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[Bryan <1026046@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ok - since there has been little to no developer progress on this bug
for a long time, I have tried to muck through the synaptics driver
source code on my own to track this problem down. I tried the patch
suggested by Charlie but it did not really help. It ignored a finger on
the touchpad button if it was the *second* finger to hit the pad, but
the problem remained if it was the first finger down. I have made an
adjustment that effectively fixes the problem on my touchpad - fingers
outside the active area are ignored no matter the order in which they
touch the pad. I will post my modified driver source here in the hopes
that it will fix the issue for other users as well.

I have to say that the synaptics driver is a complete mess of spaghetti
code (I found GOTO statements. That's right... GOTO statements!). I am
very far from actually "understanding" the driver - I only decrypted
enough to make this modification. The one side effect that I am aware of
that results from my change is that you cannot right-click using the
right soft button if you have other fingers on the touchpad already. You
either need to two-finger click or remove the other fingers before right
clicking. Other than that everything else works, including two-finger
scrolling (onggie's suggestion sacrifices this). I do not use tap-to-
click since it drives me crazy, so I have not tested this.

To apply this fix you need to replace your installed xorg synaptics
driver. I will try to walk you through this here. First, you need to
figure out where your driver is installed. Different distributions put
it in different places. If you use Debian, the driver will be installed
to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules/input" and the extra stuff will be in other
places in /usr. Some ditros put components in /usr/local/..., so you
need to figure this out. I suggest using your package manager to locate
the xorg synaptics driver and look at the installed files - this will
tell you where they are hiding.

Next, download and extract the archive I have attached. Open a terminal
to the extracted directory. You need to run ./configure next, but you
must pass it the installation prefix so when you install the driver it
goes to the correct place for your distro. In Debian, run "./configure
--prefix=/usr". If your distro stores the driver in /usr/local, then use
this as the prefix instead.

Next, run "make" and ensure that it builds without error (you will
probably need some dev packages installed). Then run "sudo make
install". Now, you need to set the AreaBottomEdge option for the driver
to define the region you want to ignore fingers in. I suggest running
"synclient" and find the value you have for the option
RightButtonAreaTop. Use the same value for AreaBottomEdge. This will
make sure that the button region and the "active" regions butt up
against each other but do not overlap. When you know what value you want
to use, open the file "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-synaptics.conf" and add
the option value to there (create this file if it does not exist). My
conf file looks like this:

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier                      "Trackpad"
        MatchIsTouchpad                 "on"
        Driver                          "synaptics"

        Option  "TapButton1"            "1"
        Option  "TapButton2"            "2"
        Option  "TapButton3"            "3"

        #Uncomment the followings to scroll with your thumb
        #Option  "EmulateTwoFingerMinZ"  "70"
        #Option  "EmulateTwoFingerMinW"  "0"

        Option  "VertTwoFingerScroll"   "1"
        Option  "HorizTwoFingerScroll"  "0"

        #Let finger rest
        Option "AreaBottomEdge"         "1822"
EndSection

Finally, you will need to reboot for the new driver to be loaded
(unloading and re-loading the psmouse module does not do the trick - not
sure why not). When you reboot, hopefully your clickpad woes will be
over. Best of luck!

** Attachment added: "xserver-xorg-input-synaptics_1.8.1.hacked.tar.gz"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics/+bug/1026046/+attachment/4262107/+files/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics_1.8.1.hacked.tar.gz

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1026046

Title:
  Missing support for thumb resting on bottom of clickpad

Status in xf86-input-synaptics:
  Unknown
Status in “xserver-xorg-input-synaptics” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in “xserver-xorg-input-synaptics” source package in Precise:
  Confirmed
Status in “xserver-xorg-input-synaptics” package in Debian:
  New

Bug description:
  When using the trackpad on the MacBook Pro In Mac OS X it is possible to have the thumb resting (ready to click) on the bottom part of the touchpad while moving the mouse pointer around with your index or middle finger. 
  Likewise it is also possible to use two finger scrolling with the index and middle finger on the upper part on the track pad while resting the thumb on the lower part of the trackpad.

  This behaviour is not currently supported with the synaptics driver in
  12.04. It wil register a two finger scroll when the thumb is resting
  in the bottom part and index finger moves around in the upper part.

  I have tried playing aroud with the setting AreaBottomEdge that
  disables all motion on the bottom part of the touchpad. Unfortunately
  when this setting is enabled it still detects a finger in the area, so
  it wil register a two finger scroll like before.

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