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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

101 replies

Feb 6, 2010 5:49 PM in response to Kevin Smith4

Removing the .GlobalPreferences.USER-UUID.plist file worked for me.

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Feb 6, 2010 10:56 PM in response to Eric Lindsay

Sounds like a corrupted .plist file in your case , Eric, which has apparently been resolved by simply turning the gestures off and on again.

Cheers

Rod

Feb 9, 2010 9:56 PM in response to Rod Hagen

MBPro 15" same problem started today!

Feb 12, 2010 1:08 PM in response to Enzo600

I've had the exact same problem but just managed to fix it by unplugging the USB external hard drive I had connected and re-booting.

Not sure if this will work for anyone else but would be interested to find out...?

The Mac Ferret

Feb 15, 2010 2:31 AM in response to Enzo600

Same issue. Tried everything and it still ruins my workflow.

Come on apple, put your act together. Tired of your bull@#%t.

Feb 15, 2010 4:37 PM in response to Enzo600

I'm replying also to try and make this issue heard. It has only started happening since I've started to use a USB mouse so I suspect this might have a role to play?

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Feb 16, 2010 1:54 PM in response to A concerneder

What brand of USB mouse are you using, a concerneder, and did you install any software to use it?

JPRoch

Level 1

0 points

Feb 19, 2010 6:43 AM in response to Enzo600

Hi,
In my case, I solved this issue by removing the file ~/.profile.("rm ~/.profile"). After the removal and logout the computer, the multi-touch gesture work again.
It seems the issue started when I created that file to set some environment variables few days ago.
Let me know if you have any question.

Thanks!

Feb 19, 2010 6:49 AM in response to Majicman

My fix is a two-parter...

First, the suggestion in the post by Majicman on page 1 worked great. Definitely give it a try if you're having this problem. The issue did not return for me after following his guidance.

Second, my Macbook Pro was replaced for another reason and I have not had the problem as of yet.

Feb 21, 2010 5:45 AM in response to StangAddict

I too started having this problem recently and it was driving me nuts. I add my voice to the chorus of people reporting that removing the GlobalPreferences file noted above fixed this issue. I hope this is in 10.6.3, but I am worried what new bugs are there too...

MojoWill

Level 1

0 points

Feb 21, 2010 11:38 AM in response to Enzo600

This is ridiculous! £2000 for a piece of gear that doesn't work properly!

I had this problem and followed the startup options that worked, now the trouble is back!

Feb 21, 2010 11:52 AM in response to Enzo600

im not really sure what was causing the problem initially, but this weekend i installed a new harddrive in my macbook pro, and did a clean install of OSX 10.6.2 did NOT restore from a time machine backup. the problem has not come back once.

so problem solved on my end.

Feb 21, 2010 9:19 PM in response to Enzo600

I have the same exact problem and it seemed to happen out of know where, except I have a 13" MBP. The terminal command worked at first but later on it seemed to quit working out of know where again. Hopefully apple will fix this soon.

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

Feb 22, 2010 12:57 AM in response to iPod is still Slow

NO "iPod is Still Slow". Apple will almost certainly NOT fix whatever problem you may have with a new update. Whatever it may be (and you provide precious little information about it) it almost certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with an OS update.

If you would like some real help here then provide a bit more detail. Almost invariably those who claim that they are suffering from one "exact same problem" or another either turn out to have a completely different issue altogether or, if they are trying to "beat up" an issue, sadly don't even use a Mac at all! 😉

If you really want help, of course, it is easy. Start your own thread, describe the problem and your equipment and software in proper detail, and we will see what we can do to help you.

Cheers

Rod

ohmydayz

Level 1

0 points

Feb 22, 2010 8:09 AM in response to Majicman

Hi
could you elaborate with step by step instructions please?
i recently had a software update on my macbook pro and yes iv tried creatin a new account which works only for a day until i switch my mac off.
im useless with macs all together.
cheers

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