Better Support For The Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II With Linux 5.19

The Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II is a standalone keyboard that mimics the traditional ThinkPad notebook's keyboard that comes complete with an integrated TrackPoint. With the Linux 5.19 kernel will be better support for this standalone ThinkPad keyboard.

The ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II interfaces via Bluetooth or a Wireless Nano USB Dongle. Like most keyboards, it does support regular HID operation so it can work "just fine" on Linux and other platforms without special drivers. However, there is also a "native mode" of operation and that is what will be supported with the next Linux kernel version.

The native mode for the ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II disables the inadequate middle mouse button scrolling emulation and instead reports middle button events and scrolling via a custom report ID. The hid-lenovo Linux driver has been extended to handle this native mode with proper functional button mapping and native scrolling.

This patch to hid-lenovo with the proper/native ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II support is in the HID subsystem's for-next branch making it material for the Linux 5.19 merge window opening up in a few weeks.

The ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II currently retails for about $90 USD.