Nertz

Q: TrackPad physical click not working after upgrade to Mountain Lion

Does anybody know how to get my trackpad working again after upgrading to Mountain Lion?

 

I recently upgraded my MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009, Intel Core 2 Duo) from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. Everything seems to have gone well, except for trackpad behavior.

 

The primary problem is that the physical click of the trackpad is now erratic. Sometimes a physical click will work, and other times it will not work.

 

Note: The "tapping" of the trackpad DOES work consistently. I have confirmed that System Prefs > Trackpad > "Tap to Click" is enabled, and so tapping is not the problem. (The "tap to click" selector does exhibit a unique behavior however--if I DESELECT "tap to click," then the physical click no longer works at all. It looks like the "tap to click" selector can completely disable the physical click of the trackpad, but cannot enable the physical click completely.)

 

I have also checked the settings on System Prefs > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad, but none of those settings affect the physical click of the trackpad.

 

I tried zapping the PRAM, but that did not change the problem with physical clicking on the trackpad.

 

Grateful for any ideas...

 

Nertz

 

MacBook (13-inch Late 2009), OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 8:49 AM

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Q: TrackPad physical click not working after upgrade to Mountain Lion

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  • by karllinder,

    karllinder karllinder Oct 25, 2012 8:12 AM in response to Nertz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2012 8:12 AM in response to Nertz

    Hi

    Got the same error, trackpad don´t respond in 2-3 sec after sleep or computer idle for some time.

    Got MBP mid 2010 with 10.8.2

  • by Crl Williams,

    Crl Williams Crl Williams Jan 2, 2013 10:39 AM in response to Pieeter
    Level 1 (7 points)
    Jan 2, 2013 10:39 AM in response to Pieeter

    The trackpad physical click is adjustable, and sometimes needs adjusting. Also, the physical click becoming shallower, then eventually not working at all, can be a symptom of the battery, which is behind it on many laptop models, physically swelling up as it nears the end of its life and pressing against the trackpad from behind.

     

    A swelling battery should be removed/replaced ASAP before it damages anything else.

  • by mjw303,

    mjw303 mjw303 Feb 9, 2013 8:22 AM in response to Nertz
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Feb 9, 2013 8:22 AM in response to Nertz

    I just had the same issue. I have a 13" MBP Mid 2009 (MacbookPro5,5). The strange part was that when I started up in BootCamp Win7, the trackpad worked normal. At that point I thought it was a software issue with ML (10.8.2). This post led me to adjusting the screws and it has been working fine so far. I simply made a small counter-clockwise turn of the screws that are located beneath the trackpad on the bottom aluminum casing.

  • by Martinlamberts,

    Martinlamberts Martinlamberts Feb 16, 2013 3:29 PM in response to Nertz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 16, 2013 3:29 PM in response to Nertz

    I had this problem with my first macbook pro 3 days after I bought in it 2009, running leopard. Trackpad physical just stopped working. Brought it to genius bar. They replaced trackpad, but it didnt help. So they just gave me a brand-new computer and it wasn't a big deal because i only had the old one for 3 days anyway. Now, 4 years later, the same problem again. Randomely just happenned one day. I upgraded to lion a few days agop, but the trackpad issue has been going on a few weeks. Percussive maintanence works (hitting the trackpa with your fist or palm as hard as you can without breaking it). It's still weird though. This is a bad MAC problem that apple doesn't recognise, nor do they want to do anything about it. Basically, live with it.

  • by eshute,

    eshute eshute Mar 4, 2013 4:57 PM in response to Nertz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2013 4:57 PM in response to Nertz

    I recently had the same thing happen.  I updated and the next day the track pad started working erractically.  I tried everything to fix it and nothing worked, until I thoroughly cleaned the trackpad.....

     

    To fix it, I turned the computer off, used a cleaner for my eyeglasses and made sure I cleaned the trackpad really well.  I used a tip of a needle to clean out the edges of the trackpad, as it was dirtier than I thought.  Maybe something about the update makes the trackpad more sensitive to dirt.  In other threads I read not to use hand lotions before using trackpad and to keep the trackpad as clean as possible.  

     

    This completely solved the problem.

  • by arnie799,

    arnie799 arnie799 May 8, 2013 6:29 AM in response to Nertz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 8, 2013 6:29 AM in response to Nertz

    I found that if you press the keyboard surface  to the left of the trackpad, the click will work normally.  It's because the keyboard seems to be warped.

