Cursor going haywire!

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Level 1

63 points

Cursor going haywire!

My keyboard is POSSESSED! Problem started this a.m. that I'll be typing and suddenly realize that my insertion point has jumped around. Happens at random in all software (mail, address book safari). Software up to date. Re-booted, no help.

Mackbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Apr 26, 2010 10:28 AM

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Answer 1

Dave Snow Author

Level 1

63 points

Apr 27, 2010 10:14 AM in response to Dave Snow

umpb

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Answer 2

Apr 27, 2010 1:00 PM in response to Dave Snow

Hi,

If you go to System Preferences > Trackpad and adjust the settings do things improve ?

I am suggesting changing them to something else and then changing them back just so the setting get re-written.

Do you have another Mac User Account on this computer ?
If not create one and see if the symptoms are the same there.

9:00 PM Tuesday; April 27, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

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Answer 3

Dave Snow Author

Level 1

63 points

Apr 29, 2010 10:28 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I called Mac Support yesterday to see if they had a clue. While troubleshooting the problem, I noticed that my battery was swolen and bulging. We decided to swap it out to see if it might help. I received the new battery today (that was fast) and installed it. I don't see how the battery can affect the behaviors i was experiencing, but putting a new RMA battery in the machine seems to have solved the problem. Go figure.

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Answer 4

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

Apr 29, 2010 11:36 AM in response to Dave Snow

Great news, Dave!
Thanks for coming back to share with us your solution.
I'm sure it will help many readers here, looking for help.

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Answer 5

Apr 29, 2010 12:53 PM in response to Dave Snow

My battery on my MacBook Pro 2Ghz is directly under the Track pad.

Probably causes just enough distortion to create the symptoms you had.

8:53 PM Thursday; April 29, 2010

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Answer 6

Dave Snow Author

Level 1

63 points

May 2, 2010 9:50 AM in response to TildeBee

BTW, I was also having another problem that the new battery seems to have fixed. While on battery power, the MacBook Pro would just SHUT OFF (not sleep) with an audible click. At first it would happen after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. It got increasingly worse, shutting off after about a minute whether I was working on it or not. Click. Dead. No re-boot unless it was hooked up to power.

The System profile said the battery was in good shape with many cycles left in its life.

A trip to the local Genius Bar detected no problem with the battery and their best suggestion was to send the whole laptop to Cupertino for a week (yikes!).

The new battery works fine now.

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Answer 7

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

May 2, 2010 10:21 AM in response to Dave Snow

Yay!
Whew!

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