linux-docs

thinkpadz13-haptic-linux-install

Building the Lenovo OEM driver for ThinkPad Z-series ELAN Haptic Pad functionality in Linux desktop OS

a Lenovo ThinkPad Z-series laptop (Z13 Gen 1 / Z16 Gen 1) running Ubuntu 20.04 or later, Fedora 37, or compatible derivative (for our example, I will be using Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS)
sudo or administrator privileges
an internet connection

The “ELAN Haptic Pad Settings Tool” relies upon several Qt toolkit dependencies for rendering the GUI application itself, as follows per Lenovo’s documentation:
- qt5-default
- qtbase5-dev
- qt5-make
As of Ubuntu 21.04 and later, qt5-default does not exist in the apt repositories, however you can work around this by installing the following packages with sudo apt install:
- qt5-make
- qtbase5-dev
- qtbase5-dev-tools
- qt-chooser
The above 4 dependencies will compile and install the necessary libraries and binaries to proceed with building our application in lieu of the qt5-default package.

Download the source code in “.zip” archive format from the Lenovo Support website
Locate the downloaded .zip archive in your Downloads folder (or default download location)
Create a temp directory for the build operation, copy the .zip archive inside of the temp directory, and then change directories into the temp (for our example, I will create a “.tmp” folder in my home directory:) mkdir ~/.tmp && cp ~/Downloads/n3gg601w.zip ~/.tmp && cd ~/.tmp
Unzip the .zip archive into its own folder: unzip n3gg601w.zip
Change directories into the unzipped folder: cd N3GG601W
Inside of this folder will be another .zip archive; unzip into its own folder: unzip ehps-install-V-1-3.zip (your version number may differ; at time of writing, version 1.3 is the latest available)
Change directories into the newly unzipped folder: cd ehps-install

Inside the “ehps-install” directory, assign executable permissions to install.sh with the following command: chmod +x install.sh
Run the installer script with sudo permissions: sudo ./install.sh
If successful, you should see the following output:
Elan Hapticpad Settings Install Install Completed.
Search your launcher or applications menu for “ELAN HapticPad Settings” and launch the application, entering your password when prompted
With the application now open, verify you can toggle and change the settings per your preference:
- Toggle haptic feedback / adjust sensitivity using slider
- Adjust force for haptic “click”
- Toggle top TrackPoint buttons
- Adjust force for TrackPoint “click”
The settings are immediately applied in the device firmware; close the application when done.

Mark “MarkRHPearson” Pearson; Senior Software Engineer / Linux Developer, Lenovo; responsible for overseeing and testing the development of the ELAN HapticPad Settings application, and other Linux-facing integrations with Lenovo hardware.
r/thinkpad; subreddit community dedicated to the love and education surrounding IBM / Lenovo ThinkPad devices
r/linuxonthinkpad & r/linuxonthinkpads; subreddit communities dedicated to the spread of information and education related to running Linux on ThinkPad hardware

This application uses the “Qt” toolkit, as opposed to the more common “GTK” toolkit used in the default GNOME desktop environments found in stock Ubuntu and Fedora; you may notice the application will not respect your preferrend Theme appearance (Light / Dark mode) as a result. This is by design. You may have better luck utilizing the KDE desktop or using Kubuntu or the Fedora KDE spin.
This driver is designed solely for Lenovo ThinkPad devices utilizing the ELAN HapticPad technology; at the time of writing, only two devices support this application: Z13 Gen 1, and Z16 Gen 1. I will neither troubleshoot nor be held responsible for complaints regarding this application not working on devices outside of the current two Z-series models.
If in doubt, please reference the MIT License.