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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 11, 2010 12:22 AM in response to dfv12

I have the exact same problem but on my MacBook Pro (Early 2009). Seems the only way to resolve once it happens is a restart.

This is tantamount to a system crash as far as I'm concerned. If it happens, I can't do any work until I have rebooted the whole system.

It also messes with which elements have focus and how they behave (eg if a text box is clicked in, the cursor selects only the last typed character when I press the back cursor key rather than moving the cursor back through the text).

This feels like a problem with OS X to me. Unless this starts happening with the new Magic Trackpad however (ie a high profile new product), I wouldn't hold your breath for a fix. We're probably just need to 'touch it different'...

Aug 14, 2010 6:09 AM in response to dfv12

*I maybe found a temporary solution to the problem but I first have to state beforehand that I have a MacBook Pro 17" (Unibody). Dragging on my Trackpad gets stuck every now and then at random points. It started a month or so ago probably after a trackpad update (I don't remember).*

*Anyhow, this is what I did:*

*I was surfing the web with Firefox and suddenly dragging got stuck. I quit Firefox and pressed the Power On/Off button. I got this dialog box:*

* http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/4817/windowq.jpg*

*I clicked on cancel because I wanted to check one more thing and I realized that the dragging got unstuck. I don't know if it was a coincidence and I'd like to check that again but, as said before, the Trackpad gets stuck at random points.*
*Try by yourselves and tell me if it does really work. Of course this isn't supposed to be a definitive solution to the problem but I hope it will help in order not to restart your machine.*

Aug 16, 2010 12:47 AM in response to dfv12

I would like to point out that I see the same problem. It has been happening quite frequently since a recent update (I don't know for sure which one). The way I resolve it currently is to go to Trackpad Settings in System Preferences and then close the preference pane. It seems to reset something in the process.

I hope this problem is addressed in a future update as it is extremely annoying.

Trackpad Stuck on Drag

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