Synaptics trackpad will not switch off

I have a Dell m1210. While overall support for the hardware has been excellent, I cannot turn off the trackpad, even with a mouse attached. The synaptics utility on the toolbar says that it is turning the trackpad off and on, but in fact, the trackpad continues to work irregardless. For some reason, Dell does not include a hardware switch for this purpose. Possibly, something is wrong with the synaptics utility. I am currently using mepis 6.5 with all the latest packages (ie, rc2). I would be happy to submit debug information if anyone is interested.

Thanks,
Bryan