MBP: very sudden Trackpad problem..

[kali89]

actually, I'm in Chile; in Santiago, the capital, there's an indie mac store... very slick, looks & works just like an "official" Apple store.. neat website too...
https://www.maconline.com/

I suspect they won't honor the Apple store warranty, but I will contact them anyway, to find out.
(I have the receipt, fortunately..)

thank you all for your responses..... I will report back and keep you posted....

 

[PilotJimL]

Trackpad stuck

my trackpad all of a sudden is freaking out... and **I** am freaking out....;-(

it's just not working right... sometimes only the two-fingers thing works (which I have set to work like right-click), sometimes it gets "stuck" in drag mode... so that if I select one file in a folder, then move on to select another one, it selects all files in between (or it acts like it's dragging stuff....) also, it tracks more slowly, heavier, like those old mice when they weren't working right....;-) this happens intermittently, sometimes it does work the way it should, but on the whole I can tell something's wrong.. this started very suddenly about two hours ago.. I wasn't doing anything unusual.. was reading and scrolling down an article page in Chrome, and all of a sudden it just stopped working.. I thought Chrome was not responding, but it was the trackpad!!!

this is extremely disturbing and upsetting and disconcerting... the million-dollar question is: is this a hardware or software problem? is this something I can solve somehow by resetting trackpad configs or something else I can do? (I did manage to do a screenshot of trackpad settings..)

now even return key & arrow keys don't work sometimes.. my gosh, what is happening to my MBP that has served me so well for the last six years??? :~(((

MacBookPro, about 6 years old, 10.6.8...

would appreciate some suggestions..



thank you....

I had that problem, too, on a late 2008 unibody MacBook Pro. I tried to squeeze the battery and use tape to space it away from the trackpad, but not a continuous fix. I bought a new Apple OEM battery, twice, from China. They are the real deal, all the designations are the same as Apple's, because it is from the same supplier. The price of both were about 60% of Apple's price, but slower delivery. They work fine, but I usually remove the battery compartment cover for deep recharging, and keep it on a cooling Belkin laptop stand. Third battery has not become a problem. Go to eBay. Include your batteries four digit "A" number, e.g. A1281.

 

[chscag]

Looks like a pretty good web site with lots of Apple info. What is the exchange rate right now between Chilean dollars and US dollars?

 

[llemasle]

Swollen battery can definitely be a cause as it happened to me. That model should have a removable battery: try your MBP with the battery removed.

 

[Stuart21]

- SMC Reset
- PRAM/NVRAM Reset
- Run the free maintenance app called "Onyx".
- Run the free malware app called "Malwarebytes"

Internet search for more info.

And after 6 years...how full is your hard drive (or how much free space)?

And finally. After 6 years...it's possible that your battery could be swelling. Trackpad problems can many times be related to a swelling battery.

- Nick

Yes - last one is most likely. Is your trackpad level with the fascia or just above? normally it should be a little below -
How old is the battery and what is the current capacity?
Replaced my battery after it swelled, was amazed that trackpad was fine after new battery -

 

[kali89]

well, it turns out, the mac store I mentioned, after looking at the serial no. for my MacBook Pro, said Apple considers it "vintage" (i.e., too old, it's from Sept 2010) so no warranties apply....

however: since I my last post on this thread (can't find it, but anyway) the mouse and keyboard have been working fine, have not failed in over a month... I guess all I can do now is keep my fingers crossed, until I have the money to change the battery (in about two months..) not sure now, if it continues to work fine, if I should change the battery pre-emptively, or wait until the battery "swells" again...

so: if it was, say, about three weeks, I had this problem, and now for about two months no more problems, anyone have any insights as to what this could be, what I can expect in the future?

hope someone sees this, since it's been a while since the last post on this thread.....

thank you very much.... happy New Year to all.....

 

[pigoo3]

well, it turns out, the mac store I mentioned, after looking at the serial no. for my MacBook Pro, said Apple considers it "vintage" (i.e., too old, it's from Sept 2010) so no warranties apply....

Yes you did mention in post #1 that this was a 6 year-old computer (2016-2010 = 6).

And yes...a 6 year old Apple computer is defined as "vintage". The exact definition is between 5-7 years old. Older than 7 years is considered "obsolete":

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

One of the unusual exceptions/oddities to this system is the 13" Mid-2012 MacBook Pro. Even though it is a "Mid-2012" model. It was still available from the Apple store until at least the last year.

however: since I my last post on this thread (can't find it, but anyway) the mouse and keyboard have been working fine, have not failed in over a month... I guess all I can do now is keep my fingers crossed, until I have the money to change the battery (in about two months..) not sure now, if it continues to work fine, if I should change the battery pre-emptively, or wait until if fails again...

Sounds good.

so: if it was, say, about three weeks, I had this problem, and now for about two months no more problems, anyone have any insights as to what this could be, what I can expect in the future?

Why worry about a theoretical possibility that may never develop?? Just keep cruising happily (since it's been working ok for over a month)!

hope someone sees this, since it's been a while since the last post on this thread.....

As you can see. "Someone" saw it! lol

thank you very much.... happy New Year to all.....

Feliz año nuevo!

- Nick

 

[chscag]

We're still here.

I would wait since we really don't know from your previous problem if it was the battery. A 2010 MacBook Pro is getting a bit old now (going on 6 plus years) so it's not really wise to spend a whole lot of dollars on it. You can always replace the battery yourself if you have to. Do you have access to eBay in Santiago? Or a resale list - something like Craig's List here in the US? Chances are you're not going to find a genuine Apple replacement battery for your 2010 machine in Santiago.

 

[kali89]

thank you Nick....

feliz año nuevo a ti también...