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b33faroni · Dec 10, 2005, 11:31 PM

Iv had my PB since July (its the new 12, running Tiger) and never had a problem like this until now. Randomly when im working or listening to itunes, the trackpad will freeze up and wont let me move the mouse for like 45 seconds, or barely move it, in which it then goes back to normal. It just started out of nowhere and happens about twice an hour or so, so you can see why it sucks. Im getting a BT mouse soon, but I dont want to leave my trackpad all screwed up, has anyone had this problem before and can suggest what to do or should I call up local (like an hour away) Apple store and make an appointment to see one of their people? Thanks for the help!

b33faroni · Dec 11, 2005, 06:24 PM

Anyone....?

mikey8270 · Dec 12, 2005, 02:56 AM

I'm having a similar problem, except it only happens when I wake my PowerBook up from sleep. Moving my finger around on the trackpad causes little to no effect on the mouse pointer. The last few times its happened I've found that pushing any button on the keyboard fixes the problem.

Hopefully that helps you too and Apple fixes this in some sort of software update.

evilernie · Dec 12, 2005, 03:01 PM

Add me to the list. I've had mine since February and never had any problems until about a month ago. The trackpad is sometimes erratic especially when waking. Very annoying. Putting my palm on the pad to recalibrate it fixes the problem for a little while, but I did not ever have to do that for the first 9 months or so. So why now? I don't know if anything has changed to cause the problem. Anyone know of any type of clear film to put on the Trackpad? Would that help?

mikey8270 · Dec 12, 2005, 05:33 PM

Yeah, the whole pushing a button on the keyboard remedy I posted earlier doesn't really work. I just thought it did a few times. But this is getting very annoying, if anybody knows how to fix it, please help us.

Thanks

b33faroni · Dec 12, 2005, 06:18 PM

at least im not the only one hah. I tried the whole palm thing on the trackpad and it fixed it for the time being, lets just see if it keeps it fixed... the mouse stuttered a couple mins ago but didnt freeze like it did. Im doing a mod to it soon too so I gota hold off on that until i find out if everything is fine with this

JoshuaZ · Dec 12, 2005, 08:06 PM

Me too. My 12in rev C powerbook has been having odd trackpad issues as well. Usually they go away after a minute, but it is odd. I just though it was an issue with iScroll, which I`ve been using.

Randman · Dec 12, 2005, 08:19 PM

If you don't have any third-party hacks, I'd consider backing up and taking it in for a look.

b33faroni · Dec 12, 2005, 11:17 PM

has it been recent for everyone? it only started for me since the last sec. update from apple...

Darthmaul4114 · Dec 12, 2005, 11:42 PM

yea mine just did that today. after ctrl-clicking it worked again, but i'll wait and see if it happens again before i take it in

b33faroni · Dec 12, 2005, 11:54 PM

yea im thinking its the update from apple...really dont feel like driving an hour to go to the store tho...hope someone finds a fix or apple realizes it

Darthmaul4114 · Dec 14, 2005, 08:16 AM

yea. it's been happening alot to me in the last few days. also, for some reason today my powerbook didn't sleep when i closed the lid and didn't notice until a few hours later when i came home....

b33faroni · Dec 14, 2005, 11:51 AM

Something really wrong is going on, is their an email for something like this to let apple know? Also is there a way to backtrack security updates? I think thats whats wrong at least with mine...but what do I know lol.

nila mu'hari · Dec 22, 2005, 05:14 AM

I have xactly the same issue with my 15" 1.67 PB 128MB VRAM right out of the Box (got it 6 month ago)...

Meanwhile an apple tech changed the trackpad twice, changed the mainboard once and i installed a complete new OS X twice and guess what ..!?

Nothing ! The problem is still here and never changed from 10.3.X to 10.4.x ...

Great Job apple !

great !

___ · Dec 23, 2005, 09:29 PM

Having the same issues too (12" PB). Just started recently and is totally random. The slowness is the two finger scroll being invoked. So far if you do a track pad reset (cover the whole trackpad with your palm for a few seconds) stops it temporarily. Lets hope 10.4.4 fixes this!

Bill Kinkle · Dec 24, 2005, 05:47 PM

Same thing here...whats the deal?

jdiddy · Dec 24, 2005, 07:22 PM

Same problem here comming out of sleep. Doesn't bother me too much, but it would be nice if there was an easy fix.

spiff72 · Jan 13, 2006, 05:46 PM

I feel the need to resurrect this thread - 10.4.4 doesn't fix the problem of the trackpad's erratic behavior when waking from sleep. Mine still moves very sluggishly for about 5-10 seconds then goes back to normal. I do get some strange scrolling behavior at random too, but it seems like it might be associated with resting the bottom of my hand on the metal between the bottom of the trackpad button and the edge of the case.

I would like a solution for this as well. I had this 17" since April, and it just started doing this within the last month or so.

EDIT: One thing to note - it doesn't seem to do it if I sleep it for a very short time (like 15 seconds) and then wake it again. I notice it much more often when it has slept overnight...

RobOnTheCape · Jan 14, 2006, 10:19 AM

I mentioned in another forum that I have a similar problem with my ibook/800. The cursor will jump, stutter or not work at all. I have done a clean install and the problem persists. One thing I find interesting is that the problem will just start and make the trackpad unuseable, but if I'm able to get the cursor off of the program I'm having difficulty with and onto say the desktop or another program which is open, then the problem disappears. So, I've had this problem using 10.3, now thru 10.4.4, have done clean installs, it occurred before loading any third party apps besides MS Office and the like, widgets etc... and it can be remedied by getting the cursor from one program to another.

