Trackpad won't click?

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Greetings all.
I was last on here with an Iphoto problem that has yet to be solved.
I live in Belize and my screen went on 2017 Macbook Pro I was trying to put the photos from iphoto to Photos on.
A friend got a Macbook Pro on Ebay for me and it has taken since March 27 with Covid crisis to get it here.
It is a 2009-2010, has El Capitan screensaver so i assume that's what it's running?
It boots very slow and will not click on anything, like "About this Mac" or Systems Management for more details.
i have read a dozen fixes, they all paradoxically involve clicks to solve the no-click problem.
This is my 9th or 10th mac in 15 years here, pretty discouraging.
They all die premature deaths and Apple doesn't see enough profit to open a store here.
Stay safe, any help appreciated, Thanks in advance.
 

chscag

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It's not surprising that a MacBook Pro from 2009 or 2010 has a bad trackpad. What you should do is open it up and make sure the battery is not swollen and could be the reason the trackpad is not working. By the way, Apple says that MacBook Pros from that year are vintage which means no help from them.

Unfortunately you're in an area that has high humidity and a very small country with a limited population. Apple has no desire to open a store there.

Are you able to get things working by using a USB mouse instead of the trackpad?
 
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It's not surprising that a MacBook Pro from 2009 or 2010 has a bad trackpad. What you should do is open it up and make sure the battery is not swollen and could be the reason the trackpad is not working. By the way, Apple says that MacBook Pros from that year are vintage which means no help from them.

Unfortunately you're in an area that has high humidity and a very small country with a limited population. Apple has no desire to open a store there.

Are you able to get things working by using a USB mouse instead of the trackpad?

Hi admin,;D

yes I'm aware of Apples predisposition to abandon customers in the name of consumerism.
I have about 60,000 photos on Iphoto in external drives that they outright refuse to help me put into one of their newer products with Photos.
That seems like over the top considering in 2018 I bought a $3,300 usd Macboook Pro from them.
When I go to Apple and try to install Iphotos along with photos to consolidate photos, nope, obsolete, Thank you very much.
I've had no less than 10 now with this one, which i got from Meepo-Tek who ostensibly check therm out.
I digress here.
Since posting I got the track pad which has been in small, moist Belize an ENTIRE 24 hours btw to work long enough to enable tap-click.
Now the battery is refusing to take a charge.
SMC, PRAM resets do nothing.
The systems report has alternately told me the the battery needs replacing and....that it is normal.
All this is quite normal for Apple products in my experience.
Can you shed any light on the charging problem?
It will not store any power, goes black as soon as the iffy charger connection is moved.
green light will not go Orange, I tried 4 different chargers from previous bad purchases.
Thank you chscag
 
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chscag

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Ah... part of what goes along when living in paradise. :)

Well, it seems that you need a new battery, assuming of course that the charger and charging circuitry is okay. If not, it probably won't be worth the time and expense to repair it.

In our experience, it could be a bad Mag-Safe Charger, DC input board, or at worse, a new logic board.

That model should operate okay, albeit slow, without a connected battery. However, you will need a good Mag-Safe Charger to connect to the main AC power outlet.

Do you have access to any of those things in Belize? I believe you once stated that there is a repair service in Belize that will work on Apple products?
 

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yes I'm aware of Apples predisposition to abandon customers in the name of consumerism.

Let's be fair here...when we're talking about a 10-11 year old computer...accusing Apple of "abandonment" is really not completely fair.

Also...among computer/electronics manufacturers...Apple has almost always scored the #1 position. And if not #1...then #2. If you think you're getting bad customer service from Apple...you need to try the other guys to REALLY find out what bad customer service.

There will always be some individual issues that individuals will never be satisfied with...no company has a 100% customer satisfaction rating!

As far as the trackpad not clicking...as already mentioned...very very high probability you have a swollen battery.

- Nick

p.s. Thread moved to better area (Notebooks). Not a "Community Suggestions and Feedback" topic.
 
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Hi,
Well firstly I don't believe the battery is bad.

I bought this because it had a 1TB Solid State drive, seems like someone cared.

Battery normal.png It is simultaneously telling me that it is bad, that it is normal.

I have had bad batteries and swollen batteries, they do not refuse to take an iota of a charge.

As in completely disconnect, black screen when unplugging charger.

This seems like another of the 100 glitches I have found trial and error solutions to posted by others.

Thanks, again
 

pigoo3

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Well firstly I don't believe the battery is bad.

Very very easy to test if a swollen battery is the issue.:) Remove the battery...then see if the trackpad clicks.

- If the trackpad does not click...then a swollen battery is not the issue.
- If the trackpad does click...then the issue is a swollen battery.

If when the battery is removed...the trackpad still does not click...on most Apple portable computer trackpads...there's a small adjustment screw. If this trackpad adjustment screw has become too "tight" over the years...adjusting it may help.

If this doesn't help either...then the trackpad may have failed. On a 10-11 year old computer...always a possibility.

HTH,

- Nick
 
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I have had 10 Macs, 3 swollen batteries, when that happens you simply cannot depress the track-pad.
There is ample movement it's the track-pad itself not making proper contact.
That is old news, I got it to work long enough to enable Tap-to-click".
The issue now is the battery which the unit simultaneously says is normal and needs to be replaced.
I have had bad batteries, they hold some charge, they do not crash to Off/black screen as soon as you disconnect the charger.
Normally a SMC reset would fix this, the charger light stays green, never goes orange.
The unit never boots up during reset, that is new to me.
I have tried 4 different L-type chargers, i have a collection from other mistakes.
Was hoping someone found a trial and error solution to what I believe is my 100th Mac glitch, I have fixed several by reading google suggestions.
 
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I simply love how you Apple devotees have completely rolled over and accepted that thousands of dollars worth of product should only be expected to work until the next model comes out.
And on top of that justifying it when they can't be bothered to help with transferring thousands of photos from their "Obsolete" apps to new equipment purchased from them.
That's like worse than simply slowing down phones, but hey, we can buy some stock and be happy with that i guess.
3 for 3 getting 0 help here, time to go back to HP's which have been an enormously better investment.
 

IWT


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I simply love how you Apple devotees have completely rolled over and accepted that thousands of dollars worth of product should only be expected to work until the next model comes out.
And on top of that justifying it when they can't be bothered to help with transferring thousands of photos from their "Obsolete" apps to new equipment purchased from them.
That's like worse than simply slowing down phones, but hey, we can buy some stock and be happy with that i guess.
3 for 3 getting 0 help here, time to go back to HP's which have been an enormously better investment.

I'm truly sorry and vexed that you feel this way. There is an understandable frustration when someone or a forum can't help. But we are not wizards with insight into how your setup works. We're not sitting beside you watching your every move.

We work with the info we get and we do our best.

And we are not "Apple devotees" so much as Apple users. Many, I would say most, of our contributors use Windows either at home or at work.

Whatever your feelings, we are really here to help.

Ian
 

pigoo3

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I simply love how you Apple devotees have completely rolled over and accepted that thousands of dollars worth of product should only be expected to work until the next model comes out.
And on top of that justifying it when they can't be bothered to help with transferring thousands of photos from their "Obsolete" apps to new equipment purchased from them.
That's like worse than simply slowing down phones, but hey, we can buy some stock and be happy with that i guess.
3 for 3 getting 0 help here, time to go back to HP's which have been an enormously better investment.

Getting frustrated with us is not going to help with the current issue or future issues. We are just trying to help you the best we can...with the information given.

I wish you all the luck in the world with your switch back to HP equipment.:)

- Nick
 
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