No haptic feedback on MacBook Pro 2018

[jedisct1]

Hi,

For some reason, there is no haptic feedback on MacBook Pro (tested on the 15" version).

HapticKey correctly detects key strokes, as visual and sound notifications work as expected, but there is no haptic feedback no matter what the intensity is.

Is there anything I could provide in order to diagnose this issue?

[STRML]

Can reproduce as well on a 2018.

[niw]

I don’t have MacBook Pro 2018 yet, and couldn’t test it yet.
@jedisct1, Is your MacBook Pro also 2018 model?
Sorry, I didn't read issue title properly, I see yours is also MacBook Pro 2018.

Also do you mind to capture a debug log from the application for future investigation?

1. Quit HapticKey.
2. Open Applications/Utilities/Console.app.
3. Select Action in main menu, then select Include Debug Messages.
4. Select your device on left pane, then type Process:HapticKey in top right search field.
5. Start HapticKey.
6. Tap Touch Bar.

Then, I think this will put bunch of logs in Console.
So, could you copy and paste them into text file and attach this issue?

Thank you!

[STRML]

Logs are here (https://hastebin.com/idafudeyus.bash). These errors print when I press anything on the bar:

error 14:09:45.264236 -0500 HapticKey Fail to MTActuatorCreateFromDeviceID
error 14:09:45.264266 -0500 HapticKey The actuator is not opend yet.
error 14:09:45.266203 -0500 HapticKey Fail to MTActuatorCreateFromDeviceID
error 14:09:45.266247 -0500 HapticKey The actuator is not opend yet.

[niw]

Hmm, looks like the device ID for the haptic engine has been changed on MacBook Pro 2018. Since the device ID is fixed value found by using IORegistryExplorer.app on MacBook Pro 2017 and this works with the one out 2016 as well. So, probably I need some help to find new device ID on MacBook Pro 2018.

[STRML]

The value is 0x300000080500000

[niw]

@STRML Thank you, I've built a new binary with given device ID. If you don't mind, could you test this?
HapticKey.app.zip

[STRML]

Rebuilt myself by changing out the app ID -- it works. Haptic feedback seems very weak, though. At "Weak" it's imperceptible, and at "Strong" it still is pretty subtle.

[niw]

That is good news, thank you! And, I see... so the actuation IDs are also changed. These are also fixed values.

[STRML]

I tried that out. Appears to be the same, actually. 6 was the strongest, but not that strong. Unsure if the force touch is just weaker on this model.

Here is the output from MultitouchSupport: https://hastebin.com/otilowiyem.xml

[niw]

@STRML I see, actuation ID 6 has biggest base amplitude, so it might be the strongest one in the preset. I think there is an API to manually define these waves but didn’t research much yet.

So, I think the minimum solution, for now for this issue, is to use right device ID per MacBook Pro model instead of using fixed value.

[JMY1000]

Same here, thought it was just me. Happy to help if you want anything.

[niw]

It’s kind of critical issue. but, I think the approach is clear now.
Just I need actual hardware to test it.

[niw]

I made a branch support_macbook_pro_2018 for testing MacBook Pro 2018.

Pre-build binary for testing is here ー HapticKey.app-20180727173226.zip

I don’t have MacBook Pro 2018 so I can’t test this, but if someone could help me to test this on your device, that would be really helpful.

Thank you!

[Palisand]

Works for me. MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2018 running High Sierra. It is a bit faint though, even when set to Strong.

[JMY1000]

@niw Works for me too.

[niw]

Could anyone try it on MacBook Pro 15-inches ...?

@Palisand Thank you! Looks like that’s known issue, probably because of hardware changes etc, but I want to address that issue in separated work, will create a separate issue.

@JMY1000 Thank you!

[takashiyoshida]

@niw I tried it on my MacBook Pro 15" 2018 and it works. 👍

[niw]

@takashiyoshida Thank you!!

I’ll publish new version soon!! Thank you so much for debugging and testing for all. Really appreciated.

[niw]

Fixed on 500ecdf.
Released HapticKey 0.4.5.

Again, thank you so much for all!

[niw]

Filed #24 for weak haptic feedback on MacBook Pro 2018.