac · May 23, 2009

Thanks but I am just confused with the terms "early" , "late" , penryn macbook pro e.t.c...so I bought mine new on May 2008...so I guess it belongs to the 2008 Penryn MBPs that were released just prior to the unibody models or not??

MrZebra · May 23, 2009

yes, but if you're still in doubt you can check your model in the system profiler, your mbp should read 4,1.

kosmac · May 23, 2009

It's 4.1...so I will try later to do that...any suggestions if something will go wrong??

MrZebra · May 23, 2009

kosmac said:
It's 4.1...so I will try later to do that...any suggestions if something will go wrong??

I suggest you doing a backup before trying to modify the kext file for the trackpad, and it something goes wrong you can always restore via time machine.

bristleworm · May 23, 2009

For some reason this doesn't work on mine.

kosmac · May 23, 2009

bristleworm said:
For some reason this doesn't work on mine.

and what happened?you had any problems?you lost your trackpad and had to reinstall os??or just didn't work?

I just tried and nothing changed...even after repairing permissions (like firstname says above).Pitty...and I would like to get this feature back like I had iy on 10.5.6...
The good thing is that nothing bad happened to computer with those "dangerous" sudo commands...

bristleworm · May 23, 2009

kosmac said:
and what happened?you had any problems?you lost your trackpad and had to reinstall os??or just didn't work?

I just tried and nothing changed...even after repairing permissions (like firstname says above).Pitty...and I would like to get this feature back like I had iy on 10.5.6...
The good thing is that nothing bad happened to computer with those "dangerous" sudo commands...

I had exactly the same problem. Nothing changed even with repaired permissions.
I then decided to be brave and used the old .kext file that worked with 10.5.6 and after repairing permissions and rebooting I had the four finger gestures working again.

kosmac · May 23, 2009

bristleworm said:
I had exactly the same problem. Nothing changed even with repaired permissions.
I then decided to be brave and used the old .kext file that worked with 10.5.6 and after repairing permissions and rebooting I had the four finger gestures working again.

u think I should also go for it??I really want it...

SUCCESS!!!OLD METHOD WORKED!!!

adkiller · May 26, 2009

To everyone here who have tried it on their Penryn MBP, did you execute this command?

Code:

sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext

Without the above command it just wont work. The updated configuration in the kext won't load if the Extensions.mkext was not deleted. You must complete step 7 as well for it to finally take effect.

I have tried the step I've provided on 3 different Penryn MBPs (none of which I own) and it worked flawlessly.

-Ad

kosmac · May 27, 2009

adkiller said:
To everyone here who have tried it on their Penryn MBP, did you execute this command?

Code:

sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext

Without the above command it just wont work. The updated configuration in the kext won't load if the Extensions.mkext was not deleted. You must complete step 7 as well for it to finally take effect.

I have tried the step I've provided on 3 different Penryn MBPs (none of which I own) and it worked flawlessly.

-Ad

I tell u that...I tried this method and NOTHING happened...then I said what the @@@@...I will try the old method!!!and WORKED!!!

shahrukhan60 · May 27, 2009

Could you..

Could you please post what version of trackpad is this applicable to? The reason I ask is because although I bought my MBP in late 2007, the trackpad and keyboard have been replaced since and I was wondering if they used a different board (such as the one for 2008 - as they look the same). I think it would be more useful to quote what version etc etc. of trackpad this is applicable to. If somebody other than the programmer is trying to help here's what you do: If this worked for you, go to APPLE on top left corner>click About this Mac>Click More Info> Go to USB and copy paste your Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad info

Thank you

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Enable 4 Finger Gestures on early 2008 Multi-touch MBP with 10.5.7 update

adkiller

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