MBP trackpad select button stays 'on'

Its the most annoying thing, but every once in awhile my 17" MBP trackpad button acts like I am holding down on the button. As you move the cursor on the screen it selects and moves things even though my thumb is not holding down on it. It practically makes the MB useless until I restart... so I wouldn't think that its a physical problem as a restart almost always clears it. Any thoughts?

I'm not sure I'll be able to help, but I'm going to as about your machine because people will need to know in order to help. How old is your MBP and what OS are you running? If you're running Leopard/SL, go to System Preferences > Trackpad and check under the "One Finger" section and see if you have the Tap to Click enabled and any of the other options in that section. That would cause you to click or drag things by touching your trackpad. Hope that helped.

Thanks, Image. Forgot about the build info, 10.6.4 and its last fall's MBP 2.8. I don't think that its a preference thing. I DO have the tap to click enabled and have loved the trackpad's features, but this is definitely a gremlin in the system.

Just to rule out the user account preferences and going through a run of deleting .plists, try setting up a new user account, and seeing if the problem persists!

I'm still at a loss over this. It does it a few times a week and the only way to get out of it is to restart... I just haven't had time to bring it into a store... I was hoping maybe it was a firmware update or something.

BrenGun said:

I'm still at a loss over this. It does it a few times a week and the only way to get out of it is to restart... I just haven't had time to bring it into a store... I was hoping maybe it was a firmware update or something.

Click to expand...

So you come back 2+ months later, still at a loss, but did you try a new user account?

No, I haven't but I guess that I could. Its random, so it would just sorta be a waiting game doing nothing productive on the MacBook until/if it happens.
Though, i think that I'm also a bit lost as to what it could have to do with a user account pref?

With strange anomalies.... a new user account can rule out incompatible software, corrupt preferences, etc.
It is a basic trouble shooting step!
I don't believe this to be a hardware issue, because a reboot fixes it!

Ok, thanks, 6string, maybe try to give it a try this weekend and report back.

Here is pretty much everything to try before a new user account http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os-x-operating-system/93819-basic-os-x-mac-troubleshooting.html and then if you rule out the user account, then you can hit up Apple Genius bar knowing that you have covered all bases.

It's possible ImageX is on to something related to the tap to click preference also. I would definitely turn that off and reboot to see if the problem disappears.