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Trackpad Stuck on Drag

Sometime when I'm using my MacBook the trackpad gets stuck on 'Drag Lock' mode. So that wherever I move my cursor it will drag whatever it comes across. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how do I fix it?

MacBook 13-inch Aluminum (Late 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Aug 10, 2010 4:51 PM

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145 replies

Aug 18, 2010 8:36 PM in response to Eisstable

I'm having the same problem, except its not just the track pad its any usb mouse I attach as well. So far my bluetooth is working but I haven't had it attached for the 1 to 1 1/2 hours it takes to cause a problem. I bought this laptop at the beginning of December, so its still under warranty.

I actually had wiped the drive and started from scratch after everything else failed. After doing one of the apple updates. I'm having the problem again. I think if I can roll back it would be fine. But I don't know exactly how to do that.

Aug 20, 2010 5:21 AM in response to dfv12

I am having the exact same problem with my 15" Unibody MBP, has started ever since the trackpad update to give us that god-awful kinetic scrolling (which I have disabled; it’s really annoying).

Sometimes I am unable to click and nothing gets highlighted/selected, but most of the time I am browsing the web with the trackpad for scrolling when the cursor gets “stuck” like others are describing here.

Once it happened while I was working in Photoshop and caused me much grief.

I can get it to stop and function normally again by frantically clicking with the trackpad (clicks from my Logitech mouse don’t register at all but movement does), and it will fix itself seemingly at random.

Again, this has never happened to me for the almost-two years since I’ve had my MBP. It must have something to do with the most recent update.

Aug 21, 2010 6:44 AM in response to dfv12

I've never had one finger dragging turned on and I've had this drag lock problem. *When did they release the trackpad update?* I am pretty sure I was having the problem before and after that update.

I can confirm that my magic mouse does not cause the issue but it is effected by it. I used my magic mouse last night and then at some point I started using track pad. Thats when it started. When the track pad is acting up, I can move the mouse but I cannot click anything.

Restarting doesn't always work. I've called into support twice about this issue. They were only able to temporarily fix it.

Here's what they recommended doing.

1 shutdown
2 connect power adapter
3 press and hold left shift + control + option, press power button once, wait 5 seconds
4 press and hold command + option + r, press power, hold p until second chime

This is so frustrating!!! It really does make the computer unusable.

Aug 21, 2010 7:09 AM in response to brianbolton

Same problem here on 15" 2010 MBP. Reports of this problem on Magic Trackpad and Black/White MacBooks too. I have found that a simple restart will correct his problem until it occurs again. Have tried resetting P-RAM as noted above, but no permanent fix. Some say that CMD + Click will unstick the click, but I haven't tried that.

Some other threads with same problem:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12074971
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12016216
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11828342
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2531102 (magic trackpad)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12133373
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12082629
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2523948 (command click)

Aug 22, 2010 10:32 AM in response to cr12500

My trackpad on my late 2008 Macbook Pro also often (sometimes all the time...) selects everything on the screen where the mouse cursor is at that time.
Really annoying, because it just keep clicking and selecting, so moves windows, change cursor position during typing and lots more annoying things.

BUT I don't think my / the problem is software related !!!!!
I have my Macbook now for little over 2 years, and what I suspect is that the housing of the Macbook (to the left and right of the trackpad) is bending down towards the bottom of the laptop (so towards your legs if the laptop is just sitting in your lap). Maybe it's material fatigue or it becomes softer when it becomes warm/hot because of the battery....

It sometimes gets so worse that I just have to touch the long edge of the laptop soooooo very gentle, with one finger, and it responds as a mouse click.

The problem comes and goes. Sometimes its not there for weeks, and other times its there for a long time.
Really annoying because the laptop is now over 2 years old, and I don't think I have warranty anymore.... (and also because it is the "old" all silver Macbook Pro 17" and they don't make these anymore. And I like the look of it better then the new line of Macbook's.

Ideas anyone ?????
Thanks!!

Aug 24, 2010 6:27 AM in response to SaintG3

I have been suffering this problem for several days. This morning I reverted to using the magic mouse through bluetooth but the problem re-appeared after a while, whilst reading this thread! I have now reverted to a Bamboo pen pointer but have no confidence that the problem will not reappear even with this configuration.

The MacBook is a 5.2, OS 10.6.4

Aug 25, 2010 1:51 PM in response to dfv12

Some news...

I also am having this "stuck" trackpad issue with my 13" 2010 MacBook Pro. It started happening almost immediately after downloading and installing the trackpad update. I called Apple a couple of times about this and they gave me a case number. They took several steps with me to try and resolve the issue but were unsuccessful.

They finally put me in touch with a senior advisor, who emailed me an Apple data capture utility that does just what it's called and then dumps a data file onto your desktop. I run it when the trackpad starts to "stick" and then send them the file. Per my last communication with them, they've forwarded the files to engineering who is currently analyzing the files to determine what the deal is.

As soon as I hear something back, I'll let y'all know.

Trackpad Stuck on Drag

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