Multi-touch trackpad gestures not working (Macbook pro 15" unibody)

Question

Level 1

1 points

Multi-touch trackpad gestures not working (Macbook pro 15" unibody)

Hi,

I have a 5 day old Macbook Pro and since yesterday ive been having an intermittent fault with the 3 and 4 finger gestures on the track pad. They stop working and don't even work on restart. the computer needs to be shutdown then turned on again for it to work. When it wasn't working, i created a new user account and switched to that and it worked fine, when i switched back to my account it carried on working fine as well. I do have parallels installed with windows xp but use that rarely and the problem hasn't occurred when i have that on (only reason i mention is is that i noticed the fault a few hours after installing parallels). One of the times the problem occurred is when the computer came out of standby.

Is this a software issue or hardware issue? Does apple know about it and are they making a fix?

Thanx!!

Macbook Pro 15" Unibody, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Nov 5, 2009 5:31 AM

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Answer 1

mcostajr

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2009 9:09 AM in response to Enzo600

That's really bizarre! I've been experiencing the same problems. Today my three/four finger multitouch gestures stopped working altogether! Nothing seemed to resolve the problem (restart, shut down, etc).I did however follow your advice of creating a new user account and logging in to see if multitouch works...low and behold, it worked! I then logged off and signed back into my primary user account and multitouch continued to work! This must be a software issue (I'm guessing). I just deleted the temporary user account and everything seems to be working fine. I set up a Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow - I'll see if they have any further suggestions.

Thanks!

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Answer 2

GreezyG

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2009 10:02 AM in response to Enzo600

A friend of mine had this same problem this morning. Creating a new user account fixed it. She wasn't aware of any software updates this morning. Did either of you see anything install?

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Answer 3

Max(IT)

Level 1

81 points

Nov 5, 2009 11:15 AM in response to Enzo600

Maybe is it related to a third-party software update both of you installed today/yesterday ?
There was no Apple software update in the past few days, and my MBP is working fine so far.

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Answer 4

mt404

Level 1

16 points

Nov 6, 2009 4:26 AM in response to Enzo600

I too own a 15" Macbook Pro and this morning my 3 and 4 finger gestures stopped working. They're still "on" in system preferences, but not "on" in real life. Haven't tried creating a new user account yet, but will do that next. Just wanted to chime in with a "me too".

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Answer 5

rmxdave

Level 1

0 points

Nov 11, 2009 7:21 AM in response to Enzo600

This just started for me this morning too, bought the MBP 6 days ago. Just letting Apple know that there are more than a few people!

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Answer 6

Nov 12, 2009 11:38 AM in response to Enzo600

Me too, brand new machine, no 3 or 4 finger gestures.

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Answer 7

Majicman

Level 1

60 points

Nov 12, 2009 7:13 PM in response to Enzo600

I'm an Apple technician who works for a self-servicing provider. This happened to me today as well. Reboot didn't fix it, neither did a new user account.

Here's what I did that did indeed fix it:
- Boot into single user mode. (hold down Apple+S on reboot)
- Wait for the "#" prompt
- Type exactly this: "fsck_hfs -f /dev/disk0s2"

When it's done, type "shutdown -r now"

Your Mac will reboot. Hopefully that fixed it for you, too!

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Answer 8

Nov 13, 2009 2:26 AM in response to Majicman

This exact same problem started for me this morning... Luckily found this post and the proposed solution by Majicman.

It worked like a charm! Thnx so much Majicman!

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Answer 9

Nov 13, 2009 6:30 AM in response to Enzo600

It works!
I had the same problem and follow the Majicman's instructions. And it solved.

Thanks

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Answer 10

Nov 15, 2009 6:12 PM in response to ozgurdogan@mac.com

I have tried both options mentioned here, and they both work for a day then I revert to multi-touch not working. Anyone else experienced this?

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Answer 11

Nov 16, 2009 12:21 PM in response to Majicman

I'm not an expert in Mac computers... this is my first one and I got the same problem...
afaik, fsck_hfs doesn't only check your hdd for errors?...
it's strange but it worked!

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Answer 12

Xandan

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2009 9:05 AM in response to Enzo600

I've got the same exact thing happening to me, it started yesterday and i don't recall installing anything in between that time, 3 & 4 finger gestures stop working only a complete shutdown solves it. Have a MBP 13" and its about a month old =/ anyone know the cause of the problem or know if Apple are looking into it?

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Answer 13

thuybee

Level 1

0 points

Nov 17, 2009 6:38 PM in response to Majicman

This worked perfectly for me - my touchpad just stopped working as the other users report. This method is a better option than creating a new dummy user account... thank you very much for the advice.

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Answer 14

corpski

Level 1

5 points

Nov 17, 2009 10:54 PM in response to Frank Moley

I have tried Majicman's method and it worked, until I shut down my macbook pro (C2D early 2008 model running 10.6.2, everything is fully updated) -- this was about an hour ago.

Right now as I am typing this post, 3 and 4 finger gestures do not work.

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Answer 15

JCllama

Level 1

0 points

Nov 18, 2009 8:35 AM in response to corpski

Hello, I am running a macbook unibody 5,1 with 10.6.2 and I wanted to confirm what corpski has found. I have tried resetting the pmc, and majicman's code script. I have also tried creating a dummy user account and then deleting it. All of these methods work initially to restore my 3 and 4 finger gestures, but after a reboot, the gestures are gone. Essentially, the gestures work every other reboot. Strangely, the expose function (normally achieved with 4 fingers) does work if I select expose to work with the secondary mouse button option found in the expose settings menu. Thus, expose will work with a 2 finger tap, but not with the normal 4 fingers. If anyone has any ideas on fixing this issue, I would love to hear them. Thanks.

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