I'm at a loss, but I'm now using a mouse full time without really thinking about it except that it kinda takes away from the fun in the mobility of a laptop.

Cheers

b33faroni · Jan 14, 2006, 06:22 PM

yan at home I use a BT mouse now and that works fine. I only ever now use the mouse when im at school or traveling and after the update (10.4.4) it doesnt happen nearly as much as it did, but still does happen occasionly. I would call apple support but my 30 day phone support is up and noone else got help that way so its sorta useless. O well, no OS is perfect/

TheIceMan · Jan 14, 2006, 06:56 PM

i too have the trackpad problem. maybe it's the 10.4.4 update, not sure. but my crude work around is to plug in my mouse and then unplugging it. it's worked so far. but it's bothering me. anyone with a better solution?

spiff72 · Jan 14, 2006, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by TheIceMan

i too have the trackpad problem. maybe it's the 10.4.4 update, not sure. but my crude work around is to plug in my mouse and then unplugging it. it's worked so far. but it's bothering me. anyone with a better solution?

I don't think it is the 10.4.4 update - mine started doing this before this update came through...

b33faroni · Jan 14, 2006, 11:35 PM

yea its not a 10.4.4 update, it just happened to me after the last security update, so I thought it was...but then again others have had it before that so who knows. To fix it temporarily you just gota put ur palm on the trackpad for like 3 seconds, it restarts it. Heh, who knows maybe this is a virus, I know before I got sporadic cursor movements when I had some virus on my dell, but then again that was windows. Still trying to find a solution.

nila mu'hari · Jan 17, 2006, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by b33faroni

yea its not a 10.4.4 update, it just happened to me after the last security update, so I thought it was...but then again others have had it before that so who knows. To fix it temporarily you just gota put ur palm on the trackpad for like 3 seconds, it restarts it. Heh, who knows maybe this is a virus, I know before I got sporadic cursor movements when I had some virus on my dell, but then again that was windows. Still trying to find a solution.

I had the problem straight out of the box with Mac OSX 10.3.9. It first appeared when I had to type my personal data during finishing the installation after the first boot this book did in my hands... Since then the problem never vanished (OS 10.4.4) !!!!

backspaces · Jan 23, 2006, 02:54 PM

I also ran into the trackpad problem: very erratic response to finger usage.

I'm on a 1.33GHz 17" powerbook. I'm almost certain the problem occurred right after the 10.4.4 upgrade.

Has anyone tried re-installing 10.4.4? It could be a glitch during installation and a re-install might fix the problem.

Owen

spiff72 · Jan 23, 2006, 03:09 PM

I am getting more and more convinced that the issue is worst when you are leaning your wrist on the area of the case between the "bottom" edge and the trackpad button (including the area extending left and right by about 2 inches from the edges of the trackpad). I sometimes get erratic behavior when it isn't just waking up from sleep. Perhaps is is static electricity related? Or pressure on the case makes it act strangely, and a recent update has made the system more sensitive to these issues?

Just my experiences/comments...

EDIT: Also, my wife hasn't commented on this issue yet - so it seems in our case, it is just on the 17...

I don't think she has upgraded hers to 10.4.4 yet, but as I said before, I am CERTAIN that this behavior started before 10.4.4 was released.

b33faroni · 07:17 PM

Good observation spiff, glad to see someone else is trying to get to the bottom of it. However, mine happens even when I do not have my wrist on the PB (happened couple times when it was on my icurve)...so still trying to figure out what it could be. I have the 12 inch, so its not just isolated to the hefty mother heh. Yea mine has been happening since one of the security updates before 10.4.4, which are INCLUDED with the 10.4.4 if they were not downloaded beforehand. I still think that that is what is wrong, but several people said on the post it has happened to them up to 6 months ago. I would take it to the apple store and inform them that many people have this problem, but thats about hour and half away, and my PB is modded so they probably wont even take a look at it unless I went thru the process of "unmodding" it, and to be honest I really dont think its worth going thru all the trouble of taking it all the way to KOP to the store, having to leave it and be without it for a while and then having to go pick it back up just for sporadic trackpad issues. If anyone gets in touch with apple let me know what they say, thanks!
Bill

spiff72 · Jan 23, 2006, 09:50 PM

I am afraid that the sporadic nature of the problem will make it nearly impossible to duplicate it "on command" at the apple store.

I will probably only do it if it gets really bad.

spiff72 · Jan 23, 2006, 09:52 PM

Deleted duplicate post.

31d1 · Jan 26, 2006, 11:11 PM

I've been having this problem since the security update (12" 1.5 latest) and it's driving me nuts. Hope me!

mct2ou · Jan 27, 2006, 12:32 AM

so does anybody know if apple has a solution for this problem? Or do we just put up with it? I have heard people complain about it since the scrolling trackpad came out. I have been having the problem since i bought my laptop in april last year. 12in PB. Are people having the problem with newly bought PB's. The only reason I am so concerned is that my parents have an iBook dual USB and it has been having logic board problems since they bought it 3 YEARS AGO!!! and all apple does is put in another logic board which inevitably breaks. Will this be what happens with our trackpads. If so i am going to ebay this sucker and get a new one.