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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > MBA Mouse clicks not registering?

MBA Mouse clicks not registering?
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Paco500
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Apr 22, 2013, 04:20 AM
 
I've got a weird one with my son's MBA (2008), running Mountain Lion. It's not recognizing mouse clicks from either trackpad or external Magic Mouse. This is happening from boot- normal boot, safe boot and booting into tools menu.

He was playing minecraft when it went out and nothing I've tried since has got it back- basically lots of reboots and reseting NVRAM and SMC.

I don't have a wired USB mouse to test that with at home, and I don't have an external USB drive with enough space to create a mountain lion rescue disk at them moment- at least not one I'm milling to mess with (backup drives). I'll pick up an 8GB thumb drive later and give that a try however.

Any thoughts appreciated- likely a trip to the genius bar, but that's best avoided- closest one is an hour away.
     
P
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Apr 22, 2013, 05:30 AM
 
Have you tried making a fresh user account? Actually my best guess is that the mouse button in the trackpad is stuck "down" for some reason, but that's not likely something you can fix yourself, and a new user account is about the only thing I can think of that might fix it.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Paco500  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 06:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
Have you tried making a fresh user account? Actually my best guess is that the mouse button in the trackpad is stuck "down" for some reason, but that's not likely something you can fix yourself, and a new user account is about the only thing I can think of that might fix it.
The trackpad button being stuck is an intersting idea. I haven't made a new user account for two reasons- 1) Can't navigate enough of the UI without being able to click and 2) As the problem pops up before login and in the safe/tools mode, I don't think it's an account issue.

I'll try clicking the trackpad button with some savagery to see if anything comes unstuck.
     
dxtr
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Apr 23, 2013, 03:58 PM
 
Hi,

"2) As the problem pops up before login and in the safe/tools mode, I don't think it's an account issue."

If it is booting into "Safe Mode" then the Shift key is stuck. With the addition of the internal track pad not registering button presses it sounds like liquid is involved.... you need a wired mouse for the quick test...

good luck.
     
Paco500  (op)
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Apr 23, 2013, 09:19 PM
 
Thanks for the tips- it's not booting into safe mode on its own- I did that in an attempt to diagnose /fix the issue. Will be trying a clean install of OS tomorrow, but please keep ideas coming.
     
dxtr
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Apr 23, 2013, 10:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by Paco500 View Post
Thanks for the tips- it's not booting into safe mode on its own- I did that in an attempt to diagnose /fix the issue. Will be trying a clean install of OS tomorrow, but please keep ideas coming.
Sorry I misunderstood the boot sequence...

I would Boot from an external drive and if that works then the OS reinstall.

You might also want to reseat the internal track pad connection. It connects to what is called the IPD Board and be very careful as the connection is delicate...The button connector is the brownish cable last on the right looking down at the logic board after the battery is removed... Careful with the battery to. All dependent on having a pentalobe driver and a trilobe driver available. Look on iFixit.com for directions.

good luck!
     
Paco500  (op)
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Apr 24, 2013, 05:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by dxtr View Post
Sorry I misunderstood the boot sequence...

I would Boot from an external drive and if that works then the OS reinstall.

You might also want to reseat the internal track pad connection. It connects to what is called the IPD Board and be very careful as the connection is delicate...The button connector is the brownish cable last on the right looking down at the logic board after the battery is removed... Careful with the battery to. All dependent on having a pentalobe driver and a trilobe driver available. Look on iFixit.com for directions.

good luck!
Thanks- will give it a go.
     
LukeLid
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Apr 26, 2013, 06:47 PM
 
I've had the exact same thing happen to by brother's computer. I've yet to fix it. I'm hoping it's not the hardware.
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Paco500  (op)
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Apr 30, 2013, 02:23 PM
 
Update- I've booted from a Mountain Lion rescue/install USB drive- same. It's hardware.

I'll get to the apple store when I get some time to get it looked at. Apple has already swapped the screen, case, 3 logic boards and a battery on this thing (battery was the only one I paid for). It's been a problem child.
     
   
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