  • by mjw303,Helpful

    mjw303 mjw303 May 8, 2013 7:20 AM in response to mjw303
    Level 1 (9 points)
    May 8, 2013 7:20 AM in response to mjw303

    I found out that I had a Bluetooth mouse that was connecting to the laptop. The mouse was in a drawer and the buttons were pressed in while other objects were on top of it, causing my trackpad not to function properly...speechless.

  • by Quality Fan,

    Quality Fan Quality Fan May 10, 2013 4:24 PM in response to mjw303
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 10, 2013 4:24 PM in response to mjw303

    mjw303 : I'm raising my hat to you, thanks a lot, that's it. The mouse was already clicked in it's tight pocket!.

  • by Quality Fan,

    Quality Fan Quality Fan May 10, 2013 4:28 PM in response to pibrewer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 10, 2013 4:28 PM in response to pibrewer

    if you are lucky, the reason is simply that mouse is already clicked (in a tight pocket, or an objet is on top of it). When you (and I) release it from that click, everything went to normal

  • by Crl Williams,

    Crl Williams Crl Williams May 13, 2013 4:55 PM in response to Martinlamberts
    Level 1 (7 points)
    May 13, 2013 4:55 PM in response to Martinlamberts

    Percussive maintanence works (hitting the trackpa with your fist or palm as hard as you can without breaking it).

     

    Erm, I'd go easy on that, it will cause head crashes if the hard disc is running (not if it's an SSD, though, obviously...) and may cause other damage. The battery is under the trackpad. When they reach the end of their life, LiPo batteries tend to swell. This may be the cause of your trackpad issues. If it is, it won't get better - eventually it will distort the entire casing and effectively write off the laptop.

     

    Apple consider the battery in unibody MacBook Pros to be non-user-replaceable, partly because LiPo batteries can be hazardous (see below) but replacements are available, for all that, and Apple themselves can replace it (presumably at some cost.)

     

    LiPo batteries need to be treated with considerable respect - smacking them hard is certainly not recommended. Punctures, impact, incorrect charging or installation can all lead to fairly serious fire or explosion. (Search on YouTube for examples of LiPo battery explosions in various laptops, radio-controlled models, etc.)

  • by Crl Williams,

    Crl Williams Crl Williams May 13, 2013 4:56 PM in response to arnie799
    Level 1 (7 points)
    May 13, 2013 4:56 PM in response to arnie799

    I found that if you press the keyboard surface  to the left of the trackpad, the click will work normally.  It's because the keyboard seems to be warped.

     

    See my other reply re: battery swelling. Any warping, I would be carefully checking the state of the battery.

  • by patricklopez,

    patricklopez patricklopez Jul 3, 2013 8:59 PM in response to Nertz
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 3, 2013 8:59 PM in response to Nertz

    I recently just reformatted my Macbook pro and my trackpad stopped working after I logged in, I could see the mouse arrow moving around but I could not select by pressing the pad. What eventually worked for me was 1st: Pressing hard on the trackpad and applying pressure all across the surface. 2nd: After pressing on the trackpad surface for a while I found out if I pressed hard enough I could select but it was a pain pressing the **** out of the pad just to make a selection so I went to "Preferences" and then selected "trackpad" and then selected "Tap to click" and it started to work like it use to, but I ended up having to use 3 fingers to select and drag..which was annoying as ****. So I went to "Preferences/Universal Access/Trackpad Options/ and select "Dragging". That worked.

     

     

    Also try: Shutting down computer, plug it in, then start pressing Shift/control/option while pressing the power up button for 15 seconds and when you let go the light on your power cord connected to your Mac should go to green then back to orange, then power up your mac again.

     

     

    Also try: Command+Option+P+R while you power up your mac and wait til it chime 2wice ...then start up again.

     

     

    Hopes this helps....someone, I know how it is !

  • by Chubblesmh,

    Chubblesmh Chubblesmh Jul 21, 2013 9:49 PM in response to jjjy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 21, 2013 9:49 PM in response to jjjy

    not a mountain lion issue.  have a macbook pro snow leopard and having the issue except i have not read the one mine is having.

     

    the clock error came up stating my clock needs to be reset because it as an error due to dec 31 2008 or something.

     

    have not tried the bluetooth mouse solution yet. will in the morning.

  • by davberk,

    davberk davberk Jul 22, 2013 5:54 PM in response to Quality Fan
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Jul 22, 2013 5:54 PM in response to Quality Fan

    Haha this was the case for me as well: I had put my bluetooth mouse in a tight pocket in my bag, without turning it off.

  • by rdrobins,

    rdrobins rdrobins Jul 24, 2013 1:52 PM in response to mjw303
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2013 1:52 PM in response to mjw303

    Thanks mjw303, my tackpad just started to ignore physical "clicks", and your suggestion worked perfectly!

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