TrackPad physical click not working after upgrade to Mountain Lion

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TrackPad physical click not working after upgrade to Mountain Lion

Does anybody know how to get my trackpad working again after upgrading to Mountain Lion?

I recently upgraded my MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009, Intel Core 2 Duo) from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion. Everything seems to have gone well, except for trackpad behavior.

The primary problem is that the physical click of the trackpad is now erratic. Sometimes a physical click will work, and other times it will not work.

Note: The "tapping" of the trackpad DOES work consistently. I have confirmed that System Prefs > Trackpad > "Tap to Click" is enabled, and so tapping is not the problem. (The "tap to click" selector does exhibit a unique behavior however--if I DESELECT "tap to click," then the physical click no longer works at all. It looks like the "tap to click" selector can completely disable the physical click of the trackpad, but cannot enable the physical click completely.)

I have also checked the settings on System Prefs > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad, but none of those settings affect the physical click of the trackpad.

I tried zapping the PRAM, but that did not change the problem with physical clicking on the trackpad.

Grateful for any ideas...

Nertz

MacBook (13-inch Late 2009), OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on Jul 27, 2012 8:49 AM

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Answer 1

Nertz Author

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Jul 27, 2012 9:11 AM in response to Nertz

BTW, I also tried resetting the SMC. No change in the trackpad's inability to physical click.

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Answer 2

Pieeter

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Jul 27, 2012 9:30 AM in response to Nertz

I´ve got the normal trackpad in my Macbook Pro and it the same problem like yours --> sometimes it works and sometimes not.

Sometimes some buttons doesnt works 😟

Its HoRRiBLE

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Answer 3

rooobce

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Jul 30, 2012 2:17 AM in response to Nertz

I have the same problem with my built-in trackpad. I can scroll arround but click doesn't work.

Can not use Macbook Pro. Terrible. I am typing this on my office PC.

I have managed to get the trackpad working for a short time after reboot, but now its back to not working again.

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Answer 4

pibrewer

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27 points

Jul 30, 2012 11:22 AM in response to Nertz

Mine is doing the same thing...I have had to shut down and restart a few times. I just now turned on a magic mouse and it worked and restored the trackpad??? No idea why that works, but it is a work around. They need to get this fixed.

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Answer 5

Nertz Author

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Jul 30, 2012 8:20 PM in response to Nertz

I ended up taking my MacBook to the Apple Genius Bar. The staff were very helpful.

The apple staff said that there is no known link between the upgrade to Mountain Lion and trackpad misbehavior. In my case, they made some hardware adjustments to the trackpad, and all is working properly again.

Bottom line: if you think that your trackpad misbehavior is related to Mountain Lion, you might want to take it to an Apple Genius Bar. If there really is no connection between Mountain Lion and trackpad behavior, then perhaps they can fix it for you (as happened to be true in my case). But if there IS a connection in some way, it would be helpful for Apple employees to see your evidence firsthand.

Best wishes to all...

Nertz

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Answer 6

Checomex

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4 points

Jul 31, 2012 11:52 AM in response to Nertz

Same to me, sometimes click doesn't works, it's frustrating, you are working and suddenly you can't go on, what I'm doing is is presion Cmd,Options,Eject at the same time, and then turn it on again, that way the trackpad is responding again. Of course not the best solution but at least something until guys from Apple find a solution

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Answer 7

jjjy

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Jul 31, 2012 2:50 PM in response to Nertz

I respectfully disagree with Nertz that this unequivocally has nothing to do with Mountain Lion. The mere fact that several of us are having this issue post-Mountain Lion is worth consideration that ML is the culprit. While the Genius Bar may be an option to troubleshoot, that approach is problematic because the issue is so random.

While MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) is supported, thisissue is occuring on my relatively older Mac Book Pro (early 2008). I haven't experienced the issue with my 2011 MacBook Air. Just a thought.

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Answer 8

Nertz Author

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Jul 31, 2012 5:59 PM in response to jjjy

jjjy, you might want to re-read my post, because you imply that I said the trackpad behavior "unequivocally has nothing to do with Mountain Lion." Please note that my post very clearly says, "The apple staff said that there is no known link between the upgrade to Mountain Lion and trackpad misbehavior."

Point 1: I never said that there is unequivocally no connection between the two.

Point 2: The Genius staff said "there is no known connection" between the two.

On a related note, I clearly suggested that anyone who thinks their trackpad behavior is related to ML should take their computer to Apple so that, **if there is a connection**, Apple can see evidence of it.

With what do you disagree?

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Answer 9

jjjy

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Jul 31, 2012 6:52 PM in response to Nertz

Nertz, I re-read your post and you are absolutely right. Everything is fine now. No disagreement.

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Answer 10

thephm

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Aug 27, 2012 3:08 AM in response to jjjy

I thought I was going nuts but definately seing this behaviour since the upgrade to ML 10.8.1 seems to have made it worse or at least I didn't really notice it before I upgraded.

jjjy wrote:

While MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) is supported, thisissue is occuring on my relatively older Mac Book Pro (early 2008). I haven't experienced the issue with my 2011 MacBook Air. Just a thought.

Mine is a late 2008 15" MBP and tap to click and a BT mouse work fine just the physical click is not picked up correctly.

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Answer 11

thephm

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Sep 2, 2012 1:48 AM in response to thephm

OK as with the OP this wasn't software ... I booted into my backup of Snow Leopard and it was still there. Tried doing an SMC reset and noticed a screw (with a 3 "pronged" security head to it) under the trackpad bottom edge which appears to be some kind of adjuster - I fiddled and as a result of one of the above I've not had a missed click for the last couple of days. (Note this is on a Late 2008 model so the last of the removeable batteries)

A little bit of back story was that shortly after installing ML I'd noticed the temps being higher before the fans kicked in so had done an SMC reset and PRAM reset. I wonder if somehow I'd managed to nudge that screw in the SMC Reset process.

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Answer 12

Sep 8, 2012 1:20 AM in response to Nertz

Do you know what kind of hardware adjustments ware made to the trackpad? I have the same problem and it is impossible to login by clicking my icon on the startup screen.

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Answer 13

samer747

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Oct 18, 2012 11:50 PM in response to Nertz

The issue with track pad on my macbook pro started after I upgraded to mountain lion, I can't double click and hold to move files around or high light something.... etc, if I want to do so I need to keep pressing the mouse button then move the pad. Also the primary click does not work as it should when I'm using Maxon 4D software, I have tried connecting my other two mouse's and external touch pad but all did the same thing that's why my thoughts went directly to the operating systems, by the way I re-installed the IOS twice but same problem existed. This is very sad I cant use my computer like I want to.

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Answer 14

Oct 19, 2012 1:25 AM in response to Steefklei

My trackpad just stopt clicking, and weeks before the click dit not respond and only the tab worked. so in my case, its is an mechanical problem

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Answer 15

Oct 25, 2012 8:12 AM in response to Nertz

Hi

Got the same error, trackpad don´t respond in 2-3 sec after sleep or computer idle for some time.

Got MBP mid 2010 with 10.8.2

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