Magic Trackpad has a mind of it's own!

I have not upgraded to Mavericks yet, so I can't comment on it's compatibility issues.

But, I have confirmed that mine is static related. Once the humidity went up, the problem went away entirely. When it was dry in the house, I had to be sure my hands were moistureised and then it worked fine.

I read on another post that it was due to the trackpad being pushed over to one side.

The solution was to press the trackpad firmly and push it to the other side.

I should not see an alignment problem but desparation lead me to try it out. Pressed firmly (not hard) and pushed to the right ....

Hey Presto it works again.

I hope it works for you

McStu wrote:

I read on another post that it was due to the trackpad being pushed over to one side.

The solution was to press the trackpad firmly and push it to the other side.

I should not see an alignment problem but desparation lead me to try it out. Pressed firmly (not hard) and pushed to the right ....

Hey Presto it works again.

I hope it works for you

McStu,

Are you talking about a lap top track pad? Because these problems are with free standing Magic track pad.

Yes My Appologies

My trackpad was going crazy swell. I thought it was the battery, but resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) seems to have done the trick, at least up to now (about 15 minutes)

Note: Portable computers that have a battery you should not remove on your own include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).

1. Shut down the computer.
2. Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.
3. On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.
4. Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.
5. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
   Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter may change states or temporarily turn off when you reset the SMC.

AMAZINGLY, I think I found the root cause to my Magic TrackPad's (MTB) erratic behavior (see my prior post for my Apple hardware details).

It seems, in retrospect, that my AT&T 3G Microcell (HW V2.0 from 2011) has failed a of weeks ago. After reading many forums, there might be a need to replace the power plug on the ATT 3G Microcell. Either way, for a long time I had not realized that it was stuck on just the Power On per the LED indicators with a yellow/green mixed light... Today, after probably a couple months of not realizing that the thing was not working correctly, I decided to keep it unplugged in order to test the power cord with a multimeter.

To reiterate, I had done all the things to get the MTP to work and the only workaround was keeping my pinky on the right edge of the MTP as I used it. Today, I did not use my pinky on the edge of the MTP. It took a couple minutes to hit me that the MTP was acting normal. I was shocked. I thought about it and sure enough, the ATT 3G Microcell was unplugged.

It seems to me that the issue all along had to do with interference as using my pinky on the right edge "grounded" me? Perhaps, you might not have an ATT 3G Microcell but your upstairs/downstairs/left/right neighbor might and it aint working correctly. Or there might be something that is not working correctly near by. I've had this AT&T 3G Microcell since about 2011 and its been solid and I've been using it while I had the previous MTP (which I though had died) and this new MTP.

I hope this helps others.

Been using the Magic TrackPad with my mid 2010 27" iMac since the MTP came out. It wasn't until quite recently (perhaps when upgrading to OS 10.9?) that the thing went wonky. Currently running 10.9.4 and no improvements yet.

All my stuff is plugging into good power conditioners, so I don't believe that is it. Also, I haven't added any new equipment, so that isn't the problem.

I'm very skeptical of all the reports of static, electrical interference, etc. After all, my bluetooth keyboard has no problems, nor my magic mouse. Plus, I'm having these problems on a rainy day, so it isn't lack of humidity. I think it must be software, as so many here have concluded.

The trick with resetting the System Management Controller (SMC), only worked for a brief period (see post june 25th). After that, I quit Mavericks and reïnstalled 10.5.8. Not only was my trackpad suddenly okay, but also my battery that had to be replaced after 1200 refills, seemed okay again. No scary messages under the battery-icon anymore. So definitely the software.

My trackpad was doing exactly the same, selecting text, activating buttons on its own. I phoned Apple Support and they solved the problem, they said you had to do this in sequence:

Turn off your Mac

Turn off your Trackpad

Turn on your Mac

Turn on your Trackpad

Worked a treat for me, I was just on the point of buying a new one.

A quick fix for you to try;

If you have an iPhone in the room, turn it off.
My trackpad was going mental clicking by itself, I turned off my iPhone (4) and trackpad behaves normally.

Been watching a movie now for an hour and no 'magic' clicks.

This just seems FAR too ridiculous to be the problem, but would be interesting if a few of you guys could give it a try also.

And yes, my problem also only started after going to Mavericks! (From Snow Leopard)

I've an iPhone 4s and am checking out your solution.

So far it's working for me too.

However, I'm reserving judgement, as the erratic behaviour was not happening continuously - just 80 - 90% of the time.

Many thanks for your post, I'll let you know how I get on.

I have tried the steps northstarweb suggested, and they did solve the problem, for a short while. Then it came back.

I have an iPhone 4S, so will try the suggestion of turning it off (though I suspect that IF the iPhone is the problem, then turning off Bluetooth on the iPhone should resolve the issue without having to power it off).

Yep,certainly seems to be working 🙂

I know that this is an older post, but I was having this issue and i tried the various suggestions regarding bluetooth / rebooting / etc

In the end...I popped out the foot on the lower left of the trackpad and then using the instructions on iFixIt for "Magic Trackpad Rubber Replacement/Reinsertion" I put it back in and now my problem is solved...

I should note that I have an 18 month old that was playing with the trackpad recently and i think a crumb or something got caught in there.

This worked!

Here's my story .... I just had an update on Yosemite to 10.10.2 last night. Worked fine this morning ... not until the evening did it start to act up. Read various threads ... tried a few things ... but popping out the rubber feet did the trick. Problem went away. My MTP was going crazy ... selecting everything. At one point, I left the mouse right over the Apple on the top left corner of my iMac and watched it select the Apple as if I was going to shut it down numerous times. Then, after popping out BOTH of the rubber feet, I swapped each (right to left and vice versa) ... I also blew some air inside where I propped open the MTP to pull the rubber feet out just in case something was lodged in there. Bottom line, I re-assembled it, and BAM! ... While typing this, my MTP is behaving. Not making any selections randomly.

I would suggest you Google "iFixIt for Magic Trackpad Rubber Replacement/Reinsertion" to get instructions on how to take those rubber feet out. I popped open both corners, pulled out the feet, cleaned them (just in case), blew air in the area where they were installed, swapped them, popped it back together. Done deal!